By JOHN P. TRETBAR Eagle Media

Last year the oil and gas industry set a record for mergers and acquisitions, an eye-popping $192 billion in transactions. But like a lot of records in the industry it won't last long. 

With hundreds of transactions this year, the total through September is nearly $124 billion, and there are still several large deals on the table.

U.S. crude production dropped to the second best weekly tally ever. 

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) U.S. crude output dropped by 19,000 barrels a day from last week's all-time high, but still stands as the second-best weekly report ever. The average is 13,585,000 barrels per day, marking only the sixth week over 13.5 million.

Commercial crude inventories dropped by more than four million barrels to just under 417 million barrels. EIA says stockpiles are down five percent from the five-year seasonal average.

 EIA took delivery on 300,000 barrels for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The SPR now totals 393.3 million barrels, an increase of 40 million barrels in the last year.

The Energy Information Administration says U.S. natural gas production set a record of over 113 billion cubic feet per day last year, with five states pumping 70% of that. Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, West Virginia and New Mexico are the top producers of natural gas in this country. 

EIA says natural gas consumption rose 1% to an annual high last year. Electricity generation was the chief driver of the increase. Consumption of natural gas at power plants averaged over 35 billion cubic feet per day, or about 40% of U.S. consumption.

The Kansas Rig Count from Independent Oil &amp; Gas Service shows 25 active rigs, with nine in the eastern half of the state, which is up two, and 16 in western Kansas, which is down one. Two operators in Ellis County have suspended drilling for the holidays, and are expected to resume next week.

The year-end total for new oil and gas fields in Kansas is down by half from last year. 

At its final meeting of the year, the Kansas Geological Society last week recognized and named six new oil-and-gas fields in Kansas. That brings the year-end total to 28 new fields, compared to 57 last year.

The U.S. imports more crude oil than we export, by 2.7 million barrels a day. We export more petroleum products than we import by over five million barrels a day.

Domestic crude oil imports averaged 6.5 million barrels a day in the week through December 20, down 178,000 daily barrels from the week before. That's up nearly 200,000 barrels a day from a year ago and two years ago.&nbsp;EIA reports four-week average imports are down more than two percent from last year, at nearly 6.6 million barrels a day.

Crude exports dropped by nearly 1.2 million barrels a day from a week ago to 3.7 million daily barrels. That's up 200,000 from last year, but down 300,000 daily barrels from two years ago. Four-week average exports are up three percent from last year.

Output in the number three crude-producing state dropped to 1.17 million barrels a day in October. Permits, completions, and rig counts are all up. 

The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources reports the state had 19,334 producing wells in October, an all-time record. October's gas capture statistic dropped to 94%, meaning six percent of the natural gas produced at oil wells is either vented into the air or burned off at the well head. Natural gas production was down four percent month-over-month.

Huge production in Texas has historically been tied to huge energy employment. But those numbers are dropping.

 The Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) said its November report ends five straight months of job growth. Employment in the upstream sector, before crude gets to the refinery, slipped to 194,400, down 1,500 positions compared to October.&nbsp; Jobs in extraction fell by 600, while oilfield service hiring slid by 900 jobs.

A new energy watchdog in Colorado says a criminal probe may be in order after they uncovered hundreds of fraudulent pollution reports filed in the last five years by some big names in the industry. 

Colorado’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission says contractors for Chevron and Occidental Petroleum submitted reports with bogus data for at least 344 oil and gas wells across the state, painting a misleading picture of their pollution levels. 

According to the report, consultants for a third company also filed forms with falsified information for an unspecified number of wells. Some of the reports obscured the levels of dangerous contaminants in nearby soils, including arsenic and benzene among other pollutants.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/5/1684775008059.jpeg" alt="Photo by Pixabay" />
 <figcaption>Photo by Pixabay</figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN P. TRETBAR Eagle MediaLast year the oil and gas industry set a record for mergers and acquisitions, an eye-popping $192 billion in transactions. But like a lot of records in the industry it won't last long. With hundreds of transactions this year, the total through September is nearly $124 billion, and there are still several large deals on the table.U.S. crude production dropped to the second best weekly tally ever. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) U.S. crude output dropped by 19,000 barrels a day from last week's all-time high, but still stands as the second-best weekly report ever. The average is 13,585,000 barrels per day, marking only the sixth week over 13.5 million.Commercial crude inventories dropped by more than four million barrels to just under 417 million barrels. EIA says stockpiles are down five percent from the five-year seasonal average. EIA took delivery on 300,000 barrels for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The SPR now totals 393.3 million barrels, an increase of 40 million barrels in the last year.The Energy Information Administration says U.S. natural gas production set a record of over 113 billion cubic feet per day last year, with five states pumping 70% of that. Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, West Virginia and New Mexico are the top producers of natural gas in this country. EIA says natural gas consumption rose 1% to an annual high last year. Electricity generation was the chief driver of the increase. Consumption of natural gas at power plants averaged over 35 billion cubic feet per day, or about 40% of U.S. consumption.The Kansas Rig Count from Independent Oil &amp; Gas Service shows 25 active rigs, with nine in the eastern half of the state, which is up two, and 16 in western Kansas, which is down one. Two operators in Ellis County have suspended drilling for the holidays, and are expected to resume next week.The year-end total for new oil and gas fields in Kansas is down by half from last year. At its final meeting of the year, the Kansas Geological Society last week recognized and named six new oil-and-gas fields in Kansas. That brings the year-end total to 28 new fields, compared to 57 last year.The U.S. imports more crude oil than we export, by 2.7 million barrels a day. We export more petroleum products than we import by over five million barrels a day.Domestic crude oil imports averaged 6.5 million barrels a day in the week through December 20, down 178,000 daily barrels from the week before. That's up nearly 200,000 barrels a day from a year ago and two years ago.&nbsp;EIA reports four-week average imports are down more than two percent from last year, at nearly 6.6 million barrels a day.Crude exports dropped by nearly 1.2 million barrels a day from a week ago to 3.7 million daily barrels. That's up 200,000 from last year, but down 300,000 daily barrels from two years ago. Four-week average exports are up three percent from last year.Output in the number three crude-producing state dropped to 1.17 million barrels a day in October. Permits, completions, and rig counts are all up. The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources reports the state had 19,334 producing wells in October, an all-time record. October's gas capture statistic dropped to 94%, meaning six percent of the natural gas produced at oil wells is either vented into the air or burned off at the well head. Natural gas production was down four percent month-over-month.Huge production in Texas has historically been tied to huge energy employment. But those numbers are dropping. The Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) said its November report ends five straight months of job growth. Employment in the upstream sector, before crude gets to the refinery, slipped to 194,400, down 1,500 positions compared to October.&nbsp; Jobs in extraction fell by 600, while oilfield service hiring slid by 900 jobs.A new energy watchdog in Colorado says a criminal probe may be in order after they uncovered hundreds of fraudulent pollution reports filed in the last five years by some big names in the industry. Colorado’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission says contractors for Chevron and Occidental Petroleum submitted reports with bogus data for at least 344 oil and gas wells across the state, painting a misleading picture of their pollution levels. According to the report, consultants for a third company also filed forms with falsified information for an unspecified number of wells. Some of the reports obscured the levels of dangerous contaminants in nearby soils, including arsenic and benzene among other pollutants.&nbsp;&nbsp;

News From the Oil Patch: Oil & gas mergers, acquisitions reach another record

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a jury’s finding in a civil case that Donald Trump sexually abused a columnist in an upscale department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.

<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca2.60504/gov.uscourts.ca2.60504.176.1.pdf">Click here to read</a> the court's ruling

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a written opinion upholding the $5 million award that the Manhattan jury granted to E. Jean Carroll for defamation and sexual abuse.

The longtime magazine columnist had testified at a 2023 trial that Trump turned a friendly encounter in spring 1996 into a violent attack after they playfully entered the store’s dressing room.

Trump skipped the trial after repeatedly denying the attack ever happened. But he briefly testified at a follow-up defamation trial earlier this year that resulted in an $83.3 million award. The second trial resulted from comments then-President Trump made in 2019 after Carroll first made the accusations publicly in a memoir.

In its ruling, a three-judge panel of the appeals court rejected claims by Trump's lawyers that trial Judge Lewis A. Kaplan had made multiple decisions that spoiled the trial, including by permitting two other women who had accused Trump of sexually abusing them to testify.

The judge also had allowed the jury to view the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump boasted in 2005 about grabbing women’s genitals because when someone is a star, “you can do anything.”

“We conclude that Mr. Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings," the 2nd Circuit said. “Further, he has not carried his burden to show that any claimed error or combination of claimed errors affected his substantial rights as required to warrant a new trial.”

In September, both Carroll, 81, and Trump, 78, attended oral arguments by the 2nd Circuit.

Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesperson, said in a statement that Trump was elected by voters who delivered "an overwhelming mandate, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed.”

Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer who represented Carroll during the trial and is not related to the judge, said in a statement: “Both E. Jean Carroll and I are gratified by today’s decision. We thank the Second Circuit for its careful consideration of the parties’ arguments.”

The first jury found in May 2023 that Trump sexually abused Carroll and defamed her with comments he made in October 2022. That jury&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-rape-carroll-trial-fe68259a4b98bb3947d42af9ec83d7db">awarded Carroll $5 million</a>.

In January, a second jury&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-carroll-defamation-trial-e4ea8b93cdeb29857864ffd8d14be888">awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million</a>&nbsp;in damages for comments Trump had made about her while he was president, finding that they were defamatory. That jury had been instructed by the judge to accept the first jury’s finding that Trump had sexually abused Carroll. The appeal of that verdict has not yet been heard.

Carroll testified during both trials that her life as an Elle magazine columnist was spoiled by Trump’s public comments, which she said motivated some people to send her death threats and leave her fearful to leave the upstate New York cabin where she lives.

Trump testified for under three minutes at the second trial and was not permitted to challenge conclusions reached by the May 2023 jury. Still, he was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-carroll-defamation-lawsuit-70d4477120399373934253c7e450643e">animated in the courtroom</a>&nbsp;throughout the two-week trial, and jurors could hear him grumbling about the case.

During appeals arguments in September, Trump lawyer D. John Sauer said testimony from witnesses who recalled Carroll telling them about the 1996 encounter with Trump immediately afterward was improper because the witnesses had “egregious bias” against Trump.

And the attorney said the judge also should have excluded the testimony of the two women who said Trump committed similar acts of sex abuse against them in the 1970s and in 2005. Trump has denied those allegations too.

The 2nd Circuit wrote: “In each of the three encounters, Mr. Trump engaged in an ordinary conversation with a woman he barely knew, then abruptly lunged at her in a semi-public place and proceeded to kiss and forcefully touch her without her consent. The acts are sufficiently similar to show a pattern.”

It said the “Access Hollywood” tape was “directly corroborative” of the testimony by the women of the pattern of behavior they experienced.

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1735576738520.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a jury’s finding in a civil case that Donald Trump sexually abused a columnist in an upscale department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1706306535436.png" alt="File photo - E. Jean Carroll E.&nbsp;leaves court in New York City after a jury awarded her $83.3 million in damages in her defamation suit against former&nbsp;President Donald Trump.-photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>File photo - E. Jean Carroll E.&nbsp;leaves court in New York City after a jury awarded her $83.3 million in damages in her defamation suit against former&nbsp;President Donald Trump.-photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca2.60504/gov.uscourts.ca2.60504.176.1.pdf">Click here to read</a> the court's rulingThe 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a written opinion upholding the $5 million award that the Manhattan jury granted to E. Jean Carroll for defamation and sexual abuse.The longtime magazine columnist had testified at a 2023 trial that Trump turned a friendly encounter in spring 1996 into a violent attack after they playfully entered the store’s dressing room.Trump skipped the trial after repeatedly denying the attack ever happened. But he briefly testified at a follow-up defamation trial earlier this year that resulted in an $83.3 million award. The second trial resulted from comments then-President Trump made in 2019 after Carroll first made the accusations publicly in a memoir.In its ruling, a three-judge panel of the appeals court rejected claims by Trump's lawyers that trial Judge Lewis A. Kaplan had made multiple decisions that spoiled the trial, including by permitting two other women who had accused Trump of sexually abusing them to testify.The judge also had allowed the jury to view the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump boasted in 2005 about grabbing women’s genitals because when someone is a star, “you can do anything.”“We conclude that Mr. Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings," the 2nd Circuit said. “Further, he has not carried his burden to show that any claimed error or combination of claimed errors affected his substantial rights as required to warrant a new trial.”In September, both Carroll, 81, and Trump, 78, attended oral arguments by the 2nd Circuit.Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesperson, said in a statement that Trump was elected by voters who delivered "an overwhelming mandate, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed.”Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer who represented Carroll during the trial and is not related to the judge, said in a statement: “Both E. Jean Carroll and I are gratified by today’s decision. We thank the Second Circuit for its careful consideration of the parties’ arguments.”The first jury found in May 2023 that Trump sexually abused Carroll and defamed her with comments he made in October 2022. That jury&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-rape-carroll-trial-fe68259a4b98bb3947d42af9ec83d7db">awarded Carroll $5 million</a>.In January, a second jury&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-carroll-defamation-trial-e4ea8b93cdeb29857864ffd8d14be888">awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million</a>&nbsp;in damages for comments Trump had made about her while he was president, finding that they were defamatory. That jury had been instructed by the judge to accept the first jury’s finding that Trump had sexually abused Carroll. The appeal of that verdict has not yet been heard.Carroll testified during both trials that her life as an Elle magazine columnist was spoiled by Trump’s public comments, which she said motivated some people to send her death threats and leave her fearful to leave the upstate New York cabin where she lives.Trump testified for under three minutes at the second trial and was not permitted to challenge conclusions reached by the May 2023 jury. Still, he was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-carroll-defamation-lawsuit-70d4477120399373934253c7e450643e">animated in the courtroom</a>&nbsp;throughout the two-week trial, and jurors could hear him grumbling about the case.During appeals arguments in September, Trump lawyer D. John Sauer said testimony from witnesses who recalled Carroll telling them about the 1996 encounter with Trump immediately afterward was improper because the witnesses had “egregious bias” against Trump.And the attorney said the judge also should have excluded the testimony of the two women who said Trump committed similar acts of sex abuse against them in the 1970s and in 2005. Trump has denied those allegations too.The 2nd Circuit wrote: “In each of the three encounters, Mr. Trump engaged in an ordinary conversation with a woman he barely knew, then abruptly lunged at her in a semi-public place and proceeded to kiss and forcefully touch her without her consent. The acts are sufficiently similar to show a pattern.”It said the “Access Hollywood” tape was “directly corroborative” of the testimony by the women of the pattern of behavior they experienced.The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.

Read the ruling: Court upholds award in sex abuse verdict against Trump

By&nbsp;ANNA KAMINSKI <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

While thousands of patients cross the border with medical cards in hand, countless more are buying recreational cannabis without a prescription. That’s unlikely to change as some Kansas lawmakers signal resistance to medical legalization in 2025.

TOPEKA — Thousands of Kansans are crossing the Missouri border with medical marijuana cards in hand, and that’s unlikely to change as Kansas lawmakers resist medical legalization in 2025.

Legislators&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/03/28/kansas-senate-committee-tables-medical-marijuana-bill-until-2025-legislative-session/" target="_blank">tabled</a>&nbsp;a medical marijuana bill in March and promised to revisit it at the beginning of the 2025 session, which begins Jan. 13. In October, a majority of medical marijuana committee members declined in a 5-4 vote to urge the Legislature to pass a medical marijuana bill.

Anyone can bring a bill for consideration at any time, said Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, at the October committee meeting.

“But I think it would not be the place of this committee to force upon the Legislature a bill when a large number — well, quite a few of the committee — I think still have a lot of questions,” he said.

Thompson has been cautioning legislators against making a hasty decision for at least two&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/01/despite-high-hopes-success-of-kansas-marijuana-legislation-remains-unclear/" target="_blank">years</a>.

Nearly 2,200 Kansans are medical marijuana patients in Missouri, according to October data obtained through a public records request from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Outgoing Rep. Dennis “Boog” Highberger, a Lawrence Democrat, pointed to polls that show more than&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/11/01/kansans-support-marijuana-legalization-lawmakers-wont-bite/" target="_blank">70% of Kansans favor legalization</a>.

“I think if we don’t come back to this in January, it will just die or get punted until next year,” he said.

Medical and recreational sales in Missouri in 2024 have totaled more than $1.3 billion combined as of October, according to the state’s cannabis patient, caregiver and consumer&nbsp;<a href="https://health.mo.gov/safety/cannabis/stats.php" target="_blank">data</a>. Most of the sales, about $1.1 billion worth, were recreational, which began in February 2023.

Taxes gleaned from marijuana sales — 4% on medical and 6% on recreational — have funneled millions of dollars to Missouri’s veterans commission, public defense system and a substance use treatment program within the health department.

The Kansas Cannabis Chamber of Commerce has been watching the number of people taking Kansas dollars to Missouri, but its focus has shifted to hemp instead of marijuana after years of adversarial legislative sessions, said Erren Wright, the chamber’s board president.

Small businesses and community members are suffering, she said. All the while, she said legislators continue to act in bad faith.

“We’re really unhappy with the way Kansas is going about this,” Wright said.

Grace Hoge, a spokeswoman for Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s office, said medical marijuana legalization is a widely supported, “commonsense” policy.

“Gov. Kelly has been consistent in her belief that legalizing medical marijuana would improve Kansas’ overall health and economy and help those who suffer from chronic pain and serious illnesses,” Hoge said. “She will continue to support the passage of a Kansas-specific approach that is both feasible and well-regulated.”

Some legislators expressed interest at the October meeting in waiting to see the results of marijuana ballot measures in Nebraska and Florida in the 2024 general election.

Nebraska voters approved a medical marijuana program, joining the ranks of other Kansas neighbors Colorado, Missouri and Oklahoma. While&nbsp;<a href="https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/11/05/amendment-3-comes-up-short-of-the-60-required-for-passage/" target="_blank">a majority of Florida voters favored</a>&nbsp;a ballot measure to legalize recreational cannabis, it was 4 percentage points short of the required 60% threshold for passage. Recreational cannabis is permitted for people 21 and older in Missouri and Colorado.

Colorado doesn’t allow medical marijuana cardholders to live outside the state upon applying, said Mariah La Rue, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Center for Health and Environmental Data. Similarly, Oklahoma requires out-of-state medical marijuana cardholders to possess licenses from their own state.

The true number of Kansans crossing state lines to access some form of legal cannabis is unknown.

The Kansas Highway Patrol is aware of the exploration of legalized cannabis in and around Kansas, but it’s focused on impaired driving, said April McCollum, a spokeswoman for the patrol.

“We strive to provide our troopers and other officers both in and out of state with the most current and reliable methods for removing impaired drivers from our roadways,” she said. “We will continue to remain focused on these efforts.”

This story was originally published by&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/12/09/thousands-of-kansans-are-missouri-medical-marijuana-patients/" target="_blank">Kansas Reflector</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1734976451995.png" alt="Kansas legislators tabled a medical marijuana bill in March and promised to revisit it at the beginning of the 2025 session, which begins Jan. 13. In October, a majority of medical marijuana committee members declined in a 5-4 vote to urge the Legislature to pass a medical marijuana bill. Tim Carpenter / Kansas Reflector" />
 <figcaption>Kansas legislators tabled a medical marijuana bill in March and promised to revisit it at the beginning of the 2025 session, which begins Jan. 13. In October, a majority of medical marijuana committee members declined in a 5-4 vote to urge the Legislature to pass a medical marijuana bill. Tim Carpenter / Kansas Reflector</figcaption>
 </figure>By&nbsp;ANNA KAMINSKI <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a><h2>While thousands of patients cross the border with medical cards in hand, countless more are buying recreational cannabis without a prescription. That’s unlikely to change as some Kansas lawmakers signal resistance to medical legalization in 2025.</h2>TOPEKA — Thousands of Kansans are crossing the Missouri border with medical marijuana cards in hand, and that’s unlikely to change as Kansas lawmakers resist medical legalization in 2025.Legislators&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/03/28/kansas-senate-committee-tables-medical-marijuana-bill-until-2025-legislative-session/" target="_blank">tabled</a>&nbsp;a medical marijuana bill in March and promised to revisit it at the beginning of the 2025 session, which begins Jan. 13. In October, a majority of medical marijuana committee members declined in a 5-4 vote to urge the Legislature to pass a medical marijuana bill.Anyone can bring a bill for consideration at any time, said Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, at the October committee meeting.“But I think it would not be the place of this committee to force upon the Legislature a bill when a large number — well, quite a few of the committee — I think still have a lot of questions,” he said.Thompson has been cautioning legislators against making a hasty decision for at least two&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/03/01/despite-high-hopes-success-of-kansas-marijuana-legislation-remains-unclear/" target="_blank">years</a>.Nearly 2,200 Kansans are medical marijuana patients in Missouri, according to October data obtained through a public records request from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.Outgoing Rep. Dennis “Boog” Highberger, a Lawrence Democrat, pointed to polls that show more than&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/11/01/kansans-support-marijuana-legalization-lawmakers-wont-bite/" target="_blank">70% of Kansans favor legalization</a>.“I think if we don’t come back to this in January, it will just die or get punted until next year,” he said.Medical and recreational sales in Missouri in 2024 have totaled more than $1.3 billion combined as of October, according to the state’s cannabis patient, caregiver and consumer&nbsp;<a href="https://health.mo.gov/safety/cannabis/stats.php" target="_blank">data</a>. Most of the sales, about $1.1 billion worth, were recreational, which began in February 2023.Taxes gleaned from marijuana sales — 4% on medical and 6% on recreational — have funneled millions of dollars to Missouri’s veterans commission, public defense system and a substance use treatment program within the health department.The Kansas Cannabis Chamber of Commerce has been watching the number of people taking Kansas dollars to Missouri, but its focus has shifted to hemp instead of marijuana after years of adversarial legislative sessions, said Erren Wright, the chamber’s board president.Small businesses and community members are suffering, she said. All the while, she said legislators continue to act in bad faith.“We’re really unhappy with the way Kansas is going about this,” Wright said.Grace Hoge, a spokeswoman for Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s office, said medical marijuana legalization is a widely supported, “commonsense” policy.“Gov. Kelly has been consistent in her belief that legalizing medical marijuana would improve Kansas’ overall health and economy and help those who suffer from chronic pain and serious illnesses,” Hoge said. “She will continue to support the passage of a Kansas-specific approach that is both feasible and well-regulated.”<h2>Cannabis on all four corners</h2>Some legislators expressed interest at the October meeting in waiting to see the results of marijuana ballot measures in Nebraska and Florida in the 2024 general election.Nebraska voters approved a medical marijuana program, joining the ranks of other Kansas neighbors Colorado, Missouri and Oklahoma. While&nbsp;<a href="https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/11/05/amendment-3-comes-up-short-of-the-60-required-for-passage/" target="_blank">a majority of Florida voters favored</a>&nbsp;a ballot measure to legalize recreational cannabis, it was 4 percentage points short of the required 60% threshold for passage. Recreational cannabis is permitted for people 21 and older in Missouri and Colorado.Colorado doesn’t allow medical marijuana cardholders to live outside the state upon applying, said Mariah La Rue, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Center for Health and Environmental Data. Similarly, Oklahoma requires out-of-state medical marijuana cardholders to possess licenses from their own state.The true number of Kansans crossing state lines to access some form of legal cannabis is unknown.The Kansas Highway Patrol is aware of the exploration of legalized cannabis in and around Kansas, but it’s focused on impaired driving, said April McCollum, a spokeswoman for the patrol.“We strive to provide our troopers and other officers both in and out of state with the most current and reliable methods for removing impaired drivers from our roadways,” she said. “We will continue to remain focused on these efforts.”This story was originally published by&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/12/09/thousands-of-kansans-are-missouri-medical-marijuana-patients/" target="_blank">Kansas Reflector</a>.

Thousands of Kansans are buying medical marijuana in Missouri

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California appeals court has overturned the rape conviction of former San Francisco 49er first-round draft pick Dana Stubblefield after determining prosecutors made racially discriminatory statements during the Black man’s trial.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The retired football player was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nfl-san-francisco-football-san-francisco-49ers-san-jose-dcdae6e56483d9a12ab32a312baa4071">sentenced to 15 years to life in prison</a>&nbsp;in October 2020 after being convicted of raping a developmentally disabled woman in 2015 who prosecutors said he lured to his home with the promise of a babysitting job.

The Sixth Court of Appeals found Wednesday that prosecutors violated the California Racial Justice Act of 2020, a law passed during a summer of protest over the police killing of George Floyd. The measure bars prosecutors from seeking a criminal conviction or imposing a sentence on the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-reparations-black-african-american-slavery-62fe50116b04f1d4e4a0bf6a434f87bc">basis of race.</a>

Prior to the law, defendants who wanted to challenge their convictions on the basis of racial bias had to prove there was “purposeful discrimination,” a difficult legal standard to meet.

The appeals court said prosecutors used “racially discriminatory language” that required them to overturn Stubblefield’s conviction.

The case was “infected with tremendous error from the minute we started the trial,” said Stubblefield’s lead attorney, Kenneth Rosenfeld.

In April 2015, Stubblefield contacted the then-31-year-old woman on a babysitting website and arranged an interview, prosecutors said.

According to a report by the Morgan Hill Police Department, the interview lasted about 20 minutes. She later received a text from Stubblefield saying he wanted to pay her for her time that day, and she went back to the house.

The woman reported to the police that Stubblefield raped her at gunpoint, then gave her $80 and let her go. DNA evidence matched that of Stubblefield, the report said.

During the trial, prosecutors said police never searched Stubblefield’s house and never introduced a gun into evidence, saying it was because he was famous Black man and it would “open up a storm of controversy,” according to the appellate decision.

By saying Stubblefield’s race was a factor in law enforcement’s decision not to search his house, prosecutors implied the house would’ve been searched and a gun found had Stubblefield not been Black, the appeals court said. The reference to controversy also links Stubblefield to the events after the recent killing of Floyd based on his race.

Defense attorneys said there was no rape, and Stubblefield said the woman consented to sex in exchange for money.

“The trial had a biased judge who didn’t allow the evidence from the defense, the fact that she was a sex worker, to be heard in front of a jury,” Rosenfeld said. He called the incident a “transactional occasion” between Stubblefield and the woman.

He remains in custody until a hearing next week, during which his attorneys will ask a judge to approve a motion to release him. Prosecutors have several options, including asking the court to stay their decision so they can appeal to the state’s Supreme Court, or refile charges.

The Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office said it was “studying the opinion.”

Stubblefield played college football at the University of Kansas from 1993-1997. He began his 11-year lineman career in the NFL with the 49ers in 1993 as the league’s defensive rookie of the year. He later won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1997 before leaving the team to play for Washington. He returned to the Bay Area to finish his career, playing with the 49ers in 2000-01 and the Raiders in 2003.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1735488705631.png" alt="Stubblefield-photo Santa Clara County" />
 <figcaption>Stubblefield-photo Santa Clara County</figcaption>
 </figure>LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California appeals court has overturned the rape conviction of former San Francisco 49er first-round draft pick Dana Stubblefield after determining prosecutors made racially discriminatory statements during the Black man’s trial.&nbsp;&nbsp;The retired football player was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nfl-san-francisco-football-san-francisco-49ers-san-jose-dcdae6e56483d9a12ab32a312baa4071">sentenced to 15 years to life in prison</a>&nbsp;in October 2020 after being convicted of raping a developmentally disabled woman in 2015 who prosecutors said he lured to his home with the promise of a babysitting job.The Sixth Court of Appeals found Wednesday that prosecutors violated the California Racial Justice Act of 2020, a law passed during a summer of protest over the police killing of George Floyd. The measure bars prosecutors from seeking a criminal conviction or imposing a sentence on the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-reparations-black-african-american-slavery-62fe50116b04f1d4e4a0bf6a434f87bc">basis of race.</a>Prior to the law, defendants who wanted to challenge their convictions on the basis of racial bias had to prove there was “purposeful discrimination,” a difficult legal standard to meet.The appeals court said prosecutors used “racially discriminatory language” that required them to overturn Stubblefield’s conviction.The case was “infected with tremendous error from the minute we started the trial,” said Stubblefield’s lead attorney, Kenneth Rosenfeld.In April 2015, Stubblefield contacted the then-31-year-old woman on a babysitting website and arranged an interview, prosecutors said.According to a report by the Morgan Hill Police Department, the interview lasted about 20 minutes. She later received a text from Stubblefield saying he wanted to pay her for her time that day, and she went back to the house.The woman reported to the police that Stubblefield raped her at gunpoint, then gave her $80 and let her go. DNA evidence matched that of Stubblefield, the report said.During the trial, prosecutors said police never searched Stubblefield’s house and never introduced a gun into evidence, saying it was because he was famous Black man and it would “open up a storm of controversy,” according to the appellate decision.By saying Stubblefield’s race was a factor in law enforcement’s decision not to search his house, prosecutors implied the house would’ve been searched and a gun found had Stubblefield not been Black, the appeals court said. The reference to controversy also links Stubblefield to the events after the recent killing of Floyd based on his race.Defense attorneys said there was no rape, and Stubblefield said the woman consented to sex in exchange for money.“The trial had a biased judge who didn’t allow the evidence from the defense, the fact that she was a sex worker, to be heard in front of a jury,” Rosenfeld said. He called the incident a “transactional occasion” between Stubblefield and the woman.He remains in custody until a hearing next week, during which his attorneys will ask a judge to approve a motion to release him. Prosecutors have several options, including asking the court to stay their decision so they can appeal to the state’s Supreme Court, or refile charges.The Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office said it was “studying the opinion.”Stubblefield played college football at the University of Kansas from 1993-1997. He began his 11-year lineman career in the NFL with the 49ers in 1993 as the league’s defensive rookie of the year. He later won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1997 before leaving the team to play for Washington. He returned to the Bay Area to finish his career, playing with the 49ers in 2000-01 and the Raiders in 2003.

Court overturns former KU and NFL standout's rape conviction

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A growing number of U.S. colleges and universities are advising international students to return to campus before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, over concerns that he might impose travel bans like he did during his first administration.

More than a dozen schools have issued advisories, even though Trump's plans remain uncertain. At some schools, the spring semester begins before Trump will take office, so students may have to be back in class anyway. But for anyone whose ability to stay in the United States depends on an academic visa, they say it's best to reduce their risks and get back to campus before Jan. 20.

Here's a look at what Trump has said and done and how schools and students are preparing for his second term:

Trump issued an executive order in January 2017 banning travel to the U.S. by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries — Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. Travelers from those nations were either barred from getting on their flights or detained at U.S. airports after they landed. They included students and faculty as well as business people, tourists and visitors to friends and family.

Trump later removed some countries and added others to the list — 15 nations were affected at some point during his presidency. More than 40,000 people were ultimately refused visas because of the ban, according to the U.S. State Department. President Joe Biden rescinded the orders when he took office in 2021.

More than 1.1 million international students were enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities during the 2023-24 school year, according to Open Doors, a data project partially funded by the U.S. State Department. Students from India and China have accounted for more than half of all international students in the U.S., and about 43,800 come from the 15 countries affected by Trump's travel restrictions.

Jacky Li, a third-year environmental studies major at University of California, Berkeley, will be traveling home to China Dec. 21 and returning Jan. 16. Though he made his plans months before Berkeley officials sent the advisory, he said worry is growing among international students.

"There's a fear that this kind of restriction will enlarge into a wider community, considering the geopolitical tensions nowadays around the world, so the fear is definitely there," said Li, who urged Trump to support, rather than thwart, important academic research.

"If the U.S. is really a champion of academic freedom, what you should do is not restrict this kind of communications between different countries of the world," he said.

Trump's transition team did not respond to questions on the topic this week, but in the past he has said he'll revive the travel ban and expand it, pledging new "ideological screening" for non-U.S. citizens to bar "dangerous lunatics, haters, bigots and maniacs."

"We aren't bringing in anyone from Gaza, Syria, Somalia, Yemen or Libya or anywhere else that threatens our security," Trump said at an October 2023 campaign event in Iowa.

Trump also vowed to "revoke the student visas of radical anti-American and anti-Semitic foreigners at our colleges and universities" in response to campus protests.

School officials have advised international students heading home for winter break to return before Inauguration Day and to prepare for possible delays at immigration control.

The list includes Ivy League universities such as Harvard and Brown, Boston schools such as Northeastern University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and other schools around the country, from Johns Hopkins University to the University of Southern California. Some offer classes that begin the day after Inauguration Day.

Cornell University told its students that a travel ban involving the 13 nations Trump previously targeted "is likely to go into effect soon after inauguration," and that new countries could be added to the list, particularly China and India. It advised students, faculty and staff from those countries to return to campus before the semester starts Jan. 21.

Other schools didn't go so far as to say a ban is likely but instead advised students to plan ahead and prepare for delays.

By HOLLY RAMER &nbsp;Associated PressCONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A growing number of U.S. colleges and universities are advising international students to return to campus before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, over concerns that he might impose travel bans like he did during his first administration.More than a dozen schools have issued advisories, even though Trump's plans remain uncertain. At some schools, the spring semester begins before Trump will take office, so students may have to be back in class anyway. But for anyone whose ability to stay in the United States depends on an academic visa, they say it's best to reduce their risks and get back to campus before Jan. 20.Here's a look at what Trump has said and done and how schools and students are preparing for his second term:What did Trump do in the past?Trump issued an executive order in January 2017 banning travel to the U.S. by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries — Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. Travelers from those nations were either barred from getting on their flights or detained at U.S. airports after they landed. They included students and faculty as well as business people, tourists and visitors to friends and family.Trump later removed some countries and added others to the list — 15 nations were affected at some point during his presidency. More than 40,000 people were ultimately refused visas because of the ban, according to the U.S. State Department. President Joe Biden rescinded the orders when he took office in 2021.How are students being affected?More than 1.1 million international students were enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities during the 2023-24 school year, according to Open Doors, a data project partially funded by the U.S. State Department. Students from India and China have accounted for more than half of all international students in the U.S., and about 43,800 come from the 15 countries affected by Trump's travel restrictions.Jacky Li, a third-year environmental studies major at University of California, Berkeley, will be traveling home to China Dec. 21 and returning Jan. 16. Though he made his plans months before Berkeley officials sent the advisory, he said worry is growing among international students."There's a fear that this kind of restriction will enlarge into a wider community, considering the geopolitical tensions nowadays around the world, so the fear is definitely there," said Li, who urged Trump to support, rather than thwart, important academic research."If the U.S. is really a champion of academic freedom, what you should do is not restrict this kind of communications between different countries of the world," he said.What might Trump do now?Trump's transition team did not respond to questions on the topic this week, but in the past he has said he'll revive the travel ban and expand it, pledging new "ideological screening" for non-U.S. citizens to bar "dangerous lunatics, haters, bigots and maniacs.""We aren't bringing in anyone from Gaza, Syria, Somalia, Yemen or Libya or anywhere else that threatens our security," Trump said at an October 2023 campaign event in Iowa.Trump also vowed to "revoke the student visas of radical anti-American and anti-Semitic foreigners at our colleges and universities" in response to campus protests.What are schools telling students?School officials have advised international students heading home for winter break to return before Inauguration Day and to prepare for possible delays at immigration control.The list includes Ivy League universities such as Harvard and Brown, Boston schools such as Northeastern University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and other schools around the country, from Johns Hopkins University to the University of Southern California. Some offer classes that begin the day after Inauguration Day.Cornell University told its students that a travel ban involving the 13 nations Trump previously targeted "is likely to go into effect soon after inauguration," and that new countries could be added to the list, particularly China and India. It advised students, faculty and staff from those countries to return to campus before the semester starts Jan. 21.Other schools didn't go so far as to say a ban is likely but instead advised students to plan ahead and prepare for delays.

International students urged to return to US campuses before inauguration

WASHINGTON (AP) — A lead organization monitoring for food crises around the world withdrew a new report this week warning of imminent famine in north&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-news-12-25-2024-be8508e8a1a89343b94e963137e42d5b">Gaza</a>&nbsp;under what it called Israel's “near-total blockade,” after the U.S. asked for its retraction, U.S. officials told The Associated Press. The move follows public criticism of the report from the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

The rare public challenge from the Biden administration of the work of the U.S.-funded&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/famine-gaza-warning-israel-united-states-8333697957bed4df13f5ab0c1582d4bd">Famine Early Warning System,</a>&nbsp;which is meant to reflect the data-driven analysis of unbiased experts, drew accusations from aid and human-rights figures of possible U.S. political interference. A finding of famine would be a public rebuke of Israel, which has insisted that its 15-month war in Gaza is aimed against the Hamas militant group and not against its civilian population.

U.S. ambassador to Israel&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jacob-lew">Jacob Lew</a>&nbsp;earlier this week&nbsp;<a href="https://il.usembassy.gov/statement-from-u-s-ambassador-jacob-lew-on-fews-net-report/">called</a>&nbsp;the warning by the internationally recognized group&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/famine-gaza-warning-israel-united-states-8333697957bed4df13f5ab0c1582d4bd">inaccurate and “irresponsible</a>." Lew and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which funds the monitoring group, both said the findings failed to properly account for rapidly changing circumstances in north Gaza.

Humanitarian and human rights officials expressed fear of U.S. political interference in the world's monitoring system for famines. The U.S. Embassy in Israel and the State Department declined comment. FEWS officials did not respond to questions.

“We work day and night with the U.N. and our Israeli partners to meet humanitarian needs — which are great — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible,” Lew said Tuesday.

USAID confirmed to the AP that it had asked the famine-monitoring organization to withdraw its stepped-up warning issued in a report dated Monday. The&nbsp;<a href="https://fews.net/sites/default/files/2024-12/Gaza_Alert_202412_1.pdf">report</a>&nbsp;did not appear among the top updates on the group's website Thursday,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/famine-gaza-warning-israel-united-states-8333697957bed4df13f5ab0c1582d4bd">but the link to it remained active</a>.

The dispute points in part to the difficulty of assessing the extent of starvation in largely isolated northern Gaza. Thousands in recent weeks have fled an intensified Israeli military crackdown that aid groups say has allowed delivery of only a dozen trucks of food and water since roughly October.

FEWS Net said in its withdrawn report that unless Israel changes its policy, it expects the number of people dying of starvation and related ailments in north Gaza to reach between two and 15 per day sometime between January and March.

The internationally recognized mortality threshold for famine is&nbsp;<a href="https://fews.net/about/integrated-phase-classification#:~:text=of%20coping%20strategies.-,Famine%20(IPC%20Phase%205),per%2010%2C000%20people%20per%20day.">two or more deaths a day per 10,000 people.</a>

FEWS was created by the U.S. development agency in the 1980s and is still funded by it. But it is intended to provide independent, neutral and data-driven assessments of hunger crises, including in war zones. Its findings help guide decisions on aid by the U.S. and other governments and agencies around the world.

A spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry, Oren Marmorstein, welcomed the U.S. ambassador's public challenge of the famine warning. “FEWS NET - Stop spreading these lies!” Marmorstein said on&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/OrenMarmorstein/status/1871587714229043532">X</a>.

In challenging the findings publicly, the U.S. ambassador "leveraged his political power to undermine the work of this expert agency,” said Scott Paul, a senior manager at the Oxfam America humanitarian nonprofit. Paul stressed that he was not weighing in on the accuracy of the data or methodology of the report.

“The whole point of creating FEWS is to have a group of experts make assessments about imminent famine that are untainted by political considerations,” said Kenneth Roth, former executive director of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/human-rights-watch">Human Rights Watch</a>&nbsp;and now a visiting professor in international affairs at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/princeton-university">Princeton University</a>. “It sure looks like USAID is allowing political considerations -- the Biden administration’s worry about funding Israel’s starvation strategy -- to interfere."

Israel says it has been operating in recent months against Hamas militants still active in northern Gaza. It says the vast majority of the area’s residents have fled and relocated to Gaza City, where most aid destined for the north is delivered. But some critics, including a former defense minister, have accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza’s far north, near the Israeli border.

North Gaza has been one of the areas hardest-hit by fighting and Israel’s restrictions on aid throughout its war with Hamas militants. Global famine monitors and U.N. and U.S. officials have warned repeatedly of the imminent risk of malnutrition and deaths from starvation hitting famine levels.

International officials say Israel last summer increased the amount of aid it was admitting there, under U.S. pressure. The U.S. and U.N. have said Gaza’s people as a whole need between 350 and 500 trucks a day of food and other vital needs.

But the U.N. and aid groups say Israel recently has again blocked almost all aid to that part of Gaza.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/cindy-mccain">Cindy McCain</a>, the American head of the U.N. World Food Program,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/famine-gaza-warning-israel-united-states-8333697957bed4df13f5ab0c1582d4bd">called</a>&nbsp;earlier this month for political pressure to get food flowing to Palestinians there.

Israel says it places no restrictions on aid entering Gaza and that hundreds of truckloads of goods are piled up at Gaza’s crossings and accused international aid agencies of failing to deliver the supplies. The U.N. and other aid groups say Israeli restrictions, ongoing combat, looting and insufficient security by Israeli troops make it impossible to deliver aid effectively.

Lew, the U.S. ambassador, said the famine warning was based on “outdated and inaccurate” data. He pointed to uncertainty over how many of the 65,000-75,000 people remaining in northern Gaza had fled in recent weeks, saying that skewed the findings.

FEWS said in its report that its famine assessment holds even if as few as 10,000 people remain.

USAID in its statement to AP said it had reviewed the report before it became public, and noted “discrepancies” in population estimates and some other data. The U.S. agency had asked the famine warning group to address those uncertainties and be clear in its final report to reflect how those uncertainties affected its predictions of famine, it said.

“This was relayed before Ambassador Lew’s statement,” USAID said in a statement. “FEWS NET did not resolve any of these concerns and published in spite of these technical comments and a request for substantive engagement before publication. As such, USAID asked to retract the report.”

Roth criticized the U.S. challenge of the report in light of the gravity of the crisis there.

“This quibbling over the number of people desperate for food seems a politicized diversion from the fact that the Israeli government is blocking virtually all food from getting in,” he said, adding that “the Biden administration seems to be closing its eyes to that reality, but putting its head in the sand won’t feed anyone.”

The U.S., Israel’s main backer, provided a record amount of military support in the first year of the war. At the same time, the Biden administration repeatedly urged Israel to allow more access to aid deliveries in Gaza overall, and warned that failing to do so could trigger U.S. restrictions on military support. The administration recently said Israel was making improvements and declined to carry out its threat of restrictions.

Military support for Israel’s war in Gaza is politically charged in the U.S., with Republicans and some Democrats staunchly opposed any effort to limit U.S. support over the suffering of Palestinian civilians trapped in the conflict. The Biden administration’s reluctance to do more to press Israel for improved treatment of civilians undercut support for Democrats in last month’s elections.

Sam Mednick and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/11/1698839698947.png" alt="U.S. ambassador to Israel&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jacob-lew">Jacob Lew</a>-image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>U.S. ambassador to Israel&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jacob-lew">Jacob Lew</a>-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — A lead organization monitoring for food crises around the world withdrew a new report this week warning of imminent famine in north&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-news-12-25-2024-be8508e8a1a89343b94e963137e42d5b">Gaza</a>&nbsp;under what it called Israel's “near-total blockade,” after the U.S. asked for its retraction, U.S. officials told The Associated Press. The move follows public criticism of the report from the U.S. ambassador to Israel.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1735262710659.png" alt="Famine Early Warning System" />
 <figcaption>Famine Early Warning System</figcaption>
 </figure>The rare public challenge from the Biden administration of the work of the U.S.-funded&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/famine-gaza-warning-israel-united-states-8333697957bed4df13f5ab0c1582d4bd">Famine Early Warning System,</a>&nbsp;which is meant to reflect the data-driven analysis of unbiased experts, drew accusations from aid and human-rights figures of possible U.S. political interference. A finding of famine would be a public rebuke of Israel, which has insisted that its 15-month war in Gaza is aimed against the Hamas militant group and not against its civilian population.U.S. ambassador to Israel&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jacob-lew">Jacob Lew</a>&nbsp;earlier this week&nbsp;<a href="https://il.usembassy.gov/statement-from-u-s-ambassador-jacob-lew-on-fews-net-report/">called</a>&nbsp;the warning by the internationally recognized group&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/famine-gaza-warning-israel-united-states-8333697957bed4df13f5ab0c1582d4bd">inaccurate and “irresponsible</a>." Lew and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which funds the monitoring group, both said the findings failed to properly account for rapidly changing circumstances in north Gaza.Humanitarian and human rights officials expressed fear of U.S. political interference in the world's monitoring system for famines. The U.S. Embassy in Israel and the State Department declined comment. FEWS officials did not respond to questions.“We work day and night with the U.N. and our Israeli partners to meet humanitarian needs — which are great — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible,” Lew said Tuesday.USAID confirmed to the AP that it had asked the famine-monitoring organization to withdraw its stepped-up warning issued in a report dated Monday. The&nbsp;<a href="https://fews.net/sites/default/files/2024-12/Gaza_Alert_202412_1.pdf">report</a>&nbsp;did not appear among the top updates on the group's website Thursday,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/famine-gaza-warning-israel-united-states-8333697957bed4df13f5ab0c1582d4bd">but the link to it remained active</a>.The dispute points in part to the difficulty of assessing the extent of starvation in largely isolated northern Gaza. Thousands in recent weeks have fled an intensified Israeli military crackdown that aid groups say has allowed delivery of only a dozen trucks of food and water since roughly October.FEWS Net said in its withdrawn report that unless Israel changes its policy, it expects the number of people dying of starvation and related ailments in north Gaza to reach between two and 15 per day sometime between January and March.The internationally recognized mortality threshold for famine is&nbsp;<a href="https://fews.net/about/integrated-phase-classification#:~:text=of%20coping%20strategies.-,Famine%20(IPC%20Phase%205),per%2010%2C000%20people%20per%20day.">two or more deaths a day per 10,000 people.</a>FEWS was created by the U.S. development agency in the 1980s and is still funded by it. But it is intended to provide independent, neutral and data-driven assessments of hunger crises, including in war zones. Its findings help guide decisions on aid by the U.S. and other governments and agencies around the world.A spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry, Oren Marmorstein, welcomed the U.S. ambassador's public challenge of the famine warning. “FEWS NET - Stop spreading these lies!” Marmorstein said on&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/OrenMarmorstein/status/1871587714229043532">X</a>.In challenging the findings publicly, the U.S. ambassador "leveraged his political power to undermine the work of this expert agency,” said Scott Paul, a senior manager at the Oxfam America humanitarian nonprofit. Paul stressed that he was not weighing in on the accuracy of the data or methodology of the report.“The whole point of creating FEWS is to have a group of experts make assessments about imminent famine that are untainted by political considerations,” said Kenneth Roth, former executive director of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/human-rights-watch">Human Rights Watch</a>&nbsp;and now a visiting professor in international affairs at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/princeton-university">Princeton University</a>. “It sure looks like USAID is allowing political considerations -- the Biden administration’s worry about funding Israel’s starvation strategy -- to interfere."Israel says it has been operating in recent months against Hamas militants still active in northern Gaza. It says the vast majority of the area’s residents have fled and relocated to Gaza City, where most aid destined for the north is delivered. But some critics, including a former defense minister, have accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza’s far north, near the Israeli border.North Gaza has been one of the areas hardest-hit by fighting and Israel’s restrictions on aid throughout its war with Hamas militants. Global famine monitors and U.N. and U.S. officials have warned repeatedly of the imminent risk of malnutrition and deaths from starvation hitting famine levels.International officials say Israel last summer increased the amount of aid it was admitting there, under U.S. pressure. The U.S. and U.N. have said Gaza’s people as a whole need between 350 and 500 trucks a day of food and other vital needs.But the U.N. and aid groups say Israel recently has again blocked almost all aid to that part of Gaza.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/cindy-mccain">Cindy McCain</a>, the American head of the U.N. World Food Program,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/famine-gaza-warning-israel-united-states-8333697957bed4df13f5ab0c1582d4bd">called</a>&nbsp;earlier this month for political pressure to get food flowing to Palestinians there.Israel says it places no restrictions on aid entering Gaza and that hundreds of truckloads of goods are piled up at Gaza’s crossings and accused international aid agencies of failing to deliver the supplies. The U.N. and other aid groups say Israeli restrictions, ongoing combat, looting and insufficient security by Israeli troops make it impossible to deliver aid effectively.Lew, the U.S. ambassador, said the famine warning was based on “outdated and inaccurate” data. He pointed to uncertainty over how many of the 65,000-75,000 people remaining in northern Gaza had fled in recent weeks, saying that skewed the findings.FEWS said in its report that its famine assessment holds even if as few as 10,000 people remain.USAID in its statement to AP said it had reviewed the report before it became public, and noted “discrepancies” in population estimates and some other data. The U.S. agency had asked the famine warning group to address those uncertainties and be clear in its final report to reflect how those uncertainties affected its predictions of famine, it said.“This was relayed before Ambassador Lew’s statement,” USAID said in a statement. “FEWS NET did not resolve any of these concerns and published in spite of these technical comments and a request for substantive engagement before publication. As such, USAID asked to retract the report.”Roth criticized the U.S. challenge of the report in light of the gravity of the crisis there.“This quibbling over the number of people desperate for food seems a politicized diversion from the fact that the Israeli government is blocking virtually all food from getting in,” he said, adding that “the Biden administration seems to be closing its eyes to that reality, but putting its head in the sand won’t feed anyone.”The U.S., Israel’s main backer, provided a record amount of military support in the first year of the war. At the same time, the Biden administration repeatedly urged Israel to allow more access to aid deliveries in Gaza overall, and warned that failing to do so could trigger U.S. restrictions on military support. The administration recently said Israel was making improvements and declined to carry out its threat of restrictions.Military support for Israel’s war in Gaza is politically charged in the U.S., with Republicans and some Democrats staunchly opposed any effort to limit U.S. support over the suffering of Palestinian civilians trapped in the conflict. The Biden administration’s reluctance to do more to press Israel for improved treatment of civilians undercut support for Democrats in last month’s elections.___Sam Mednick and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Rebuke from U.S. leads to withdrawal of Gaza famine warning 

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump promised on Tuesday to “vigorously pursue” capital punishment after President Joe&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-death-row-commutations-trump-executions-f67b5e04453cd1aa6383c516bc14f300">Biden commuted the sentences</a>&nbsp;of most people on federal death row partly to stop Trump from pushing forward their executions.

Trump criticized Biden’s decision on Monday to change the sentences of 37 of the 40 condemned people to life in prison without parole, arguing that it was senseless and insulted the families of their victims. Biden said converting their punishments to life imprisonment was consistent with the moratorium imposed on federal executions in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.

“Joe Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of the worst killers in our Country,” he wrote on his social media site. “When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense. Relatives and friends are further devastated. They can’t believe this is happening!”

Presidents historically have no involvement in dictating or recommending the punishments that federal prosecutors seek for defendants in criminal cases, though Trump has long sought more direct control over the Justice Department's operations. The president-elect wrote that he would direct the department to pursue the death penalty “as soon as I am inaugurated,” but was vague on what specific actions he may take and said they would be in cases of “violent rapists, murderers, and monsters.”

He highlighted the cases of two men who were on federal death row for slaying a woman and a girl, had admitted to killing more and had their sentences commuted by Biden.

On the campaign trail, Trump often called for expanding the federal death penalty — including for those who kill police officers, those convicted of drug and human trafficking, and migrants who kill U.S. citizens.

“Trump has been fairly consistent in wanting to sort of say that he thinks the death penalty is an important tool and he wants to use it,” said Douglas Berman, an expert on sentencing at Ohio State University’s law school. “But whether practically any of that can happen, either under existing law or other laws, is a heavy lift.”

Berman said Trump’s statement at this point seems to be just a response to Biden’s commutation.

“I’m inclined to think it’s still in sort of more the rhetoric phase. Just, ‘don’t worry. The new sheriff is coming. I like the death penalty,’” he said.

Most Americans have historically supported the death penalty for people convicted of murder, according to decades of annual polling by Gallup, but support has declined over the past few decades. About half of Americans were in favor in an October poll, while roughly 7 in 10 Americans backed capital punishment for murderers in 2007.

Death row inmates are mostly sentenced by states

Before Biden's commutation, there were 40 federal death row inmates compared with more than 2,000 who have been sentenced to death by states.

“The reality is all of these crimes are typically handled by the states,” Berman said.

A question is whether the Trump administration would try to take over some state murder cases, such as those related to drug trafficking or smuggling. He could also attempt to take cases from states that have abolished the death penalty.

Berman said Trump's statement, along with some recent actions by states, may present an effort to get the Supreme Court to reconsider a precedent that considers the death penalty disproportionate punishment for rape.

“That would literally take decades to unfold. It’s not something that is going to happen overnight,” Berman said.

Before one of Trump's rallies on Aug. 20, his prepared remarks released to the media said he would announce he would ask for the death penalty for child rapists and child traffickers. But Trump never delivered the line.

What were the cases highlighted by Trump?

One of the men Trump highlighted on Tuesday was ex-Marine Jorge Avila Torrez, who was sentenced to death for killing a sailor in Virginia and later pleaded guilty to the fatal stabbing of an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old girl in a suburban Chicago park several years before.

The other man, Thomas Steven Sanders, was sentenced to death for the kidnapping and slaying of a 12-year-old girl in Louisiana, days after shooting the girl's mother in a wildlife park in Arizona. Court records show he admitted to both killings.

Some families of victims expressed anger with Biden's decision, but the president had faced pressure from advocacy groups urging him to make it more difficult for Trump to increase the use of capital punishment for federal inmates. The ACLU and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops were some of the groups that applauded the decision.

Biden left three federal inmates to face execution. They are Dylann Roof, who carried out the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-389bcc56019f268cb1056e37a517bd6c">2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church</a>&nbsp;in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/dzhokhar-tsarnaev">Dzhokhar Tsarnaev</a>; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-death-penalty-27e3b1a505cacdd674ee9b8a179aa1a8">Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018</a>, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history. _______

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1734957421965.png" alt="According to the U.S. Attorney, in 2014, a federal jury in Louisiana decided that Thomas Sanders, 57, should be put to death for the brutal kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Lexis Roberts in the fall of 2010. Sanders drove several days across the country before he murdered the girl in a wooded area in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. Evidence at trial established that Sanders shot Lexis Roberts four times, cut her throat, and left her body in the woods where a hunter found her body . President Biden commuted his sentence-photo Yavapai County, AZ Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>According to the U.S. Attorney, in 2014, a federal jury in Louisiana decided that Thomas Sanders, 57, should be put to death for the brutal kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Lexis Roberts in the fall of 2010. Sanders drove several days across the country before he murdered the girl in a wooded area in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. Evidence at trial established that Sanders shot Lexis Roberts four times, cut her throat, and left her body in the woods where a hunter found her body . President Biden commuted his sentence-photo Yavapai County, AZ Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump promised on Tuesday to “vigorously pursue” capital punishment after President Joe&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-death-row-commutations-trump-executions-f67b5e04453cd1aa6383c516bc14f300">Biden commuted the sentences</a>&nbsp;of most people on federal death row partly to stop Trump from pushing forward their executions.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1735074506437.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Trump criticized Biden’s decision on Monday to change the sentences of 37 of the 40 condemned people to life in prison without parole, arguing that it was senseless and insulted the families of their victims. Biden said converting their punishments to life imprisonment was consistent with the moratorium imposed on federal executions in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.“Joe Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of the worst killers in our Country,” he wrote on his social media site. “When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense. Relatives and friends are further devastated. They can’t believe this is happening!”Presidents historically have no involvement in dictating or recommending the punishments that federal prosecutors seek for defendants in criminal cases, though Trump has long sought more direct control over the Justice Department's operations. The president-elect wrote that he would direct the department to pursue the death penalty “as soon as I am inaugurated,” but was vague on what specific actions he may take and said they would be in cases of “violent rapists, murderers, and monsters.”He highlighted the cases of two men who were on federal death row for slaying a woman and a girl, had admitted to killing more and had their sentences commuted by Biden.<h2>Is it a plan in motion or more rhetoric?</h2>On the campaign trail, Trump often called for expanding the federal death penalty — including for those who kill police officers, those convicted of drug and human trafficking, and migrants who kill U.S. citizens.“Trump has been fairly consistent in wanting to sort of say that he thinks the death penalty is an important tool and he wants to use it,” said Douglas Berman, an expert on sentencing at Ohio State University’s law school. “But whether practically any of that can happen, either under existing law or other laws, is a heavy lift.”Berman said Trump’s statement at this point seems to be just a response to Biden’s commutation.“I’m inclined to think it’s still in sort of more the rhetoric phase. Just, ‘don’t worry. The new sheriff is coming. I like the death penalty,’” he said.Most Americans have historically supported the death penalty for people convicted of murder, according to decades of annual polling by Gallup, but support has declined over the past few decades. About half of Americans were in favor in an October poll, while roughly 7 in 10 Americans backed capital punishment for murderers in 2007.<h2>Death row inmates are mostly sentenced by states</h2>Before Biden's commutation, there were 40 federal death row inmates compared with more than 2,000 who have been sentenced to death by states.“The reality is all of these crimes are typically handled by the states,” Berman said.A question is whether the Trump administration would try to take over some state murder cases, such as those related to drug trafficking or smuggling. He could also attempt to take cases from states that have abolished the death penalty.<h2>Could rape now be punishable by death?</h2>Berman said Trump's statement, along with some recent actions by states, may present an effort to get the Supreme Court to reconsider a precedent that considers the death penalty disproportionate punishment for rape.“That would literally take decades to unfold. It’s not something that is going to happen overnight,” Berman said.Before one of Trump's rallies on Aug. 20, his prepared remarks released to the media said he would announce he would ask for the death penalty for child rapists and child traffickers. But Trump never delivered the line.<h2>What were the cases highlighted by Trump?</h2>One of the men Trump highlighted on Tuesday was ex-Marine Jorge Avila Torrez, who was sentenced to death for killing a sailor in Virginia and later pleaded guilty to the fatal stabbing of an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old girl in a suburban Chicago park several years before.The other man, Thomas Steven Sanders, was sentenced to death for the kidnapping and slaying of a 12-year-old girl in Louisiana, days after shooting the girl's mother in a wildlife park in Arizona. Court records show he admitted to both killings.Some families of victims expressed anger with Biden's decision, but the president had faced pressure from advocacy groups urging him to make it more difficult for Trump to increase the use of capital punishment for federal inmates. The ACLU and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops were some of the groups that applauded the decision.Biden left three federal inmates to face execution. They are Dylann Roof, who carried out the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-389bcc56019f268cb1056e37a517bd6c">2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church</a>&nbsp;in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/dzhokhar-tsarnaev">Dzhokhar Tsarnaev</a>; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-death-penalty-27e3b1a505cacdd674ee9b8a179aa1a8">Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018</a>, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history. _______

Trump vows to pursue executions after Biden commutes most of federal death row

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon house cat died after eating pet food that tested positive for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/angela-rasmussen-california-bird-flu-saskatchewan-animals-0299de6bbc3740c8be3c348b1c6055e3">bird flu</a>, Oregon authorities said, prompting a recall of raw frozen pet food that was sold nationwide.

Northwest Naturals, a pet food company based in Portland, Oregon, said Tuesday it had voluntarily recalled one batch of its two-pound Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food after it tested positive for the virus. The product was sold through distributors in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, as well as Canada’s British Columbia.

“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food,” Oregon Department of Agriculture State Veterinarian Dr. Ryan Scholz said in a Tuesday news release. “This cat was strictly an indoor cat; it was not exposed to the virus in its environment, and results from the genome sequencing confirmed that the virus recovered from the raw pet food and infected cat were exact matches to each other.”

The recalled product is packaged in two-pound plastic bags with “best if used by” dates of May 21, 2026, and June 23, 2026. The company and Oregon authorities said that consumers who bought the recalled product should throw it away immediately and contact the place of purchase for a refund.

No&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bird-flu-severe-louisiana-2b4a5f55a05cf8be9b169c15e8b9582d">human cases</a>&nbsp;of bird flu have been linked to the incident, but those who were in contact with the cat are being monitored for flu symptoms, Oregon authorities said.

More than 60 people in eight states&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bird-flu-h5n1-spread-people-e5edab844b409b8ba21feaecb10156d0">have been infected</a>, with mostly mild illnesses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. One person in Louisiana has been hospitalized with the nation’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bird-flu-severe-louisiana-2b4a5f55a05cf8be9b169c15e8b9582d">first known severe illness</a>&nbsp;caused by the virus, health officials said last week.

So far, the CDC has confirmed one human case of bird flu in Oregon. The person was linked to a previously reported outbreak at a commercial poultry operation and fully recovered after experiencing mild illness, according to a November news release from the Oregon Health Authority.

In late October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that a pig at a backyard farm in Oregon was found to have bird flu, marking the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bird-flu-pig-oregon-1f340a8f8c781e20478cbddabd2d9e18">first detection of the virus in U.S. swine</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1733747978622.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon house cat died after eating pet food that tested positive for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/angela-rasmussen-california-bird-flu-saskatchewan-animals-0299de6bbc3740c8be3c348b1c6055e3">bird flu</a>, Oregon authorities said, prompting a recall of raw frozen pet food that was sold nationwide.Northwest Naturals, a pet food company based in Portland, Oregon, said Tuesday it had voluntarily recalled one batch of its two-pound Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food after it tested positive for the virus. The product was sold through distributors in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, as well as Canada’s British Columbia.“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food,” Oregon Department of Agriculture State Veterinarian Dr. Ryan Scholz said in a Tuesday news release. “This cat was strictly an indoor cat; it was not exposed to the virus in its environment, and results from the genome sequencing confirmed that the virus recovered from the raw pet food and infected cat were exact matches to each other.”The recalled product is packaged in two-pound plastic bags with “best if used by” dates of May 21, 2026, and June 23, 2026. The company and Oregon authorities said that consumers who bought the recalled product should throw it away immediately and contact the place of purchase for a refund.No&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bird-flu-severe-louisiana-2b4a5f55a05cf8be9b169c15e8b9582d">human cases</a>&nbsp;of bird flu have been linked to the incident, but those who were in contact with the cat are being monitored for flu symptoms, Oregon authorities said.More than 60 people in eight states&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bird-flu-h5n1-spread-people-e5edab844b409b8ba21feaecb10156d0">have been infected</a>, with mostly mild illnesses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. One person in Louisiana has been hospitalized with the nation’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bird-flu-severe-louisiana-2b4a5f55a05cf8be9b169c15e8b9582d">first known severe illness</a>&nbsp;caused by the virus, health officials said last week.So far, the CDC has confirmed one human case of bird flu in Oregon. The person was linked to a previously reported outbreak at a commercial poultry operation and fully recovered after experiencing mild illness, according to a November news release from the Oregon Health Authority.In late October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that a pig at a backyard farm in Oregon was found to have bird flu, marking the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bird-flu-pig-oregon-1f340a8f8c781e20478cbddabd2d9e18">first detection of the virus in U.S. swine</a>.

House cat died after eating pet food that tested positive for bird flu

By AMANDA HERNANDEZ Kansas Reflector

Legislators have enacted stricter laws to combat rising retail thefts

CHICAGO — Shoplifting rates in the three largest U.S. cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — remain higher than they were before the pandemic, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://counciloncj.org/between-the-aisles-a-closer-look-at-shoplifting-trends/" target="_blank">report</a>&nbsp;last month from the nonpartisan research group Council on Criminal Justice.

The sharp rise in retail theft in recent years has made shoplifting a hot-button issue, especially for politicians looking to address public safety concerns in their communities.

Since 2020, when viral videos of smash-and-grab robberies flooded social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans have expressed fears that crime is out of control. Polls show that perceptions have improved recently, but a majority of Americans&nbsp;<a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/652763/smaller-majorities-say-crime-serious-increasing.aspx" target="_blank">still say</a>&nbsp;crime is worse than in previous years.

“There is this sense of brazenness that people have — they can just walk in and steal stuff. … That hurts the consumer, and it hurts the company,” said Alex Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Miami and former director of the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, in an interview.

“That’s just the world we live in,” he said. “We need to get people to realize that you have to obey the law.”

At least eight states — Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, New York and Vermont — passed a total of 14 bills in 2024 aimed at tackling retail theft, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The measures range from redefining retail crimes and adjusting penalties to allowing cross-county aggregation of theft charges and protecting retail workers.

Major retailers have responded to rising theft since 2020 by locking up merchandise, upgrading security cameras, hiring private security firms and even closing stores.

Still, the report indicates that shoplifting remains a stubborn problem.

In Chicago, the rate of reported shoplifting incidents remained below pre-pandemic levels throughout 2023 — but surged by 46% from January to October 2024 compared with the same period a year ago.

Shoplifting in Los Angeles was 87% higher in 2023 than in 2019. Police reports of shoplifting from January to October 2024 were lower than in 2023. Los Angeles adopted a new crime reporting system in March 2024, which has likely led to an undercount, according to the report.

In New York, shoplifting rose 48% from 2021 to 2022, then dipped slightly last year. Still, the shoplifting rate was 55% higher in 2023 than in 2019. This year, the shoplifting rate increased by 3% from January to September compared with the same period last year.

While shoplifting rates tend to rise in November and December, which coincides with in-person holiday shopping, data from the Council on Criminal Justice’s sample of 23 U.S. cities shows higher rates in the first half of 2024 compared with 2023.

Researchers found it surprising that rates went up despite retailers doing more to fight shoplifting. Experts say the spike might reflect improved reporting efforts rather than a spike in theft.

“As retailers have been paying more attention to shoplifting, we would not expect the numbers to increase,” said Ernesto Lopez, the report’s author and a senior research specialist with the council. “It makes it a challenge to understand the trends of shoplifting.”

In downtown Chicago on a recent early afternoon, potential shoppers shuffled through the streets and nearby malls, browsing for gifts ahead of the holidays.

Edward Johnson, a guard at The Shops at North Bridge, said that malls have become quieter in the dozen or so years he has worked in mall security, with the rise of online retailers. As for shoplifters, Johnson said there isn’t a single type of person to look out for — they can come from any background.

“I think good-hearted people see something they can’t afford and figure nothing is lost if they take something from the store,” Johnson said as he patrolled the mall, keeping an eye out for lost or suspicious items.

Between 2018 and 2023, most shoplifting in Chicago was reported in the downtown area, as well as in the Old Town, River North and Lincoln Park neighborhoods, according to a separate&nbsp;<a href="https://counciloncj.org/shoplifting-trends-in-time-and-space-a-study-of-two-major-american-cities/" target="_blank">analysis</a>&nbsp;by the Council on Criminal Justice.

Newly sworn-in Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke this month lowered the threshold for charging retail theft as a felony in the county, which includes Chicago, from $1,000 to $300, aligning it with state law.

“It sends a signal that she’s taking it seriously,” Rob Karr, the president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, told Stateline.

Nationally, retailers are worried about organized theft. The National Retail Federation’s latest&nbsp;<a href="https://nrf.com/research/national-retail-security-survey-2023" target="_blank">report</a>&nbsp;attributed 36% of the $112.1 billion in lost merchandise in 2022 to “external theft,” which includes organized retail crime.

Organized retail crime typically involves coordinated efforts by groups to steal items with the intent to resell them for a profit. Commonly targeted goods include high-demand items such as baby formula, laundry detergent and electronics.

The same report found that retailers’ fear of violence associated with theft also is on the rise, with more retailers taking a “hands-off approach.” More than 41% of respondents to the organization’s 2023 survey, up from 38% in 2022, reported that no employee is authorized to try and stop a shoplifter.

(The federation’s reporting has come under criticism. It&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/business/organized-shoplifting-retail-crime-theft-retraction.html" target="_blank">retracted</a>&nbsp;a claim last year that attributed nearly half of lost merchandise in 2021 to organized retail crime; such theft accounted for only about 5%. The group announced this fall it will no longer publish its reports on lost merchandise.)

Policy experts say shoplifting and organized retail theft can significantly harm critical industries, drive up costs for consumers and reduce sales tax revenue for states. Those worries have driven recent state-level action to boost penalties for shoplifting.

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/08/16/governor-newsom-signs-landmark-legislative-package-cracking-down-on-retail-crime-and-property-theft/" target="_blank">signed</a>&nbsp;a package of 10 bills into law in August aimed at addressing retail theft. These measures make repeated theft convictions a felony, allow aggregation of crimes across multiple counties to be charged as a single felony, and permit police to arrest suspects for retail theft even if the crime wasn’t witnessed directly by an officer. In September, Newsom&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/09/12/governor-newsom-signs-smash-and-grab-bill-to-strengthen-felony-sentences-for-large-scale-theft-offenses/" target="_blank">signed</a>&nbsp;an additional bill that imposes steeper felony penalties for large-scale theft offenses.

California voters also overwhelmingly&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2024/11/19/even-blue-states-are-embracing-a-tougher-approach-to-crime/" target="_blank">approved</a>&nbsp;a ballot measure in November that increases penalties for specific drug-related and theft crimes. Under the new law, people who are convicted of theft at least twice may face felony charges on their third offense, regardless of the stolen item’s value.

“With these changes in the law, really it comes down to making sure that law enforcement is showing up to our stores in a timely manner, and that the prosecutors and the (district attorneys) are prosecuting,” Rachel Michelin, the president and CEO of the California Retailers Association, told Stateline. “That’s the only way we’re going to deter retail theft in our communities.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1734976092401.jpeg" alt="Items are displayed in the window of a Burberry store on Michigan Avenue along the Magnificent Mile in Chicago in November. The rate of reported shoplifting incidents in the city surged by 46% from January to October 2024 compared with the same period in 2023, according to a recent report by the Council on Criminal Justice. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)" />
 <figcaption>Items are displayed in the window of a Burberry store on Michigan Avenue along the Magnificent Mile in Chicago in November. The rate of reported shoplifting incidents in the city surged by 46% from January to October 2024 compared with the same period in 2023, according to a recent report by the Council on Criminal Justice. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)</figcaption>
 </figure>By AMANDA HERNANDEZ Kansas ReflectorLegislators have enacted stricter laws to combat rising retail theftsCHICAGO — Shoplifting rates in the three largest U.S. cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — remain higher than they were before the pandemic, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://counciloncj.org/between-the-aisles-a-closer-look-at-shoplifting-trends/" target="_blank">report</a>&nbsp;last month from the nonpartisan research group Council on Criminal Justice.The sharp rise in retail theft in recent years has made shoplifting a hot-button issue, especially for politicians looking to address public safety concerns in their communities.Since 2020, when viral videos of smash-and-grab robberies flooded social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans have expressed fears that crime is out of control. Polls show that perceptions have improved recently, but a majority of Americans&nbsp;<a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/652763/smaller-majorities-say-crime-serious-increasing.aspx" target="_blank">still say</a>&nbsp;crime is worse than in previous years.“There is this sense of brazenness that people have — they can just walk in and steal stuff. … That hurts the consumer, and it hurts the company,” said Alex Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Miami and former director of the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, in an interview.“That’s just the world we live in,” he said. “We need to get people to realize that you have to obey the law.”At least eight states — Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, New York and Vermont — passed a total of 14 bills in 2024 aimed at tackling retail theft, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The measures range from redefining retail crimes and adjusting penalties to allowing cross-county aggregation of theft charges and protecting retail workers.Major retailers have responded to rising theft since 2020 by locking up merchandise, upgrading security cameras, hiring private security firms and even closing stores.Still, the report indicates that shoplifting remains a stubborn problem.In Chicago, the rate of reported shoplifting incidents remained below pre-pandemic levels throughout 2023 — but surged by 46% from January to October 2024 compared with the same period a year ago.Shoplifting in Los Angeles was 87% higher in 2023 than in 2019. Police reports of shoplifting from January to October 2024 were lower than in 2023. Los Angeles adopted a new crime reporting system in March 2024, which has likely led to an undercount, according to the report.In New York, shoplifting rose 48% from 2021 to 2022, then dipped slightly last year. Still, the shoplifting rate was 55% higher in 2023 than in 2019. This year, the shoplifting rate increased by 3% from January to September compared with the same period last year.While shoplifting rates tend to rise in November and December, which coincides with in-person holiday shopping, data from the Council on Criminal Justice’s sample of 23 U.S. cities shows higher rates in the first half of 2024 compared with 2023.Researchers found it surprising that rates went up despite retailers doing more to fight shoplifting. Experts say the spike might reflect improved reporting efforts rather than a spike in theft.“As retailers have been paying more attention to shoplifting, we would not expect the numbers to increase,” said Ernesto Lopez, the report’s author and a senior research specialist with the council. “It makes it a challenge to understand the trends of shoplifting.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1734976148112.jpeg" alt="Chicago mall security guard Edward Johnson believes there’s isn’t a particular type of shoplifter, making enforcement difficult. (Robbie Sequeira/Stateline)" />
 <figcaption>Chicago mall security guard Edward Johnson believes there’s isn’t a particular type of shoplifter, making enforcement difficult. (Robbie Sequeira/Stateline)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Impact on retailers, communities</h2>In downtown Chicago on a recent early afternoon, potential shoppers shuffled through the streets and nearby malls, browsing for gifts ahead of the holidays.Edward Johnson, a guard at The Shops at North Bridge, said that malls have become quieter in the dozen or so years he has worked in mall security, with the rise of online retailers. As for shoplifters, Johnson said there isn’t a single type of person to look out for — they can come from any background.“I think good-hearted people see something they can’t afford and figure nothing is lost if they take something from the store,” Johnson said as he patrolled the mall, keeping an eye out for lost or suspicious items.Between 2018 and 2023, most shoplifting in Chicago was reported in the downtown area, as well as in the Old Town, River North and Lincoln Park neighborhoods, according to a separate&nbsp;<a href="https://counciloncj.org/shoplifting-trends-in-time-and-space-a-study-of-two-major-american-cities/" target="_blank">analysis</a>&nbsp;by the Council on Criminal Justice.Newly sworn-in Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke this month lowered the threshold for charging retail theft as a felony in the county, which includes Chicago, from $1,000 to $300, aligning it with state law.“It sends a signal that she’s taking it seriously,” Rob Karr, the president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, told Stateline.Nationally, retailers are worried about organized theft. The National Retail Federation’s latest&nbsp;<a href="https://nrf.com/research/national-retail-security-survey-2023" target="_blank">report</a>&nbsp;attributed 36% of the $112.1 billion in lost merchandise in 2022 to “external theft,” which includes organized retail crime.Organized retail crime typically involves coordinated efforts by groups to steal items with the intent to resell them for a profit. Commonly targeted goods include high-demand items such as baby formula, laundry detergent and electronics.The same report found that retailers’ fear of violence associated with theft also is on the rise, with more retailers taking a “hands-off approach.” More than 41% of respondents to the organization’s 2023 survey, up from 38% in 2022, reported that no employee is authorized to try and stop a shoplifter.(The federation’s reporting has come under criticism. It&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/business/organized-shoplifting-retail-crime-theft-retraction.html" target="_blank">retracted</a>&nbsp;a claim last year that attributed nearly half of lost merchandise in 2021 to organized retail crime; such theft accounted for only about 5%. The group announced this fall it will no longer publish its reports on lost merchandise.)<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1734976184900.jpeg" alt="Shoppers descend on an escalator at The Shops at North Bridge, a popular downtown Chicago destination during the holiday season. (Robbie Sequeira/Stateline)" />
 <figcaption>Shoppers descend on an escalator at The Shops at North Bridge, a popular downtown Chicago destination during the holiday season. (Robbie Sequeira/Stateline)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Increased penalties</h2>Policy experts say shoplifting and organized retail theft can significantly harm critical industries, drive up costs for consumers and reduce sales tax revenue for states. Those worries have driven recent state-level action to boost penalties for shoplifting.California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/08/16/governor-newsom-signs-landmark-legislative-package-cracking-down-on-retail-crime-and-property-theft/" target="_blank">signed</a>&nbsp;a package of 10 bills into law in August aimed at addressing retail theft. These measures make repeated theft convictions a felony, allow aggregation of crimes across multiple counties to be charged as a single felony, and permit police to arrest suspects for retail theft even if the crime wasn’t witnessed directly by an officer. In September, Newsom&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/09/12/governor-newsom-signs-smash-and-grab-bill-to-strengthen-felony-sentences-for-large-scale-theft-offenses/" target="_blank">signed</a>&nbsp;an additional bill that imposes steeper felony penalties for large-scale theft offenses.California voters also overwhelmingly&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2024/11/19/even-blue-states-are-embracing-a-tougher-approach-to-crime/" target="_blank">approved</a>&nbsp;a ballot measure in November that increases penalties for specific drug-related and theft crimes. Under the new law, people who are convicted of theft at least twice may face felony charges on their third offense, regardless of the stolen item’s value.“With these changes in the law, really it comes down to making sure that law enforcement is showing up to our stores in a timely manner, and that the prosecutors and the (district attorneys) are prosecuting,” Rachel Michelin, the president and CEO of the California Retailers Association, told Stateline. “That’s the only way we’re going to deter retail theft in our communities.”In New Jersey, a bipartisan&nbsp;<a href="https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2024/A4755" target="_blank">bill</a>&nbsp;making its way through the legislature would increase penalties for leading a shoplifting ring and allow extended sentences for repeat offenders.“This bill is going after a formally organized band of criminals that deliver such destruction to a critical business in our community. We have to act. We have to create a deterrence,” Democratic Assemblymember Joseph Danielsen, one of the bill’s prime sponsors, said in an interview with Stateline.The legislation would allow extended sentences for people convicted of shoplifting three times within 10 years or within 10 years of their release from prison, and would increase penalties to 10 to 20 years in prison for leading a retail crime ring.The bill also would allow law enforcement to aggregate the value of stolen goods over the course of a year to charge serial shoplifters with more serious offenses. Additionally, the bill would increase penalties for assaults committed against retail workers, and would require retailers to train employees on detecting gift card scams.Maryland legislators considered a similar&nbsp;<a href="https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/SB0100?ys=2024rs" target="_blank">bill</a>&nbsp;during this year’s legislative session that would have defined organized retail theft and made it a felony.The bill didn’t make it out of committee, but Cailey Locklair, president of the Maryland Retailers Alliance, said the group plans to propose a bill during next year’s legislative session that would target gift card fraud.<h2>Retail theft data</h2>Better, more thorough reporting from retailers is essential to truly understanding shoplifting trends and its full impact, in part because some retail-related crimes, such as gift card fraud, are frequently underreported, according to Lopez, of the Council on Criminal Justice.Measuring crime across jurisdictions is&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2023/10/27/politicians-love-to-cite-crime-data-its-often-wrong/" target="_blank">notoriously difficult</a>, and the council does not track organized retail theft specifically because law enforcement typically doesn’t identify it as such at the time of arrest — if an arrest even occurs — requiring further investigation, Lopez said.The council’s latest report found conflicting trends in the FBI’s national crime reporting systems.The FBI’s older system, the Summary Reporting System, known as SRS, suggests that reported shoplifting hadn’t gone up through 2023, remaining on par with 2019 levels. In contrast, the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS, shows a 93% increase in shoplifting over the same period.The discrepancy may stem from the type of law enforcement agencies that have adopted the latter system, Lopez said. Some of those communities may have higher levels of shoplifting or other types of property crime, which could be what is driving the spike, Lopez said.Despite the discrepancies and varying levels of shoplifting across the country, Lopez said, it’s important for retailers to report these incidents, as doing so could help allocate law enforcement resources more effectively.“All law enforcement agencies have limited resources, and having the most accurate information allows for not just better policy, but also better implementation — better use of strategic resources,” Lopez said.Stateline staff writer Robbie Sequeira contributed to this report.Stateline, a States Newsroom affiliate, produced&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2024/12/19/new-shoplifting-data-explains-why-theyre-locking-up-the-toothpaste/" target="_blank">this report</a>.