FINNEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities and USD 457 are investigating a criminal threat at Garden City High School.

Just after 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Garden City High School received a phone call from an unknown individual indicating there was a bomb inside theschool. Out of an abundance of caution, all students and staff were immediately evacuated and law enforcement was notified.

The Garden City Police Department, Finney County Sheriff’s Office, Kansas Highway Patrol, Finney County Emergency Management, Garden City Fire Department, and Finney County Emergency Medical Services responded accordingly and searched the school to ensure the safety of students and employees.

After a thorough investigation by law enforcement, no threats to the students, staff, or school were discovered, and Garden City

High School was released at its normal dismissal time. The scene was cleared around 3:30 p.m., and no explosives were located.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1708478304551.png" alt="photo Garden City Police" />
 <figcaption>photo Garden City Police</figcaption>
 </figure>FINNEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities and USD 457 are investigating a criminal threat at Garden City High School.Just after 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Garden City High School received a phone call from an unknown individual indicating there was a bomb inside theschool. Out of an abundance of caution, all students and staff were immediately evacuated and law enforcement was notified.The Garden City Police Department, Finney County Sheriff’s Office, Kansas Highway Patrol, Finney County Emergency Management, Garden City Fire Department, and Finney County Emergency Medical Services responded accordingly and searched the school to ensure the safety of students and employees.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">UPDATE (3:30 P.M.): No threats to the students, staff, or school were discovered, and the scene is clear. A formal media release is forthcoming.&mdash; Garden City (KS) Police Department (@GCPD) <a href="https://twitter.com/GCPD/status/1760054600327938087?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">UPDATE (2:45 P.M.): Garden City High School will dismiss at its normal time. First Responders remain on scene continuing their investigation and are directing traffic at dismissal time. We will provide updates when available.&mdash; Garden City (KS) Police Department (@GCPD) <a href="https://twitter.com/GCPD/status/1760042888644182094?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">UPDATE (1:50 P.M.): First Responders are investigating a possible criminal threat at Garden City High School. The high school continues to keep students and staff out of the building. Please avoid the area as the investigation continues. We will provide updates when available.&mdash; Garden City (KS) Police Department (@GCPD) <a href="https://twitter.com/GCPD/status/1760029869524566200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fgckschools%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0DV9uoPEPVVPiz38Nc6NGjC7S7t6CumWHDpqhSJwsLJUNgMkY2hu8cqGtcy1WMjLxl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="189" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>After a thorough investigation by law enforcement, no threats to the students, staff, or school were discovered, and Garden CityHigh School was released at its normal dismissal time. The scene was cleared around 3:30 p.m., and no explosives were located.

Bomb threat forced evacuation at Kansas high school

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Despite a month of U.S.-led airstrikes,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-attacks-iran-ships-retaliation-houthis-d770a3fb0fab4c4b72e2459771833e11">Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels</a>&nbsp;remain capable of launching significant attacks. This week, they seriously damaged a ship in a crucial strait and downed an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars.

The continued assaults by the Houthis on shipping through the crucial Red Sea corridor — the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — against the backdrop of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip</a>&nbsp;underscore the challenges in trying to stop the guerrilla-style attacks they have used to hold onto Yemen's capital and much of the war-ravaged country's north since 2014.

The campaign has boosted the rebels' standing in the Arab world,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-middle-east-sanaa-houthis-religion-5e62561f8070441412ed52d222c950e3">despite their human rights abuses</a>&nbsp;in a yearslong stalemated war with several of America's allies in the region. Analysts warn that the longer the Houthis' attacks go on, the greater the risk that disruptions to international shipping will begin to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/red-sea-houthi-attacks-shipping-inflation-124d5445bec8ce6864112e3095646308">weigh on the global economy</a>.

On Monday, both the Houthis and Western officials acknowledged one of the most serious attacks on shipping launched by the rebels. The Houthis targeted the Belize-flagged bulk carrier Rubymar with two anti-ship ballistic missiles, and one struck the vessel, the U.S. military's Central Command said.

The Rubymar, which reported problems with its propulsion in November, apparently became inoperable, forcing her crew to abandon the vessel.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed on Monday night that the Rubymar sank. However, satellite images from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press showed the Rubymar still afloat at 2 p.m. local time Tuesday just north of the Bab el-Mandeb. A large oil slick trailed the vessel.

The Rubymar attack marked one of a few direct, serious hits by the Houthi rebels on shipping. In late January, another direct hit set&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-red-sea-israel-hamas-war-attacks-f36fc8911e069a5b4dbc4d9e67f31e50">a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker ablaze</a>&nbsp;for hours.

Meanwhile, the Houthis early Tuesday released footage of what they described as a surface-to-air missile bringing down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone off the coast of Hodeida, a Yemeni port city they hold on the Red Sea. The footage included a video of men dragging pieces of debris from the water onto a beach.

Images of the debris, which included writing in English and what seemed to be electrical equipment, appeared to correspond to known pieces of the Reaper, usually used in attack missions and surveillance flights. Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told journalists in a briefing the Houthis shot down the drone.

In November, the Pentagon acknowledged the loss of an MQ-9, also shot down by the rebels over the Red Sea.

Since the Houthis seized the country’s north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the U.S. military has lost at least four drones to shootdowns by the rebels — in 2017, 2019 and this year.

Meanwhile, the Houthis claimed an attack on the Sea Champion, a Greek-flagged, U.S.-owned bulk carrier full of grain bound for Aden, Yemen, carrying grain from Argentina. Central Command said the carrier “has delivered humanitarian aid to Yemen 11 times in the past five years” as the country remains on the edge of famine amid the war there.

The rebels separately claimed an attack on the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier Navis Fortuna, a ship that had been broadcasting its destination as Italy with an “all Chinese” crew to avoid being targeted. Private security firm Ambrey reported that the vessel sustained minor damage in a drone attack.

The U.S. shot down 10 bomb-carrying Houthi drones, as well as a cruise missile heading toward the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Laboon over the last day, Central Command said Tuesday. The U.S. military also conducted strikes targeting a Houthi surface-to-air missile launcher and a drone prior to its launch.

The Houthis acknowledged the drone attacks and claimed other assaults not immediately acknowledged by the West.

Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for trade among Asia, the Mideast and Europe. Those vessels have included&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-ship-missile-houthi-rebels-attack-bab-elmandeb-strait-999b911c916f9266c07a6d29cc020e9e">at least one with cargo for Iran</a>, the Houthis' main benefactor.

The European Union has launched its own campaign to protect shipping, with member France saying on Tuesday that it shot down two Houthi drones overnight in the Red Sea.

So far, no U.S. sailor or pilot has been wounded by the Houthis since America launched its airstrikes targeting the rebels in January. However, the U.S. continues to lose drones worth tens of millions of dollars and fire million-dollar cruise missiles to counter the Houthis, who are using far cheaper weapons that experts believe largely have been supplied by Iran.

Based on U.S. military statements, American and allied forces have destroyed at least 73 missiles of different types before they were launched, as well as 17 drones, 13 bomb-laden drone boats and one underwater explosive drone over their monthlong campaign, according to an AP tally. Those figures don't include the initial Jan. 11 joint U.S.-U.K. strikes that began the campaign. The American military also has shot down dozens of missiles and drones already airborne since November.

The Houthis haven't offered much information regarding their losses, though they've acknowledged at least 22 of their fighters have been killed in the American-led strikes. Insurgent forces including the Houthis and allied tribes in Yemen number around 20,000 fighters, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. They can operate in small units away from military bases, making targeting them more difficult.

The Houthis may view the costs as balanced by their sudden fame within an Arab world enraged by the killing of women and civilians by Israel in Gaza.

In the past, others — including the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden — have used the Palestinians' plight to justify their “actions and garner support,” wrote Fatima Abo Alasrar, a scholar at the Washington-based Middle East Institute.

“It legitimizes the Houthis’ actions in the eyes of those who sympathize with the Palestinian cause, distracts from the more immediate issues associated with the Yemen conflict and the failures of Houthi governance, and potentially broadens the base of their support beyond Yemen’s borders,” Alasrar added.

If the Houthi attacks continue, it could force the U.S. to intensify and widen its counterattacks across an already volatile Mideast.

“Without a cease-fire in Gaza, the Houthis could be tempted to further escalate against U.S. interests in the Red Sea and in the region,” wrote Eleonora Ardemagni, a fellow at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies.

For Washington, “deterrence options” are getting narrower, she added.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/12/1701652753204.png" alt="File photo U.S. Central Command" />
 <figcaption>File photo U.S. Central Command</figcaption>
 </figure>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Despite a month of U.S.-led airstrikes,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-attacks-iran-ships-retaliation-houthis-d770a3fb0fab4c4b72e2459771833e11">Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels</a>&nbsp;remain capable of launching significant attacks. This week, they seriously damaged a ship in a crucial strait and downed an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars.The continued assaults by the Houthis on shipping through the crucial Red Sea corridor — the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — against the backdrop of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip</a>&nbsp;underscore the challenges in trying to stop the guerrilla-style attacks they have used to hold onto Yemen's capital and much of the war-ravaged country's north since 2014.The campaign has boosted the rebels' standing in the Arab world,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-middle-east-sanaa-houthis-religion-5e62561f8070441412ed52d222c950e3">despite their human rights abuses</a>&nbsp;in a yearslong stalemated war with several of America's allies in the region. Analysts warn that the longer the Houthis' attacks go on, the greater the risk that disruptions to international shipping will begin to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/red-sea-houthi-attacks-shipping-inflation-124d5445bec8ce6864112e3095646308">weigh on the global economy</a>.On Monday, both the Houthis and Western officials acknowledged one of the most serious attacks on shipping launched by the rebels. The Houthis targeted the Belize-flagged bulk carrier Rubymar with two anti-ship ballistic missiles, and one struck the vessel, the U.S. military's Central Command said.The Rubymar, which reported problems with its propulsion in November, apparently became inoperable, forcing her crew to abandon the vessel.Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed on Monday night that the Rubymar sank. However, satellite images from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press showed the Rubymar still afloat at 2 p.m. local time Tuesday just north of the Bab el-Mandeb. A large oil slick trailed the vessel.The Rubymar attack marked one of a few direct, serious hits by the Houthi rebels on shipping. In late January, another direct hit set&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-red-sea-israel-hamas-war-attacks-f36fc8911e069a5b4dbc4d9e67f31e50">a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker ablaze</a>&nbsp;for hours.Meanwhile, the Houthis early Tuesday released footage of what they described as a surface-to-air missile bringing down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone off the coast of Hodeida, a Yemeni port city they hold on the Red Sea. The footage included a video of men dragging pieces of debris from the water onto a beach.Images of the debris, which included writing in English and what seemed to be electrical equipment, appeared to correspond to known pieces of the Reaper, usually used in attack missions and surveillance flights. Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told journalists in a briefing the Houthis shot down the drone.In November, the Pentagon acknowledged the loss of an MQ-9, also shot down by the rebels over the Red Sea.Since the Houthis seized the country’s north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the U.S. military has lost at least four drones to shootdowns by the rebels — in 2017, 2019 and this year.Meanwhile, the Houthis claimed an attack on the Sea Champion, a Greek-flagged, U.S.-owned bulk carrier full of grain bound for Aden, Yemen, carrying grain from Argentina. Central Command said the carrier “has delivered humanitarian aid to Yemen 11 times in the past five years” as the country remains on the edge of famine amid the war there.The rebels separately claimed an attack on the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier Navis Fortuna, a ship that had been broadcasting its destination as Italy with an “all Chinese” crew to avoid being targeted. Private security firm Ambrey reported that the vessel sustained minor damage in a drone attack.The U.S. shot down 10 bomb-carrying Houthi drones, as well as a cruise missile heading toward the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Laboon over the last day, Central Command said Tuesday. The U.S. military also conducted strikes targeting a Houthi surface-to-air missile launcher and a drone prior to its launch.The Houthis acknowledged the drone attacks and claimed other assaults not immediately acknowledged by the West.Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for trade among Asia, the Mideast and Europe. Those vessels have included&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-ship-missile-houthi-rebels-attack-bab-elmandeb-strait-999b911c916f9266c07a6d29cc020e9e">at least one with cargo for Iran</a>, the Houthis' main benefactor.The European Union has launched its own campaign to protect shipping, with member France saying on Tuesday that it shot down two Houthi drones overnight in the Red Sea.So far, no U.S. sailor or pilot has been wounded by the Houthis since America launched its airstrikes targeting the rebels in January. However, the U.S. continues to lose drones worth tens of millions of dollars and fire million-dollar cruise missiles to counter the Houthis, who are using far cheaper weapons that experts believe largely have been supplied by Iran.Based on U.S. military statements, American and allied forces have destroyed at least 73 missiles of different types before they were launched, as well as 17 drones, 13 bomb-laden drone boats and one underwater explosive drone over their monthlong campaign, according to an AP tally. Those figures don't include the initial Jan. 11 joint U.S.-U.K. strikes that began the campaign. The American military also has shot down dozens of missiles and drones already airborne since November.The Houthis haven't offered much information regarding their losses, though they've acknowledged at least 22 of their fighters have been killed in the American-led strikes. Insurgent forces including the Houthis and allied tribes in Yemen number around 20,000 fighters, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. They can operate in small units away from military bases, making targeting them more difficult.The Houthis may view the costs as balanced by their sudden fame within an Arab world enraged by the killing of women and civilians by Israel in Gaza.In the past, others — including the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden — have used the Palestinians' plight to justify their “actions and garner support,” wrote Fatima Abo Alasrar, a scholar at the Washington-based Middle East Institute.“It legitimizes the Houthis’ actions in the eyes of those who sympathize with the Palestinian cause, distracts from the more immediate issues associated with the Yemen conflict and the failures of Houthi governance, and potentially broadens the base of their support beyond Yemen’s borders,” Alasrar added.If the Houthi attacks continue, it could force the U.S. to intensify and widen its counterattacks across an already volatile Mideast.“Without a cease-fire in Gaza, the Houthis could be tempted to further escalate against U.S. interests in the Red Sea and in the region,” wrote Eleonora Ardemagni, a fellow at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies.For Washington, “deterrence options” are getting narrower, she added.

Pentagon admits Iran-back rebels downed U.S. drone worth millions of dollars

NEW YORK (AP) — A curious criminal case involving&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hotel-california-lyrics-manuscript-trial-eagles-henley-973e74e795416821e6f022895b47b78e">handwritten lyrics to the classic rock megahit “Hotel California”</a>&nbsp;and other Eagles favorites is going to trial in a New York courtroom, with opening statements set for Wednesday.

The three defendants, all well-established in the collectibles world, are accused of scheming to thwart Eagles co-founder Don Henley’s efforts to reclaim the allegedly ill-gotten documents.

The trial concerns more than 80 pages of drafts of the words to songs from the “Hotel California” album, the 1976 release that stands today as the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3c0b39a1bb5b4e44aafe2c4e05a4b67f">third-biggest selling disc ever</a>&nbsp;in the U.S.

Rare-book dealer Glenn Horowitz, former Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and various other charges. Their lawyers have said the case “alleges criminality where none exists and unfairly tarnishes the reputations of well-respected professionals.”

The documents include lyrics-in-development for “Life in the Fast Lane,” “New Kid in Town” and, of course, “Hotel California,” the more than six-minute-long, somewhat mysterious musical tale of the goings-on at an inviting, decadent but ultimately dark place where “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”

If scorned by some as an overexposed artifact of the '70s, the Grammy-winning song is still a touchstone on classic rock radio and many personal playlists. The entertainment data company Luminate counted over 220 million streams and 136,000 radio plays of “Hotel California” in the U.S. last year.

The case was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-new-york-california-290e31743f028951408a4a80a681f880">brought in 2022</a>, a decade after some of the pages began popping up for auction and Henley took notice — and took umbrage. He bought back a bit of the material for $8,500 but also reported the documents stolen, according to court filings.

At the time, the lyrics sheets were in the hands of Kosinski and Inciardi, who had bought them from Horowitz. He had purchased them in 2005 from Ed Sanders, a writer and 1960s counterculture figure who worked with the Eagles on a band biography that was shelved in the early '80s.

Sanders, who also co-founded the avant-garde rock group the Fugs, isn't charged in the case and hasn't responded to a message seeking comment about it.

Sanders told Horowitz in 2005 that Henley's assistant had mailed along any documents he wanted for the biography, though the writer worried that Henley “might conceivably be upset” if they were sold, according to emails recounted in the indictment.

But once Henley's lawyers began asking questions, Horowitz, Inciardi and Kosinski started maneuvering to gin up and disseminate a legally viable ownership history for the manuscripts, Manhattan prosecutors say.

According to the indictment, Inciardi and Horowitz floated evolving accounts of how Sanders obtained the documents. The explanations ranged over the next five years from Sanders finding them abandoned in a backstage dressing room to the writer getting them from Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey, who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-music-8169f05ac21d43dda4b1c1dd8b065e28">died in 2016</a>.

Emails show some input and assent from Sanders, but he also apparently objected at least to the backstage-salvage story. In messages that didn't include him, Horowitz wrote about getting Sanders' “'explanation' shaped into a communication" and giving him “gentle handling” and assurances “that he's not going to the can,” the indictment says.

The defendants' lawyers have said that Sanders had legal possession of the documents, and so did the men who bought them from him. Defense attorneys have indicated they plan to question how clearly Henley remembers his dealings with Sanders and the lyric sheets at a time when the rock star was living life in the fast lane himself.

NEW YORK (AP) — In the mid-1970s, the Eagles were working on a spooky, cryptic new song.

On a lined yellow pad, Don Henley, with input from band co-founder Glenn Frey, jotted thoughts about “a dark desert highway" and “a lovely place” with a luxurious surface and ominous undertones. And something on ice, perhaps caviar or Taittinger — or pink Champagne?

The song, “Hotel California,” became one of rock's most indelible singles. And nearly a half-century later, those handwritten pages of lyrics-in-the-making have become the center of an unusual criminal trial set to open Wednesday.

Rare-book dealer Glenn Horowitz, former Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski are charged with conspiring to own and try to sell manuscripts of “Hotel California” and other Eagles hits without the right to do so.

The three have pleaded not guilty, and their lawyers have said the men committed no crime with the papers, which they acquired via a writer who'd worked with the Eagles. But the Manhattan district attorney’s office says the defendants connived to obscure the documents’ disputed ownership, despite knowing that Henley said the pages were stolen.

Clashes over valuable collectibles abound, but criminal trials like this are rare. Many fights are resolved in private, in lawsuits or with agreements to return the items.

“If you can avoid a prosecution by handing over the thing, most people just hand it over," said Travis McDade, a University of Illinois law professor who studies rare document disputes.

Of course, the case of the Eagles manuscripts is distinctive in other ways, too.

The prosecutors' star witness is indeed that: Henley is expected to testify between Eagles tour stops. The non-jury trial could offer a peek into the band's creative process and life in the fast lane of '70s stardom.

At issue are over 80 pages of draft lyrics from the blockbuster 1976 “Hotel California” album, including words to the chart-topping, Grammy-winning title cut. It features one of classic rock's most recognizable riffs, best-known solos and most oft-quoted — arguably overquoted — lines: “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”

Henley&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/don-henley-the-eagles-glenn-frey-kennedy-center-honor-hotel-california/">has said</a>&nbsp;the song is about “the dark underbelly of the American dream."

It still was streamed over 220 million times and got 136,000 radio spins last year in the U.S. alone, according to the entertainment data company Luminate. The “Hotel California” album&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3c0b39a1bb5b4e44aafe2c4e05a4b67f">has sold 26 million copies nationwide</a>&nbsp;over the years, bested only by an Eagles' greatest hits disc and Michael Jackson's “Thriller.”

The pages also include lyrics from songs including “Life in the Fast Lane” and “New Kid in Town.” Eagles manager Irving Azoff has called the documents “irreplaceable pieces of musical history.”

Horowitz, Inciardi and Kosinki are charged with conspiracy to possess stolen property and various other offenses.

They’re not charged with actually stealing documents. Nor is anyone else, but prosecutors will still have to establish that the documents were stolen. The defense maintains that's not true.

Much turns on the Eagles' interactions with Ed Sanders, a writer who also co-founded the 1960s counterculture rock band the Fugs. He worked in the late ‘70s and early ’80s on an authorized Eagles biography that was never published.

Sanders isn’t charged in the case. A phone message seeking comment was left for him.

He sold the pages to Horowitz, who then sold them to Inciardi and Kosinski.

Horowitz has handled huge rare book and archive deals, and he's been entangled in some ownership spats before. One involved papers linked to "Gone With the Wind″ author Margaret Mitchell. It was settled.

Inciardi worked on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/1638d88917dd46f2a1a915ed35f70b09">notable exhibitions</a>&nbsp;for the Cleveland-based Rock Hall of Fame. Kosinski has been a principal in Gotta Have It! Collectibles, known for auctioning celebrities’ personal possessions — so personal that Madonna&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/e97e69c287624787b094ed2a161489a1">unsuccessfully sued</a>&nbsp;to try to stop a sale that included her latex briefs.

Henley told a grand jury he never gave the biographer the lyrics, according to court filings from Kosinski's lawyers. But defense lawyers have signaled that they plan to probe Henley’s memory of the time.

“We believe that Mr. Henley voluntarily provided the lyrics to Mr. Sanders,” attorney Scott Edelman said in court last week.

Sanders told Horowitz in 2005 that while working on the Eagles book, he was sent whatever papers he wanted from Henley’s home in Malibu, California, according to the indictment.

Then Kosinski’s business offered some pages at auction in 2012. Henley’s attorneys came knocking. And Horowitz, Inciardi and Sanders, in varying combinations, began batting around alternate versions of the manuscripts’ provenance, the indictment says.

In one story, Sanders found the pages discarded in a backstage dressing room. In others, he got them from a stage assistant or while amassing “a lot of material related to the Eagles from different people." In yet another, he obtained them from Frey — an account that “would make this go away once and for all," Horowitz suggested in 2017. Frey had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-music-8169f05ac21d43dda4b1c1dd8b065e28">died the year before</a>.

“He merely needs gentle handling and reassurance that he's not going to the can,” Horowitz emailed Inciardi during a 2012 exchange about getting Sanders' “‘explanation’ shaped into a communication” to auctioneers, the indictment says.

Sanders supplied or signed off on some of the varying explanations, according to the indictment, and it’s unclear what he may have conveyed verbally. But he apparently rejected at least the dressing-room tale.

Kosinki forwarded one explanation, approved by Sanders, to Henley's lawyer. Kosinski also assured Sotheby's auction house that the musician had “no claim” to the documents and asked to keep potential bidders in the dark about Henley's complaints, the indictment says.

Sotheby's listed the “Hotel California” song lyrics in a 2016 auction but withdrew them after learning the ownership was in question. Sotheby's isn't charged in the case and declined to comment.

Henley bought some draft lyrics privately from Gotta Have It! for $8,500 in 2012, when he also began filing police reports, according to court filings.

Defense lawyers claim Henley found starstruck prosecutors to take up his cause instead of pursuing a civil suit himself.

The DA's office worked closely with Henley's legal team, and an investigator even yearned for backstage passes for an Eagles show — until a prosecutor said the idea was “completely inappropriate,” Kosinki's lawyers said in court papers.

Prosecutors have rebuffed questions about their motivations as “a conspiracy theory rather than a legal defense.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1708429319229.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — A curious criminal case involving&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hotel-california-lyrics-manuscript-trial-eagles-henley-973e74e795416821e6f022895b47b78e">handwritten lyrics to the classic rock megahit “Hotel California”</a>&nbsp;and other Eagles favorites is going to trial in a New York courtroom, with opening statements set for Wednesday.The three defendants, all well-established in the collectibles world, are accused of scheming to thwart Eagles co-founder Don Henley’s efforts to reclaim the allegedly ill-gotten documents.The trial concerns more than 80 pages of drafts of the words to songs from the “Hotel California” album, the 1976 release that stands today as the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3c0b39a1bb5b4e44aafe2c4e05a4b67f">third-biggest selling disc ever</a>&nbsp;in the U.S.Rare-book dealer Glenn Horowitz, former Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and various other charges. Their lawyers have said the case “alleges criminality where none exists and unfairly tarnishes the reputations of well-respected professionals.”The documents include lyrics-in-development for “Life in the Fast Lane,” “New Kid in Town” and, of course, “Hotel California,” the more than six-minute-long, somewhat mysterious musical tale of the goings-on at an inviting, decadent but ultimately dark place where “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”If scorned by some as an overexposed artifact of the '70s, the Grammy-winning song is still a touchstone on classic rock radio and many personal playlists. The entertainment data company Luminate counted over 220 million streams and 136,000 radio plays of “Hotel California” in the U.S. last year.The case was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-new-york-california-290e31743f028951408a4a80a681f880">brought in 2022</a>, a decade after some of the pages began popping up for auction and Henley took notice — and took umbrage. He bought back a bit of the material for $8,500 but also reported the documents stolen, according to court filings.At the time, the lyrics sheets were in the hands of Kosinski and Inciardi, who had bought them from Horowitz. He had purchased them in 2005 from Ed Sanders, a writer and 1960s counterculture figure who worked with the Eagles on a band biography that was shelved in the early '80s.Sanders, who also co-founded the avant-garde rock group the Fugs, isn't charged in the case and hasn't responded to a message seeking comment about it.Sanders told Horowitz in 2005 that Henley's assistant had mailed along any documents he wanted for the biography, though the writer worried that Henley “might conceivably be upset” if they were sold, according to emails recounted in the indictment.But once Henley's lawyers began asking questions, Horowitz, Inciardi and Kosinski started maneuvering to gin up and disseminate a legally viable ownership history for the manuscripts, Manhattan prosecutors say.According to the indictment, Inciardi and Horowitz floated evolving accounts of how Sanders obtained the documents. The explanations ranged over the next five years from Sanders finding them abandoned in a backstage dressing room to the writer getting them from Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey, who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-music-8169f05ac21d43dda4b1c1dd8b065e28">died in 2016</a>.Emails show some input and assent from Sanders, but he also apparently objected at least to the backstage-salvage story. In messages that didn't include him, Horowitz wrote about getting Sanders' “'explanation' shaped into a communication" and giving him “gentle handling” and assurances “that he's not going to the can,” the indictment says.The defendants' lawyers have said that Sanders had legal possession of the documents, and so did the men who bought them from him. Defense attorneys have indicated they plan to question how clearly Henley remembers his dealings with Sanders and the lyric sheets at a time when the rock star was living life in the fast lane himself.---------------------NEW YORK (AP) — In the mid-1970s, the Eagles were working on a spooky, cryptic new song.On a lined yellow pad, Don Henley, with input from band co-founder Glenn Frey, jotted thoughts about “a dark desert highway" and “a lovely place” with a luxurious surface and ominous undertones. And something on ice, perhaps caviar or Taittinger — or pink Champagne?The song, “Hotel California,” became one of rock's most indelible singles. And nearly a half-century later, those handwritten pages of lyrics-in-the-making have become the center of an unusual criminal trial set to open Wednesday.Rare-book dealer Glenn Horowitz, former Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski are charged with conspiring to own and try to sell manuscripts of “Hotel California” and other Eagles hits without the right to do so.The three have pleaded not guilty, and their lawyers have said the men committed no crime with the papers, which they acquired via a writer who'd worked with the Eagles. But the Manhattan district attorney’s office says the defendants connived to obscure the documents’ disputed ownership, despite knowing that Henley said the pages were stolen.Clashes over valuable collectibles abound, but criminal trials like this are rare. Many fights are resolved in private, in lawsuits or with agreements to return the items.“If you can avoid a prosecution by handing over the thing, most people just hand it over," said Travis McDade, a University of Illinois law professor who studies rare document disputes.Of course, the case of the Eagles manuscripts is distinctive in other ways, too.The prosecutors' star witness is indeed that: Henley is expected to testify between Eagles tour stops. The non-jury trial could offer a peek into the band's creative process and life in the fast lane of '70s stardom.At issue are over 80 pages of draft lyrics from the blockbuster 1976 “Hotel California” album, including words to the chart-topping, Grammy-winning title cut. It features one of classic rock's most recognizable riffs, best-known solos and most oft-quoted — arguably overquoted — lines: “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”Henley&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/don-henley-the-eagles-glenn-frey-kennedy-center-honor-hotel-california/">has said</a>&nbsp;the song is about “the dark underbelly of the American dream."It still was streamed over 220 million times and got 136,000 radio spins last year in the U.S. alone, according to the entertainment data company Luminate. The “Hotel California” album&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3c0b39a1bb5b4e44aafe2c4e05a4b67f">has sold 26 million copies nationwide</a>&nbsp;over the years, bested only by an Eagles' greatest hits disc and Michael Jackson's “Thriller.”The pages also include lyrics from songs including “Life in the Fast Lane” and “New Kid in Town.” Eagles manager Irving Azoff has called the documents “irreplaceable pieces of musical history.”Horowitz, Inciardi and Kosinki are charged with conspiracy to possess stolen property and various other offenses.They’re not charged with actually stealing documents. Nor is anyone else, but prosecutors will still have to establish that the documents were stolen. The defense maintains that's not true.Much turns on the Eagles' interactions with Ed Sanders, a writer who also co-founded the 1960s counterculture rock band the Fugs. He worked in the late ‘70s and early ’80s on an authorized Eagles biography that was never published.Sanders isn’t charged in the case. A phone message seeking comment was left for him.He sold the pages to Horowitz, who then sold them to Inciardi and Kosinski.Horowitz has handled huge rare book and archive deals, and he's been entangled in some ownership spats before. One involved papers linked to "Gone With the Wind″ author Margaret Mitchell. It was settled.Inciardi worked on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/1638d88917dd46f2a1a915ed35f70b09">notable exhibitions</a>&nbsp;for the Cleveland-based Rock Hall of Fame. Kosinski has been a principal in Gotta Have It! Collectibles, known for auctioning celebrities’ personal possessions — so personal that Madonna&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/e97e69c287624787b094ed2a161489a1">unsuccessfully sued</a>&nbsp;to try to stop a sale that included her latex briefs.Henley told a grand jury he never gave the biographer the lyrics, according to court filings from Kosinski's lawyers. But defense lawyers have signaled that they plan to probe Henley’s memory of the time.“We believe that Mr. Henley voluntarily provided the lyrics to Mr. Sanders,” attorney Scott Edelman said in court last week.Sanders told Horowitz in 2005 that while working on the Eagles book, he was sent whatever papers he wanted from Henley’s home in Malibu, California, according to the indictment.Then Kosinski’s business offered some pages at auction in 2012. Henley’s attorneys came knocking. And Horowitz, Inciardi and Sanders, in varying combinations, began batting around alternate versions of the manuscripts’ provenance, the indictment says.In one story, Sanders found the pages discarded in a backstage dressing room. In others, he got them from a stage assistant or while amassing “a lot of material related to the Eagles from different people." In yet another, he obtained them from Frey — an account that “would make this go away once and for all," Horowitz suggested in 2017. Frey had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-music-8169f05ac21d43dda4b1c1dd8b065e28">died the year before</a>.“He merely needs gentle handling and reassurance that he's not going to the can,” Horowitz emailed Inciardi during a 2012 exchange about getting Sanders' “‘explanation’ shaped into a communication” to auctioneers, the indictment says.Sanders supplied or signed off on some of the varying explanations, according to the indictment, and it’s unclear what he may have conveyed verbally. But he apparently rejected at least the dressing-room tale.Kosinki forwarded one explanation, approved by Sanders, to Henley's lawyer. Kosinski also assured Sotheby's auction house that the musician had “no claim” to the documents and asked to keep potential bidders in the dark about Henley's complaints, the indictment says.Sotheby's listed the “Hotel California” song lyrics in a 2016 auction but withdrew them after learning the ownership was in question. Sotheby's isn't charged in the case and declined to comment.Henley bought some draft lyrics privately from Gotta Have It! for $8,500 in 2012, when he also began filing police reports, according to court filings.Defense lawyers claim Henley found starstruck prosecutors to take up his cause instead of pursuing a civil suit himself.The DA's office worked closely with Henley's legal team, and an investigator even yearned for backstage passes for an Eagles show — until a prosecutor said the idea was “completely inappropriate,” Kosinki's lawyers said in court papers.Prosecutors have rebuffed questions about their motivations as “a conspiracy theory rather than a legal defense.”

Criminal case over handwritten lyrics to 'Hotel California' goes to trial

THOMAS COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple potential charges after a standoff in northwest Kansas.

Just before 10a.m. Tuesday, the 911 center in Thomas County received information of an ongoing incident of a possible armed intruder, according to a media release from the Sheriff's Department.

The situation was changed to a hostage barricaded suspect.           Law enforcement Officers from the Colby Police Department, Thomas County Sheriff Office, Kansas Highway Patrol, and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation arrived on scene. 

A perimeter was established. A car with Texas plates was in the alley behind the home. While trying to establish contact with someone inside one of the hostages was able to climb out a bedroom window. 

It was determined there were 3 female adult hostages still inside with 2 children.            The hostage taker was a 41-year-old-man who had driven from Texas to locate the individuals in the house. 

         Around 10:38 am the man eventually walked out of the house with the hostages and was taken into custody. He was taken to the Thomas County Jail where he is being held.&nbsp; &nbsp;The sheriff's office has not released the name of the suspect or possible charges.

THOMAS COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple potential charges after a standoff in northwest Kansas.Just before 10a.m. Tuesday, the 911 center in Thomas County received information of an ongoing incident of a possible armed intruder, according to a media release from the Sheriff's Department.The situation was changed to a hostage barricaded suspect. Law enforcement Officers from the Colby Police Department, Thomas County Sheriff Office, Kansas Highway Patrol, and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation arrived on scene. A perimeter was established. A car with Texas plates was in the alley behind the home. While trying to establish contact with someone inside one of the hostages was able to climb out a bedroom window. It was determined there were 3 female adult hostages still inside with 2 children. The hostage taker was a 41-year-old-man who had driven from Texas to locate the individuals in the house. Around 10:38 am the man eventually walked out of the house with the hostages and was taken into custody. He was taken to the Thomas County Jail where he is being held.&nbsp; &nbsp;The sheriff's office has not released the name of the suspect or possible charges.

Suspect surrenders after hostages taken in NW Kansas

DOUGLAS COUNTY —A registered Kansas offender admits to new child sex crimes.

On Feb. 16, Michael W. Wicks, 53, of Lawrence, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual exploitation of a child for possessing nude images of children, according to&nbsp;Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez.

“In collaboration with our local law enforcement partners, we continue to enhance our prosecution of possession of child sexual abuse material,” District Attorney Valdez said. “We must hold offenders accountable in order to protect children and to deter this criminal conduct.”

Wicks was convicted of sexual exploitation of a child in 2020, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections. He has been registered as a sex offender since that time.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1708271196782.png" alt="Wicks-photo KBI Offender Registry" />
 <figcaption>Wicks-photo KBI Offender Registry</figcaption>
 </figure>DOUGLAS COUNTY —A registered Kansas offender admits to new child sex crimes.On Feb. 16, Michael W. Wicks, 53, of Lawrence, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual exploitation of a child for possessing nude images of children, according to&nbsp;Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez.“In collaboration with our local law enforcement partners, we continue to enhance our prosecution of possession of child sexual abuse material,” District Attorney Valdez said. “We must hold offenders accountable in order to protect children and to deter this criminal conduct.”Wicks was convicted of sexual exploitation of a child in 2020, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections. He has been registered as a sex offender since that time.

Kan. sex offender admits to new child sex crime charges

KANSAS CITY – A man has been convicted in federal court of the armed robbery of a credit union, according to the United State's Attorney.

Tre Joseph Connor, 29, Jefferson City, was found guilty on Feb. 15, of one count of bank robbery, one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Evidence introduced during the trial indicated that Connor entered River Region Credit Union, 3608 W. Truman Blvd. in Jefferson City, on the morning of Jan. 19, 2023. Connor, wearing a black ski mask, brandished a Smith &amp; Wesson 9mm semi-automatic pistol and ordered a credit union employee to open a vault. Connor stole approximately $111,700 from the vault, filled a backpack with the cash, and left through a side door.

Investigators used security cameras from various sources to identify Connor, including Walmart security camera footage that depicted Connor’s purchases of clothing and other items used in the robbery.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Connor, who has prior felony convictions for dissemination of private sexual images and harassment, was on probation at the time he committed the armed robbery.

Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in the U.S. District Court in Jefferson City, Mo., deliberated for approximately two and a half hours before returning guilty verdicts to U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark, ending a trial that began Monday, Feb. 12.

Under federal statutes, Connor is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1708291678603.png" alt="Connor-photo Cole County Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Connor-photo Cole County Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY – A man has been convicted in federal court of the armed robbery of a credit union, according to the United State's Attorney.Tre Joseph Connor, 29, Jefferson City, was found guilty on Feb. 15, of one count of bank robbery, one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.Evidence introduced during the trial indicated that Connor entered River Region Credit Union, 3608 W. Truman Blvd. in Jefferson City, on the morning of Jan. 19, 2023. Connor, wearing a black ski mask, brandished a Smith &amp; Wesson 9mm semi-automatic pistol and ordered a credit union employee to open a vault. Connor stole approximately $111,700 from the vault, filled a backpack with the cash, and left through a side door.Investigators used security cameras from various sources to identify Connor, including Walmart security camera footage that depicted Connor’s purchases of clothing and other items used in the robbery.Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Connor, who has prior felony convictions for dissemination of private sexual images and harassment, was on probation at the time he committed the armed robbery.Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in the U.S. District Court in Jefferson City, Mo., deliberated for approximately two and a half hours before returning guilty verdicts to U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark, ending a trial that began Monday, Feb. 12.Under federal statutes, Connor is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

Camera showed suspect purchase clothes used in $111K bank robbery

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law, a decision critics said could have sweeping implications for fertility treatment in the state.

<a href="https://publicportal-api.alappeals.gov/courts/68f021c4-6a44-4735-9a76-5360b2e8af13/cms/case/343D203A-B13D-463A-8176-C46E3AE4F695/docketentrydocuments/E3D95592-3CBE-4384-AFA6-063D4595AA1D">The decision was issued in a pair of wrongful death cases</a>&nbsp;brought by three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a fertility clinic. Justices, citing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/9169e683e92f452d8ac34e6d7d9c7d05">anti-abortion language</a>&nbsp;in the Alabama Constitution, ruled that an 1872 state law allowing parents to sue over the death of a minor child "applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location.”

"Unborn children are ‘children’ ... without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics,” Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in Friday's majority ruling by the all-Republican court.

Mitchell said the court had previously ruled that fetuses killed while a woman is pregnant are covered under Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act and nothing excludes “extrauterine children from the Act’s coverage.”

The ruling brought a rush of warnings about the potential impact on fertility treatments and the freezing of embryos, which had previously been considered property by the courts.

“This ruling is stating that a fertilized egg, which is a clump of cells, is now a person. It really puts into question, the practice of IVF,” Barbara Collura, CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, told The Associated Press Tuesday. The group called the decision a "terrifying development for the 1-in-6 people impacted by infertility" who need in-vitro fertilization.

She said it raises questions for providers and patients, including if they can freeze future embryos created during fertility treatment or if patients could ever donate or destroy unused embryos.

Sean Tipton, a spokesman with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said at least one Alabama fertility clinic has been instructed by their affiliated hospital to pause IVF treatment in the immediate wake of the decision.

Dr. Paula Amato, president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said a decision to treat frozen fertilized egg as the legal equivalent of a child or gestating fetus could limit the availability of modern health care.

“By insisting that these very different biological entities are legally equivalent, the best state-of-the-art fertility care will be made unavailable to the people of Alabama. No health care provider will be willing to provide treatments if those treatments may lead to civil or criminal charges,” Amato said.

Gabby Goidel, 26, who is pursuing IVF treatment in Alabama after three miscarriages, said the court ruling came down on the same day she began daily injections ahead of egg retrieval.

“It just kind of took me by by storm. It was like all I could think about and it was just a very stressful thing to hear. I immediately messaged my clinic and asked if this could potentially halt us. They said we have to take it one day at a time," Goidel said.

She said her clinic is continuing to provide treatment for now, but said it will let her know if they have to change course.

Goidel said she turned to IVF and preimplantation genetic testing after the multiple miscarriages related to genetic issues.

"Without IVF, I would have to probably go through several more miscarriages before I even had an option of having a baby that is my own," she said.

The plaintiffs in the Alabama case had undergone IVF treatments that led to the creation of several embryos, some of which were implanted and resulted in healthy births. The couples paid to keep others frozen in a storage facility at the Mobile Infirmary Medical Center. A patient in 2020 wandered into the area and removed several embryos, dropping them on the floor and "killing them,” the ruling said.

The justices ruled that wrongful death lawsuits by the couples could proceed. The clinic and hospital that are defendants in the case could ask the court to reconsider its decision.

Michael Upchurch, a lawyer for the fertility clinic in the lawsuit, Center for Reproductive Medicine, said they are “evaluating the consequences of the decision and have no further comment at this time.”

A pro-life group cheered the decision. “Each person, from the tiniest embryo to an elder nearing the end of his life, has incalculable value that deserves and is guaranteed legal protection," Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action said in a statement.

Chief Justice Tom Parker issued a concurring opinion in which he quoted the Bible in discussing the meaning of the phrase “the sanctity of unborn life” in the Alabama Constitution.

“Even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory," Parker said.

Justice Greg Cook, who filed the only full dissent to the majority opinion, said the 1872 law did not define “minor child" and was being stretched from the original intent to cover frozen embryos.

“No court — anywhere in the country — has reached the conclusion the main opinion reaches," he wrote, adding the ruling “almost certainly ends the creation of frozen embryos through in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Alabama.”

The Alabama Supreme Court decision partly hinged on anti-abortion language added to the Alabama Constitution in 2018, stating it is the "policy of this state to ensure the protection of the rights of the unborn child.”

Supporters at the time said it would have no impact unless states gained more control over abortion access. States gained control of abortion access in 2022.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Alabama decision reflected the consequences of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and blamed Republican elected officials from blocking access to reproductive and emergency care to women.

“This president and this vice president will continue to fight to protect access to reproductive health care and call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law for all women in every state,” Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law, a decision critics said could have sweeping implications for fertility treatment in the state.<a href="https://publicportal-api.alappeals.gov/courts/68f021c4-6a44-4735-9a76-5360b2e8af13/cms/case/343D203A-B13D-463A-8176-C46E3AE4F695/docketentrydocuments/E3D95592-3CBE-4384-AFA6-063D4595AA1D">The decision was issued in a pair of wrongful death cases</a>&nbsp;brought by three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a fertility clinic. Justices, citing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/9169e683e92f452d8ac34e6d7d9c7d05">anti-abortion language</a>&nbsp;in the Alabama Constitution, ruled that an 1872 state law allowing parents to sue over the death of a minor child "applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location.”"Unborn children are ‘children’ ... without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics,” Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in Friday's majority ruling by the all-Republican court.Mitchell said the court had previously ruled that fetuses killed while a woman is pregnant are covered under Alabama’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act and nothing excludes “extrauterine children from the Act’s coverage.”The ruling brought a rush of warnings about the potential impact on fertility treatments and the freezing of embryos, which had previously been considered property by the courts.“This ruling is stating that a fertilized egg, which is a clump of cells, is now a person. It really puts into question, the practice of IVF,” Barbara Collura, CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, told The Associated Press Tuesday. The group called the decision a "terrifying development for the 1-in-6 people impacted by infertility" who need in-vitro fertilization.She said it raises questions for providers and patients, including if they can freeze future embryos created during fertility treatment or if patients could ever donate or destroy unused embryos.Sean Tipton, a spokesman with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said at least one Alabama fertility clinic has been instructed by their affiliated hospital to pause IVF treatment in the immediate wake of the decision.Dr. Paula Amato, president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said a decision to treat frozen fertilized egg as the legal equivalent of a child or gestating fetus could limit the availability of modern health care.“By insisting that these very different biological entities are legally equivalent, the best state-of-the-art fertility care will be made unavailable to the people of Alabama. No health care provider will be willing to provide treatments if those treatments may lead to civil or criminal charges,” Amato said.Gabby Goidel, 26, who is pursuing IVF treatment in Alabama after three miscarriages, said the court ruling came down on the same day she began daily injections ahead of egg retrieval.“It just kind of took me by by storm. It was like all I could think about and it was just a very stressful thing to hear. I immediately messaged my clinic and asked if this could potentially halt us. They said we have to take it one day at a time," Goidel said.She said her clinic is continuing to provide treatment for now, but said it will let her know if they have to change course.Goidel said she turned to IVF and preimplantation genetic testing after the multiple miscarriages related to genetic issues."Without IVF, I would have to probably go through several more miscarriages before I even had an option of having a baby that is my own," she said.The plaintiffs in the Alabama case had undergone IVF treatments that led to the creation of several embryos, some of which were implanted and resulted in healthy births. The couples paid to keep others frozen in a storage facility at the Mobile Infirmary Medical Center. A patient in 2020 wandered into the area and removed several embryos, dropping them on the floor and "killing them,” the ruling said.The justices ruled that wrongful death lawsuits by the couples could proceed. The clinic and hospital that are defendants in the case could ask the court to reconsider its decision.Michael Upchurch, a lawyer for the fertility clinic in the lawsuit, Center for Reproductive Medicine, said they are “evaluating the consequences of the decision and have no further comment at this time.”A pro-life group cheered the decision. “Each person, from the tiniest embryo to an elder nearing the end of his life, has incalculable value that deserves and is guaranteed legal protection," Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action said in a statement.Chief Justice Tom Parker issued a concurring opinion in which he quoted the Bible in discussing the meaning of the phrase “the sanctity of unborn life” in the Alabama Constitution.“Even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory," Parker said.Justice Greg Cook, who filed the only full dissent to the majority opinion, said the 1872 law did not define “minor child" and was being stretched from the original intent to cover frozen embryos.“No court — anywhere in the country — has reached the conclusion the main opinion reaches," he wrote, adding the ruling “almost certainly ends the creation of frozen embryos through in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Alabama.”The Alabama Supreme Court decision partly hinged on anti-abortion language added to the Alabama Constitution in 2018, stating it is the "policy of this state to ensure the protection of the rights of the unborn child.”Supporters at the time said it would have no impact unless states gained more control over abortion access. States gained control of abortion access in 2022.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Alabama decision reflected the consequences of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and blamed Republican elected officials from blocking access to reproductive and emergency care to women.“This president and this vice president will continue to fight to protect access to reproductive health care and call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law for all women in every state,” Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One.___

Future of IVF at stake: AL judge rules frozen embryos are people

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two men have been charged with murder in last week’s shooting that killed one person and injured 22 others after the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade, Missouri prosecutors said Tuesday.

Dominic Miller and Lyndell Mays are charged with second-degree murder and other counts. They have been hospitalized since the shooting, Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said during a news conference. Officials declined to answer whether the men were being treated for gunshot wounds or other injuries.

Court records lay out a basic view of how the shooting unfolded.

The men did not know each other before the shooting, according to prosecutors. They were among several people arguing when Mays “pulled his handgun first almost immediately” and several others did the same, Peters Baker said. Police say it was Miller’s gun that fired the shot that killed a woman.

Online court records did not list attorneys who could comment on the men’s behalf. The Missouri State Public Defender’s Office said applications for public defenders for the men had not yet been received by the Kansas City office.

The new charges come after two juveniles were detained last week&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chiefs-super-bowl-parade-shooting-kansas-city-278e2d3e2cfece1cbe958511e54127ad">on gun-related and resisting arrest charges</a>. Authorities said more charges were possible.

“I do want you to understand — we seek to hold every shooter accountable for their actions on that day. Every single one,” Peters Baker said. “So while we’re not there yet on every single individual, we’re going to get there.”

Police have said a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chiefs-super-bowl-parade-shooting-kansas-city-62e69a17b469b854afd7bcc3f548d1fc">dispute among several people</a>&nbsp;led to the shooting, which happened even as 800 police officers patrolled the celebration.

The 22 people injured range in age from 8 to 47, according to police Chief Stacey Graves.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-chiefs-parade-shooting-dj-victim-d96b8631a92af6682b77577c2c4e98c8">Lisa Lopez-Galvan</a>, a mother of two and the host of “Taste of Tejano,” was killed.

The shooting was the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chiefs-parade-shooting-2a500aff2edea212bf54cf6597b2f4f7">latest at a sports celebration</a>&nbsp;in the U.S. A shooting wounded several people&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-shooting-nuggets-suspect-ee4869abf1afee855565f1c517bfae1f">last year in Denver</a>&nbsp;after the Nuggets’ NBA championship.

That led Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas to wonder whether it’s time to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shooting-chiefs-parade-security-48bcd66e5998776a7167a2434dec7fd1">rethink championship celebrations</a>, even as he promised last week that the city will continue to celebrate its victories. Next month’s St. Patrick’s Day parade will go on as scheduled, Lucas said.

The Kansas City shooting occurred in a state with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chiefs-super-bowl-parade-shooting-kansas-city-938583b1e9aa3b3a45f8a012e7b80fee">few gun regulations</a>&nbsp;and a city that has struggled with gun violence. In 2020, Kansas City was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/in-state-wire-tn-state-wire-mo-state-wire-politics-oh-state-wire-0950ff59635979d7d2d2d3479f4d9c58">among nine cities</a>&nbsp;chosen by the U.S. Justice Department in an effort to crack down on violent crime. In 2023, the city matched its record with 182 homicides, most of which involved guns.

On Monday, Missouri’s Republican-led House on a bipartisan vote passed a ban on celebratory gunfire in cities following&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chiefs-parade-kansas-city-missouri-celebratory-gunfire-0a1af65ab3e5130ffba0c2713ac1d105">debate that ranged from tearful to angry</a>. A similar measure was passed last year as part of a sweeping crime-related bill, but GOP Gov. Mike Parson vetoed the legislation. He cited issues with other crime provisions in the bill unrelated to celebratory gunfire.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707957978033.jpeg" alt="A person is taken to an ambulance after an incident following the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade in Kansas City, Mo., Wednesday, Feb. 14. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)." />
 <figcaption>A person is taken to an ambulance after an incident following the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade in Kansas City, Mo., Wednesday, Feb. 14. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel).</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two men have been charged with murder in last week’s shooting that killed one person and injured 22 others after the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade, Missouri prosecutors said Tuesday.Dominic Miller and Lyndell Mays are charged with second-degree murder and other counts. They have been hospitalized since the shooting, Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said during a news conference. Officials declined to answer whether the men were being treated for gunshot wounds or other injuries.Court records lay out a basic view of how the shooting unfolded.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">A statement from Chief Stacey Graves regarding new Union Station shooting charges.<a href="https://t.co/n6WlzvS9rn">https://t.co/n6WlzvS9rn</a> <a href="https://t.co/HiUYhEHgi0">pic.twitter.com/HiUYhEHgi0</a>&mdash; kcpolice (@kcpolice) <a href="https://twitter.com/kcpolice/status/1760056003855258000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The men did not know each other before the shooting, according to prosecutors. They were among several people arguing when Mays “pulled his handgun first almost immediately” and several others did the same, Peters Baker said. Police say it was Miller’s gun that fired the shot that killed a woman.Online court records did not list attorneys who could comment on the men’s behalf. The Missouri State Public Defender’s Office said applications for public defenders for the men had not yet been received by the Kansas City office.The new charges come after two juveniles were detained last week&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chiefs-super-bowl-parade-shooting-kansas-city-278e2d3e2cfece1cbe958511e54127ad">on gun-related and resisting arrest charges</a>. Authorities said more charges were possible.“I do want you to understand — we seek to hold every shooter accountable for their actions on that day. Every single one,” Peters Baker said. “So while we’re not there yet on every single individual, we’re going to get there.”Police have said a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chiefs-super-bowl-parade-shooting-kansas-city-62e69a17b469b854afd7bcc3f548d1fc">dispute among several people</a>&nbsp;led to the shooting, which happened even as 800 police officers patrolled the celebration.The 22 people injured range in age from 8 to 47, according to police Chief Stacey Graves.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-chiefs-parade-shooting-dj-victim-d96b8631a92af6682b77577c2c4e98c8">Lisa Lopez-Galvan</a>, a mother of two and the host of “Taste of Tejano,” was killed.The shooting was the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chiefs-parade-shooting-2a500aff2edea212bf54cf6597b2f4f7">latest at a sports celebration</a>&nbsp;in the U.S. A shooting wounded several people&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-shooting-nuggets-suspect-ee4869abf1afee855565f1c517bfae1f">last year in Denver</a>&nbsp;after the Nuggets’ NBA championship.That led Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas to wonder whether it’s time to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shooting-chiefs-parade-security-48bcd66e5998776a7167a2434dec7fd1">rethink championship celebrations</a>, even as he promised last week that the city will continue to celebrate its victories. Next month’s St. Patrick’s Day parade will go on as scheduled, Lucas said.The Kansas City shooting occurred in a state with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chiefs-super-bowl-parade-shooting-kansas-city-938583b1e9aa3b3a45f8a012e7b80fee">few gun regulations</a>&nbsp;and a city that has struggled with gun violence. In 2020, Kansas City was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/in-state-wire-tn-state-wire-mo-state-wire-politics-oh-state-wire-0950ff59635979d7d2d2d3479f4d9c58">among nine cities</a>&nbsp;chosen by the U.S. Justice Department in an effort to crack down on violent crime. In 2023, the city matched its record with 182 homicides, most of which involved guns.On Monday, Missouri’s Republican-led House on a bipartisan vote passed a ban on celebratory gunfire in cities following&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/chiefs-parade-kansas-city-missouri-celebratory-gunfire-0a1af65ab3e5130ffba0c2713ac1d105">debate that ranged from tearful to angry</a>. A similar measure was passed last year as part of a sweeping crime-related bill, but GOP Gov. Mike Parson vetoed the legislation. He cited issues with other crime provisions in the bill unrelated to celebratory gunfire.

2 adults charged in deadly shooting after Chiefs parade, rally

By OLIVIA BERGMEIER&nbsp;Salina Post

SALINE COUNTY —Sometime between 3 and 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 18, an unknown suspect stole $600 worth of Barbie dolls from a residence in Salina.

According to Salina Police Department Capt. James Feldman, the suspect, only stole a collection of Barbie dolls placed on a shelf in the home.

"No forced entry was observed," Feldman said. "[The suspect stole] 20 to 25 Barbies... valued at $600 total."

Feldman said the report did not include if the Barbie dolls were on display but that most were dolls from the Barbie Holiday Collection.

The home did not have surveillance cameras, so no video footage of the crime was available for evidence. SPD officers continue to investigate the burglary.

By OLIVIA BERGMEIER&nbsp;Salina PostSALINE COUNTY —Sometime between 3 and 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 18, an unknown suspect stole $600 worth of Barbie dolls from a residence in Salina.According to Salina Police Department Capt. James Feldman, the suspect, only stole a collection of Barbie dolls placed on a shelf in the home."No forced entry was observed," Feldman said. "[The suspect stole] 20 to 25 Barbies... valued at $600 total."Feldman said the report did not include if the Barbie dolls were on display but that most were dolls from the Barbie Holiday Collection.The home did not have surveillance cameras, so no video footage of the crime was available for evidence. SPD officers continue to investigate the burglary.

Police: Collection of Barbie dolls stolen from Kansas home

GOP falls three votes shy of advancing override action to Kansas Senate

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/tim-carpenter/">TIM CARPENTER</a>.&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — The Republican-led Kansas House failed Tuesday to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly ‘s veto of a tax reform bill anchored by implementation of a single, flat state income tax rate of 5.25% in addition to elimination of the state sales tax on groceries and creation of a tax exemption for all Social Security income.

The GOP holds supermajorities in the House and Senate, but there was skepticism that both chambers could muster two-thirds majorities necessary to rebuke Kelly given opposition among conservative and moderate Republicans to parts of the bill favoring the state’s most wealthy. During the past several weeks, House Speaker Dan Hawkins indicated he had the votes for an override but was concerned about passage in the Kansas Senate.

Rep. Adam Smith, the Republican chairman of the House Taxation Committee, pleaded with House members to repel Kelly’s veto. He said House Bill 2284 wasn’t perfect, but it would deliver tax relief the state treasury could afford. At the outset of his speech in favor of an override, he quoted Rolling Stones musician Mick Jagger.

“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you just might find you get what you need,” Smith said. “Kansans need tax relief. The perfect bill doesn’t exist. It impacts everybody different. The perfect tax relief bill looks different if you are from Kansas City versus Dodge City. It looks differently if you own your home or rent your home.”

But his reference to rock ‘n’ roll and the personal ramifications of state law tax fell on deaf ears. The final vote in the House was 81-42, which was three votes shy of the necessary margin to override Kelly.

Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita, said cost of the tax reform bill approved by simple majorities of the House and Senate in January could reach $600 million annually when fully implemented. He said the tax reduction plan didn’t do enough for the middle class in Kansas. He said much of the benefit was woven into the flat tax piece, but the bill would provide a married couple earning $42,500 to $75,500 per year an income tax reduction of only 75 cents.

“Most of it goes to the top end,” Sawyer said. “We’ve got to do better for those middle class taxpayers.”

Under the bill, the state’s 2% sales tax on groceries would be eliminated April 1. Without action, that tax would evaporate Jan. 1, 2025. Other provisions would reduce state property taxes tied to funding of public schools, exempt from state income tax all Social Security income and allow an increase in standard deductions on state tax returns.

Kelly previously said she supported responsible state tax cuts, but refused to sign into law a “reckless” flat tax that would send the state treasury into a financial spiral similar to the debacle that followed Gov. Sam Brownback’s enactment in 2012 of a massive state income tax cut. State revenue crashed and prompted state tax hikes before much of Brownback’s tax agenda was repealed with bipartisan support in 2017.

“This flat tax experiment would overwhelmingly benefit the super wealthy, and I’m not going to put our public schools, roads and stable economy at risk just to give a break to those at the very top,” Kelly said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1708456181600.png" alt=" Weskan Rep. Adam Smith, chairman of the House Taxation Committee, failed to convince two-thirds of his colleagues to support an override of Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a Republican-crafted bill altering state income, sales and property tax law. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> Weskan Rep. Adam Smith, chairman of the House Taxation Committee, failed to convince two-thirds of his colleagues to support an override of Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a Republican-crafted bill altering state income, sales and property tax law. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>GOP falls three votes shy of advancing override action to Kansas Senate</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/tim-carpenter/">TIM CARPENTER</a>.&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — The Republican-led Kansas House failed Tuesday to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly ‘s veto of a tax reform bill anchored by implementation of a single, flat state income tax rate of 5.25% in addition to elimination of the state sales tax on groceries and creation of a tax exemption for all Social Security income.The GOP holds supermajorities in the House and Senate, but there was skepticism that both chambers could muster two-thirds majorities necessary to rebuke Kelly given opposition among conservative and moderate Republicans to parts of the bill favoring the state’s most wealthy. During the past several weeks, House Speaker Dan Hawkins indicated he had the votes for an override but was concerned about passage in the Kansas Senate.Rep. Adam Smith, the Republican chairman of the House Taxation Committee, pleaded with House members to repel Kelly’s veto. He said House Bill 2284 wasn’t perfect, but it would deliver tax relief the state treasury could afford. At the outset of his speech in favor of an override, he quoted Rolling Stones musician Mick Jagger.“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you just might find you get what you need,” Smith said. “Kansans need tax relief. The perfect bill doesn’t exist. It impacts everybody different. The perfect tax relief bill looks different if you are from Kansas City versus Dodge City. It looks differently if you own your home or rent your home.”But his reference to rock ‘n’ roll and the personal ramifications of state law tax fell on deaf ears. The final vote in the House was 81-42, which was three votes shy of the necessary margin to override Kelly.Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita, said cost of the tax reform bill approved by simple majorities of the House and Senate in January could reach $600 million annually when fully implemented. He said the tax reduction plan didn’t do enough for the middle class in Kansas. He said much of the benefit was woven into the flat tax piece, but the bill would provide a married couple earning $42,500 to $75,500 per year an income tax reduction of only 75 cents.“Most of it goes to the top end,” Sawyer said. “We’ve got to do better for those middle class taxpayers.”Under the bill, the state’s 2% sales tax on groceries would be eliminated April 1. Without action, that tax would evaporate Jan. 1, 2025. Other provisions would reduce state property taxes tied to funding of public schools, exempt from state income tax all Social Security income and allow an increase in standard deductions on state tax returns.Kelly previously said she supported responsible state tax cuts, but refused to sign into law a “reckless” flat tax that would send the state treasury into a financial spiral similar to the debacle that followed Gov. Sam Brownback’s enactment in 2012 of a massive state income tax cut. State revenue crashed and prompted state tax hikes before much of Brownback’s tax agenda was repealed with bipartisan support in 2017.“This flat tax experiment would overwhelmingly benefit the super wealthy, and I’m not going to put our public schools, roads and stable economy at risk just to give a break to those at the very top,” Kelly said.

Kansas House Republicans fail to override governor’s veto on massive tax reform bill

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are&nbsp;investigating a shooting that left a 1-year-old dead and critically injured two women.

Just after 7p.m. Monday, police were dispatched to a shooting call at an apartment in the 2500 block of S. Oliver in Wichita, according to Officer Kris Gupilan.

First responders located three shooting victims, two 24-year-old women and a 1-year old, all from Wichita. All three were transported to a local area hospital for their injuries. 

The two women had critical but non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.&nbsp; The 1-year-old was pronounced deceased.&nbsp;

In addition to the three victims, the apartment was occupied by a 24-year-old man, a 5-year-old girl and a 10-month old&nbsp; girl, all of Wichita, during the time of the shooting.&nbsp; They were not injured by the gunfire.

The police investigation has revealed that the suspect fired multiple rounds from a handgun into the apartment striking the victims. The circumstances leading up to the shooting are still under investigation and detectives are diligently following up on promising leads for the arrest of the suspect.

At this time, based on the evidence known, police believe this was a targeted incident.

“I am deeply saddened and outraged by the violent and heinous crime that has occurred in our community, said Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan. "The killing of a 1-year-old child is an unspeakable tragedy that has left us all shaken. This senseless act of violence strikes at the core of our community's values. Our children should be cherished and protected, not subjected to such senseless acts."

The Wichita Police Department urges anyone with information on this case and who has not spoken with investigators, to please call the WPD Investigators at 316- 268-4407, or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1708452260137.png" alt="Police on the scene of the investigation -photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene of the investigation -photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are&nbsp;investigating a shooting that left a 1-year-old dead and critically injured two women.Just after 7p.m. Monday, police were dispatched to a shooting call at an apartment in the 2500 block of S. Oliver in Wichita, according to Officer Kris Gupilan.First responders located three shooting victims, two 24-year-old women and a 1-year old, all from Wichita. All three were transported to a local area hospital for their injuries. The two women had critical but non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.&nbsp; The 1-year-old was pronounced deceased.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1708452305058.png" alt="Photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>In addition to the three victims, the apartment was occupied by a 24-year-old man, a 5-year-old girl and a 10-month old&nbsp; girl, all of Wichita, during the time of the shooting.&nbsp; They were not injured by the gunfire.The police investigation has revealed that the suspect fired multiple rounds from a handgun into the apartment striking the victims. The circumstances leading up to the shooting are still under investigation and detectives are diligently following up on promising leads for the arrest of the suspect.At this time, based on the evidence known, police believe this was a targeted incident.“I am deeply saddened and outraged by the violent and heinous crime that has occurred in our community, said Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan. "The killing of a 1-year-old child is an unspeakable tragedy that has left us all shaken. This senseless act of violence strikes at the core of our community's values. Our children should be cherished and protected, not subjected to such senseless acts."The Wichita Police Department urges anyone with information on this case and who has not spoken with investigators, to please call the WPD Investigators at 316- 268-4407, or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.

Police: 1-year-old dead, 2 women injured in Kansas shooting

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating three suspects for multiple allegations after their actions during a house fire.

Just after 10:30 p.m. Sunday, crews from the Topeka Fire Department&nbsp; responded to a house fire located 426 SE Leland Street, according to department spokesperson Rosie Nichols. 

First responders found a two-story home with heavy smoke coming from it and began suppression operations. An individual, later identified as Joel E. Rodriguez, 38, of Topeka, attempted to enter the burning residence and fire crews called the Topeka Police for assistance.

Two other individuals, later identified as 18-year-old Isiah M. Dunn and 21-year-old Hector Xilonzochilt both of Topeka, also attempted to interfere with firefighters.

No individuals were located in the house and no injuries occurred as a result of the fire.&nbsp;

Police arrested Rodriguez, Xilonzochilt and Dunn and booked them into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of&nbsp;Unlawful interference with firefighter; Obstruct efforts to reach location, according to online jail records.&nbsp; Rodriguez and Dunn were also wanted for warrants.

The total estimated loss from the fire was approximately $10,070. The home did not have working smoke detectors, according to Nichols.&nbsp;The cause of the fire  remains under investigation.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1708367945605.png" alt=" Rodriguez-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption> Rodriguez-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating three suspects for multiple allegations after their actions during a house fire.Just after 10:30 p.m. Sunday, crews from the Topeka Fire Department&nbsp; responded to a house fire located 426 SE Leland Street, according to department spokesperson Rosie Nichols. First responders found a two-story home with heavy smoke coming from it and began suppression operations. An individual, later identified as Joel E. Rodriguez, 38, of Topeka, attempted to enter the burning residence and fire crews called the Topeka Police for assistance.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1708368888025.png" alt="Dunn-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Dunn-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Two other individuals, later identified as 18-year-old Isiah M. Dunn and 21-year-old Hector Xilonzochilt both of Topeka, also attempted to interfere with firefighters.No individuals were located in the house and no injuries occurred as a result of the fire.&nbsp;Police arrested Rodriguez, Xilonzochilt and Dunn and booked them into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of&nbsp;Unlawful interference with firefighter; Obstruct efforts to reach location, according to online jail records.&nbsp; Rodriguez and Dunn were also wanted for warrants.The total estimated loss from the fire was approximately $10,070. The home did not have working smoke detectors, according to Nichols.&nbsp;The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Kansas man arrested after he tried to enter burning home 

JOHNSON COUNTY —A portion of Interstate 35 in Johnson County Kansas was closed early Tuesday after a series of dangerous traffic incidents.&nbsp; Just after 4a.m. deputies with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office responded to a semi trailer fire and a two-vehicle rollover crash on southbound lanes of Interstate 35 at Gardner Road, according to a social media report.&nbsp;

&nbsp;One occupant of the car accident was transported for a minor injury, according to the sheriff's department.&nbsp; The cause of the semi fire is still under investigation. The lanes of the highway re-opened just before 6:30a.m.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1708447958743.png" alt="Photos Johnson Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Photos Johnson Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>JOHNSON COUNTY —A portion of Interstate 35 in Johnson County Kansas was closed early Tuesday after a series of dangerous traffic incidents.&nbsp; Just after 4a.m. deputies with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office responded to a semi trailer fire and a two-vehicle rollover crash on southbound lanes of Interstate 35 at Gardner Road, according to a social media report.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1708447928094.png" alt="Photo Johnson Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Photo Johnson Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>&nbsp;One occupant of the car accident was transported for a minor injury, according to the sheriff's department.&nbsp; The cause of the semi fire is still under investigation. The lanes of the highway re-opened just before 6:30a.m.

Semi fire, rollover crash briefly closed Kansas highway

FINNEY COUNTY —There is a large first responder presence at Garden City High School, 2720 Buffalo Way in Garden City, according to a statement from Garden City Police.

"Out of an abundance of caution, all Garden City High School students and staff have been evacuated from the building. More information will be shared soon. All students are safe, there is no need to pick them up at this time."

Check the Post for additional details as they become available.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1708466097273.png" alt="Photo KHP" />
 <figcaption>Photo KHP</figcaption>
 </figure>FINNEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities and USD 457 are investigating a criminal threat at Garden City High School.Just after 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Garden City High School received a phone call from an unknown individual indicating there was a bomb inside theschool. Out of an abundance of caution, all students and staff were immediately evacuated and law enforcement was notified.The Garden City Police Department, Finney County Sheriff’s Office, Kansas Highway Patrol, Finney County Emergency Management, Garden City Fire Department, and Finney County Emergency Medical Services responded accordingly and searched the school to ensure the safety of students and employees.After a thorough investigation by law enforcement, no threats to the students, staff, or school were discovered, and Garden CityHigh School was released at its normal dismissal time. The scene was cleared around 3:30 p.m., and no explosives were located.--------------FINNEY COUNTY —There is a large first responder presence at Garden City High School, 2720 Buffalo Way in Garden City, according to a statement from Garden City Police.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">UPDATE (3:30 P.M.): No threats to the students, staff, or school were discovered, and the scene is clear. A formal media release is forthcoming.&mdash; Garden City (KS) Police Department (@GCPD) <a href="https://twitter.com/GCPD/status/1760054600327938087?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">UPDATE (2:45 P.M.): Garden City High School will dismiss at its normal time. First Responders remain on scene continuing their investigation and are directing traffic at dismissal time. We will provide updates when available.&mdash; Garden City (KS) Police Department (@GCPD) <a href="https://twitter.com/GCPD/status/1760042888644182094?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">UPDATE (1:50 P.M.): First Responders are investigating a possible criminal threat at Garden City High School. The high school continues to keep students and staff out of the building. Please avoid the area as the investigation continues. We will provide updates when available.&mdash; Garden City (KS) Police Department (@GCPD) <a href="https://twitter.com/GCPD/status/1760029869524566200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fgckschools%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0DV9uoPEPVVPiz38Nc6NGjC7S7t6CumWHDpqhSJwsLJUNgMkY2hu8cqGtcy1WMjLxl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="189" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>"Out of an abundance of caution, all Garden City High School students and staff have been evacuated from the building. More information will be shared soon. All students are safe, there is no need to pick them up at this time."Check the Post for additional details as they become available.