SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a homicide in Wichita.

Just before 11:30 p.m. Monday, police were dispatched to the 1300 block of South Edwards in Wichita, according to Officer Chad Ditch. 

First responders found 44-year-old Shawn Lahman of Wichita in the front seat of a passenger van with a gunshot wound to the upper torso. 

EMS&nbsp; pronounced him deceased on the scene. Police released no suspect details Tuesday afternoon.

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a homicide in Wichita.Just before 11:30 p.m. Monday, police were dispatched to the 1300 block of South Edwards in Wichita, according to Officer Chad Ditch. First responders found 44-year-old Shawn Lahman of Wichita in the front seat of a passenger van with a gunshot wound to the upper torso. EMS&nbsp; pronounced him deceased on the scene. Police released no suspect details Tuesday afternoon.

Homicide: Kan. man found in a van with fatal gunshot wound

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials won't be allowed to use&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-esg-investing-3a98b6f584357b8e10c31b1ff93ce4b6">environmental, social and governance</a>&nbsp;factors in investing public funds or deciding who receives government contracts because the state's Democratic governor is allowing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/esg-woke-investing-kansas-d1a050b7ff8ecc475217e1a5779e2091">a Republican measure</a>&nbsp;to become law without her signature.

Gov. Laura Kelly's decision Monday came after she vetoed more than a dozen other anti-transgender, anti-abortion and culture war measures approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature. She nixed a bill Monday that would have allowed parents&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-children-kansas-schools-b249b1eb36409931a75eab1fbc80c15d">to remove their public school students</a>&nbsp;from lessons or activities that offend them and another measure that Kelly said could have led to prison terms for some people helping immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

The new anti-ESG law, taking effect July 1, is part of a larger push from conservatives across the U.S. against what they see as “woke” practices pushing liberal climate or diversity goals. At least nine states have enacted such laws; Montana's GOP governor signed a bill last week, and a measure&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/indiana-republicans-esg-investing-ban-a2f8bd032dcdc83a43cba2a422608058">cleared Indiana's GOP-controlled Legislature</a>&nbsp;on Monday.

“This bill will ensure that public dollars — particularly our state pension fund — are invested in ways that produce the highest possible returns with the lowest acceptable risk, and that public contracts are awarded to the entities best-qualified to fulfill them," Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson, a Republican elected last year, said in a statement.

Republicans across the U.S. have pushed back as the use of ESG principles has become more prevalent and visible.

Last month, 19 GOP governors issued a statement calling ESG a “direct threat to the American economy, individual economic freedom, and our way of life.” Utah’s Republican state treasurer told a GOP gathering that ESG “opens the door to authoritarianism” and is “Satan’s plan.”

About one-eighth of U.S. assets being professionally managed, or $8.4 trillion, are being managed in line with ESG principles, according to a report in December from US SIF, which promotes sustainable investing.

ESG supporters argued that it represents a better assessment of risk for investors by addressing questions such as whether a worldwide shift toward green energy makes investments in fossil fuels less financially sound.

There also was research released earlier this month by Bain &amp; Company, a global management consulting firm, and EcoVadis, which provides sustainability ratings for 110,000 companies worldwide, including 10,000 in the U.S. It showed evidence that having more women in management, greater employee satisfaction and sustainable supply chains all correlate with stronger revenue growth and higher profitability.

Researchers were careful to note that many factors can influence a company's financial results, but Sylvain Guyoton, EcoVadis' chief rating officer, said the study suggests a company's use of ESG is worth considering.

“Some of those ESG activities are good old management practices that have been rebranded into ESG,” Guyoton said in a recent interview from Paris.

In announcing that the Kansas measure was becoming law, Kelly didn't touch on how investment managers for the state and its pension system for teachers and government workers will be required to “consider only financial factors” when making investment decisions.

The governor acknowledged having reservations about “potential unforeseen consequences” over how the state and cities, counties and local school districts will not be able to favor bidders on contracts based on ESG principles.

The measure had little support from Democratic lawmakers. Conservatives dropped proposals for new rules for private money managers following&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/esg-woke-investing-big-business-backlash-be6dac7d7d25d823645525597b6f1782">strong backlash</a>&nbsp;from influential business and banking groups.

Meanwhile, Kelly scotched Republicans' proposed “parents' bill of rights,” which would have allowed parents to demand an alternative when a public school lesson or activity “impairs the parent’s sincerely held beliefs, values or principles.” The governor said such a measure “distracts” from fully funding education.

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said Kelly was opposing parents’ right “to direct their own children’s education, upbringing and moral or religious training.” The bill's supporters did not appear to have the two-thirds majorities necessary to override a veto.

Republicans said the immigration bill would have combatted human smuggling.

It would have made it a felony to transport, harbor or conceal another person, applying when someone knows or should have known that a person is in the U.S. illegally and “is likely to be exploited” for another's financial gain, if the person dealing with the immigrant "benefits financially or receives anything of value.” A first-time offender could be sentenced to almost three years in prison.

Kelly argued that the bill could send “a good Samaritan” to prison for accepting gas money for driving an immigrant neighbor to work.

“That overcriminalization is unnecessary and shows that lawmakers haven’t considered the full impact of this bill,” Kelly said.

The measure cleared the Legislature with large, bipartisan supermajorities.

“Governor Kelly has sided against law and order and put radical politics above the safety and human rights of victims,” Hawkins said in a statement.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/2/1675711326975.png" alt="“This bill will ensure that public dollars — particularly our state pension fund — are invested in ways that produce the highest possible returns with the lowest acceptable risk, and that public contracts are awarded to the entities best-qualified to fulfill them," Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson, a Republican elected last year, said in a statement. photo by Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector" />
 <figcaption>“This bill will ensure that public dollars — particularly our state pension fund — are invested in ways that produce the highest possible returns with the lowest acceptable risk, and that public contracts are awarded to the entities best-qualified to fulfill them," Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson, a Republican elected last year, said in a statement. photo by Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials won't be allowed to use&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-esg-investing-3a98b6f584357b8e10c31b1ff93ce4b6">environmental, social and governance</a>&nbsp;factors in investing public funds or deciding who receives government contracts because the state's Democratic governor is allowing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/esg-woke-investing-kansas-d1a050b7ff8ecc475217e1a5779e2091">a Republican measure</a>&nbsp;to become law without her signature.Gov. Laura Kelly's decision Monday came after she vetoed more than a dozen other anti-transgender, anti-abortion and culture war measures approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature. She nixed a bill Monday that would have allowed parents&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-children-kansas-schools-b249b1eb36409931a75eab1fbc80c15d">to remove their public school students</a>&nbsp;from lessons or activities that offend them and another measure that Kelly said could have led to prison terms for some people helping immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.The new anti-ESG law, taking effect July 1, is part of a larger push from conservatives across the U.S. against what they see as “woke” practices pushing liberal climate or diversity goals. At least nine states have enacted such laws; Montana's GOP governor signed a bill last week, and a measure&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/indiana-republicans-esg-investing-ban-a2f8bd032dcdc83a43cba2a422608058">cleared Indiana's GOP-controlled Legislature</a>&nbsp;on Monday.“This bill will ensure that public dollars — particularly our state pension fund — are invested in ways that produce the highest possible returns with the lowest acceptable risk, and that public contracts are awarded to the entities best-qualified to fulfill them," Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson, a Republican elected last year, said in a statement.Republicans across the U.S. have pushed back as the use of ESG principles has become more prevalent and visible.Last month, 19 GOP governors issued a statement calling ESG a “direct threat to the American economy, individual economic freedom, and our way of life.” Utah’s Republican state treasurer told a GOP gathering that ESG “opens the door to authoritarianism” and is “Satan’s plan.”About one-eighth of U.S. assets being professionally managed, or $8.4 trillion, are being managed in line with ESG principles, according to a report in December from US SIF, which promotes sustainable investing.ESG supporters argued that it represents a better assessment of risk for investors by addressing questions such as whether a worldwide shift toward green energy makes investments in fossil fuels less financially sound.There also was research released earlier this month by Bain &amp; Company, a global management consulting firm, and EcoVadis, which provides sustainability ratings for 110,000 companies worldwide, including 10,000 in the U.S. It showed evidence that having more women in management, greater employee satisfaction and sustainable supply chains all correlate with stronger revenue growth and higher profitability.Researchers were careful to note that many factors can influence a company's financial results, but Sylvain Guyoton, EcoVadis' chief rating officer, said the study suggests a company's use of ESG is worth considering.“Some of those ESG activities are good old management practices that have been rebranded into ESG,” Guyoton said in a recent interview from Paris.In announcing that the Kansas measure was becoming law, Kelly didn't touch on how investment managers for the state and its pension system for teachers and government workers will be required to “consider only financial factors” when making investment decisions.The governor acknowledged having reservations about “potential unforeseen consequences” over how the state and cities, counties and local school districts will not be able to favor bidders on contracts based on ESG principles.The measure had little support from Democratic lawmakers. Conservatives dropped proposals for new rules for private money managers following&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/esg-woke-investing-big-business-backlash-be6dac7d7d25d823645525597b6f1782">strong backlash</a>&nbsp;from influential business and banking groups.Meanwhile, Kelly scotched Republicans' proposed “parents' bill of rights,” which would have allowed parents to demand an alternative when a public school lesson or activity “impairs the parent’s sincerely held beliefs, values or principles.” The governor said such a measure “distracts” from fully funding education.House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said Kelly was opposing parents’ right “to direct their own children’s education, upbringing and moral or religious training.” The bill's supporters did not appear to have the two-thirds majorities necessary to override a veto.Republicans said the immigration bill would have combatted human smuggling.It would have made it a felony to transport, harbor or conceal another person, applying when someone knows or should have known that a person is in the U.S. illegally and “is likely to be exploited” for another's financial gain, if the person dealing with the immigrant "benefits financially or receives anything of value.” A first-time offender could be sentenced to almost three years in prison.Kelly argued that the bill could send “a good Samaritan” to prison for accepting gas money for driving an immigrant neighbor to work.“That overcriminalization is unnecessary and shows that lawmakers haven’t considered the full impact of this bill,” Kelly said.The measure cleared the Legislature with large, bipartisan supermajorities.“Governor Kelly has sided against law and order and put radical politics above the safety and human rights of victims,” Hawkins said in a statement.

Kansas has new anti-ESG law amid raft of culture war vetoes

By MIKE COURSON Great Bend Post

GREAT BEND — Twenty-plus 
years went into the making of Aaron Mull's Dolly Madison Murder 
documentary. The Great Bend High School graduate actually spent 
approximately 16 months filming, compiling interviews, editing, and 
searching for a vendor about the 21-year-old double homicide in Great 
Bend. The documentary premiered at the Crest Theater in March and is now
 <a href="https://tubitv.com/movies/100002605/the-dolly-madison-murders?utm_campaign=web-sharing&amp;fbclid=IwAR0VAF3mfk_0g53Y1tT6jMf5MfXAxhuvqHog8Rf3AhC4nGsoJINGKxzLVPg">available to stream free on Tubi. </a>

"It's
 been a long time coming," Mull said. "The project took essentially one 
year to make and four months to distribute. It feels good that it's 
finally out there on a large scale, and people beyond Great Bend and the
 Midwest can reach this story now."

Sunday, Mull also released his
 deep-dive podcast about the case and the documentary on YouTube.com. 
The podcast features interviews with parties who contacted Mull after 
the release of the documentary, including the wife of the truck driver 
who found the bodies of Mandi Alexander and Mary Drake inside the 
discount bakery on Sept. 2, 2002. A local hotel clerk also shares her 
memories of that night.

"I think the podcast, it's what a lot of these people have wanted to 
say for a long time, but they've either gone to law enforcement, 
allegedly, and not been taken seriously, or they just haven't felt the 
need to come forward until now," said Mull. "I'm excited about both 
being out at the same time because each of them has a different feel, 
for sure."

While Mull's documentary was a more narrative-based 
attempt to put the case back before the public, the podcast features 
more speculation and opinion on why and how things were handled by law 
enforcement in the days and years following the murders. With law 
enforcement remaining largely silent about the case, Mull was left with 
one side of the discussion but said finger-pointing was never the goal.

"We
 need law enforcement to solve this case," he said. "I'm just a guy with
 an internet connection. They're the people with the resources and 
hopefully, someday the time to actually put into this case and other 
cases like it."

Click the link above to watch the Dolly Madison Murders documentary on Tubi. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWnLEL5RZBo">CLICK HERE</a> to watch Mull's deep-dive podcast about the case.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1682442166646.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By MIKE COURSON Great Bend PostGREAT BEND — Twenty-plus 
years went into the making of Aaron Mull's Dolly Madison Murder 
documentary. The Great Bend High School graduate actually spent 
approximately 16 months filming, compiling interviews, editing, and 
searching for a vendor about the 21-year-old double homicide in Great 
Bend. The documentary premiered at the Crest Theater in March and is now
 <a href="https://tubitv.com/movies/100002605/the-dolly-madison-murders?utm_campaign=web-sharing&amp;fbclid=IwAR0VAF3mfk_0g53Y1tT6jMf5MfXAxhuvqHog8Rf3AhC4nGsoJINGKxzLVPg">available to stream free on Tubi. </a>"It's
 been a long time coming," Mull said. "The project took essentially one 
year to make and four months to distribute. It feels good that it's 
finally out there on a large scale, and people beyond Great Bend and the
 Midwest can reach this story now."Sunday, Mull also released his
 deep-dive podcast about the case and the documentary on YouTube.com. 
The podcast features interviews with parties who contacted Mull after 
the release of the documentary, including the wife of the truck driver 
who found the bodies of Mandi Alexander and Mary Drake inside the 
discount bakery on Sept. 2, 2002. A local hotel clerk also shares her 
memories of that night.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1682442192027.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>"I think the podcast, it's what a lot of these people have wanted to 
say for a long time, but they've either gone to law enforcement, 
allegedly, and not been taken seriously, or they just haven't felt the 
need to come forward until now," said Mull. "I'm excited about both 
being out at the same time because each of them has a different feel, 
for sure."While Mull's documentary was a more narrative-based 
attempt to put the case back before the public, the podcast features 
more speculation and opinion on why and how things were handled by law 
enforcement in the days and years following the murders. With law 
enforcement remaining largely silent about the case, Mull was left with 
one side of the discussion but said finger-pointing was never the goal."We
 need law enforcement to solve this case," he said. "I'm just a guy with
 an internet connection. They're the people with the resources and 
hopefully, someday the time to actually put into this case and other 
cases like it."Click the link above to watch the Dolly Madison Murders documentary on Tubi. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWnLEL5RZBo">CLICK HERE</a> to watch Mull's deep-dive podcast about the case.

Dolly Madison Murder doc, podcast now available online

SEDGWICK COUNTY—The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Kansas State Fire Marshall continue investigating the cause of a house fire Easter Sunday in Wichita that left&nbsp; 48-year-old Kendal James dead."

The explosion appears to have been caused by the illegal manufacturing of improvised explosives devices, according to  ATF spokesman John Ham. Evidence recovered at the scene has been sent to ATF’s forensics laboratory for analysis. That forensic testing will play a critical role in formulating a definitive cause, according to Ham.

Just after 5:30p.m. April 9. crews responded to a house fire near South Parkridge Street and West Blake Street,&nbsp;according to Wichita Fire Department Battalion Chief Jose Ocadiz.

While traveling to the scene, additional callers were reporting an explosion in the home. As crews were beginning to attack the blaze, another explosion occurred. This forced fire crews into a defensive mode before they could attempt to make entry into the residence.&nbsp;

When firefighters did get inside the home, investigators found James and several pets that had died.&nbsp; A second resident was not at home when the fire started, according to Ocadiz.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to Ocadiz. Due to the number of explosions, possibly three. One from the initial explosion, another as fire crews arrived and one later during the incident.&nbsp;

There have been initial reports from neighbors and a second resident of the home that fireworks were being manufactured, according to Ocadiz.

Wichita Police Explosive Ordinance team did remove some fireworks from the home, according to Ocadiz. However, investigators have not reported the specific type and the amount of fireworks discovered. Ocadiz did not release a damage estimate Monday morning.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1682099876998.png" alt="Wichita Police Explosive Ordinance team removed some fireworks from the home, according to Battalion Chief Jose Ocadiz-photo Wichita Fire Dept." />
 <figcaption>Wichita Police Explosive Ordinance team removed some fireworks from the home, according to Battalion Chief Jose Ocadiz-photo Wichita Fire Dept.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Kansas State Fire Marshall continue investigating the cause of a house fire Easter Sunday in Wichita that left&nbsp; 48-year-old Kendal James dead."The explosion appears to have been caused by the illegal manufacturing of improvised explosives devices, according to ATF spokesman John Ham. Evidence recovered at the scene has been sent to ATF’s forensics laboratory for analysis. That forensic testing will play a critical role in formulating a definitive cause, according to Ham.Just after 5:30p.m. April 9. crews responded to a house fire near South Parkridge Street and West Blake Street,&nbsp;according to Wichita Fire Department Battalion Chief Jose Ocadiz.While traveling to the scene, additional callers were reporting an explosion in the home. As crews were beginning to attack the blaze, another explosion occurred. This forced fire crews into a defensive mode before they could attempt to make entry into the residence.&nbsp;When firefighters did get inside the home, investigators found James and several pets that had died.&nbsp; A second resident was not at home when the fire started, according to Ocadiz.The cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to Ocadiz. Due to the number of explosions, possibly three. One from the initial explosion, another as fire crews arrived and one later during the incident.&nbsp;There have been initial reports from neighbors and a second resident of the home that fireworks were being manufactured, according to Ocadiz.Wichita Police Explosive Ordinance team did remove some fireworks from the home, according to Ocadiz. However, investigators have not reported the specific type and the amount of fireworks discovered. Ocadiz did not release a damage estimate Monday morning.

ATF still investigating fatal Easter Sunday Kan. home explosion

DICKINSON COUNTY—One person died in an accident just just before 6a.m. Tuesday in Dickinson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a Ford F150 driven by Eric Kenneth Skilling, 43, of Abilene, was northbound on K-15 one mile north of Kansas Highway 4.

The pickup crossed the center line at a slight bend in the roadway and struck a 2016 Peterbilt truck driven by Stanton Neal Uffman, 54, Greanleaf, Kansas head-on.

Skilling was pronounced dead at the scene. EMS transported Uffman to Abilene Memorial Hospital. The drivers were not wearing seal belts, according to the KHP.

DICKINSON COUNTY—One person died in an accident just just before 6a.m. Tuesday in Dickinson County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a Ford F150 driven by Eric Kenneth Skilling, 43, of Abilene, was northbound on K-15 one mile north of Kansas Highway 4.The pickup crossed the center line at a slight bend in the roadway and struck a 2016 Peterbilt truck driven by Stanton Neal Uffman, 54, Greanleaf, Kansas head-on.Skilling was pronounced dead at the scene. EMS transported Uffman to Abilene Memorial Hospital. The drivers were not wearing seal belts, according to the KHP.

Kansas man dies after head-on pickup, semi crash

DOUGLAS COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple requested charges after a standoff in Douglas County.

On April 23, police stopped a vehicle in the 100 Bock of North Michigan Street in Lawrence, according to a social media report.

The 32-year-old suspect, a passenger in the vehicle, has frequently been armed in the past and has caused several significant injuries to officers during arrests, was wanted on multiple outstanding warrants. He refused to get out of the vehicle.

Officers limited the threat to the public by ensuring the car could not be mobilized, utilizing the armored rescue vehicle and stop sticks under the tires. Officers attempted to use de-escalation techniques to talk the subject out of the car for almost an hour.

After deploying OC gas into the car, an arrest team converged on the car and forcibly removed the suspect, taking him into custody without further incident. The suspect was booked into the Douglas County Correctional Facility on the warrants as well as new requested charges related to this incident.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1682354394598.png" alt="Photo Lawrence Police" />
 <figcaption>Photo Lawrence Police</figcaption>
 </figure>DOUGLAS COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple requested charges after a standoff in Douglas County.On April 23, police stopped a vehicle in the 100 Bock of North Michigan Street in Lawrence, according to a social media report.The 32-year-old suspect, a passenger in the vehicle, has frequently been armed in the past and has caused several significant injuries to officers during arrests, was wanted on multiple outstanding warrants. He refused to get out of the vehicle.Officers limited the threat to the public by ensuring the car could not be mobilized, utilizing the armored rescue vehicle and stop sticks under the tires. Officers attempted to use de-escalation techniques to talk the subject out of the car for almost an hour.After deploying OC gas into the car, an arrest team converged on the car and forcibly removed the suspect, taking him into custody without further incident. The suspect was booked into the Douglas County Correctional Facility on the warrants as well as new requested charges related to this incident.Officers limited the threat to the public by ensuring the car could not be mobilized, utilizing the armored rescue vehicle and stop sticks under the tires. Officers attempted to use de-escalation techniques to talk the subject out of the car for almost an hour.

Police use pepper spray to end standoff with wanted Kan. suspect

WOOODSON COUNTY — One person was injured in an accident just after 10a.m. Monday in Woodson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Freightliner semi driven by Gregory Lewis, 63, Leon, was eastbound on 80th Road a half mile east of Navajo Road southeast of Yates Center in southeast Kansas.

The driver failed to yield at a stop sign before crossing the railroad tracks. 

A Union Pacific train split the semi truck and trailer.&nbsp; The accident caused the derailment of approximately two dozen rail cars and five locomotives, according to Union Pacific spokesman Mike Jaixen. Most of the derailed cars were empty, but some were carrying cottonseed, plastic pellets, tall oil and fertilizer. 

EMS transported Lewis to Allen County Regional Hospital in Iola. The Union Pacific employees on board the train were not injured. Lewis was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

Pacific crews are clearing the derailed cars and preparing to repair and reopen the tracks. The incident is still under investigation, according to Union Pacific.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1682436884774.png" alt="Photo Woodson Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Photo Woodson Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>WOOODSON COUNTY — One person was injured in an accident just after 10a.m. Monday in Woodson County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Freightliner semi driven by Gregory Lewis, 63, Leon, was eastbound on 80th Road a half mile east of Navajo Road southeast of Yates Center in southeast Kansas.The driver failed to yield at a stop sign before crossing the railroad tracks. A Union Pacific train split the semi truck and trailer.&nbsp; The accident caused the derailment of approximately two dozen rail cars and five locomotives, according to Union Pacific spokesman Mike Jaixen. Most of the derailed cars were empty, but some were carrying cottonseed, plastic pellets, tall oil and fertilizer. EMS transported Lewis to Allen County Regional Hospital in Iola. The Union Pacific employees on board the train were not injured. Lewis was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.Pacific crews are clearing the derailed cars and preparing to repair and reopen the tracks. The incident is still under investigation, according to Union Pacific.

Cars, locomotives derailed after train, semi crash in Kansas

STEVENS COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating alleged child abuse in Stevens County.

On Monday, police reported officers were dispatched April 17 to a home in the 700 Block of South Harrison Street in Hugoton to check on the welfare of a child, according to a media release.

Officers found a 3-year-old boy with visible signs of abuse. Investigators also learned that on more than one occasion, the child had been left alone at the home for long periods of time.

Investigators removed the child from the home and placed him into&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;protective custody. Officers arrested 19-year-0ld Chandra Clark of Hugoton on a requested charge of child abuse and aggravated endangering a child. They also arrested 20-year-old Garrette Hinds on a requested charge of aggravated endangering a child.&nbsp;

The case has been forward to the Stevens County Attorney.

STEVENS COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating alleged child abuse in Stevens County.On Monday, police reported officers were dispatched April 17 to a home in the 700 Block of South Harrison Street in Hugoton to check on the welfare of a child, according to a media release.Officers found a 3-year-old boy with visible signs of abuse. Investigators also learned that on more than one occasion, the child had been left alone at the home for long periods of time.Investigators removed the child from the home and placed him into&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;protective custody. Officers arrested 19-year-0ld Chandra Clark of Hugoton on a requested charge of child abuse and aggravated endangering a child. They also arrested 20-year-old Garrette Hinds on a requested charge of aggravated endangering a child.&nbsp;The case has been forward to the Stevens County Attorney.

Child removed from SW Kan. home, 2 arrested for alleged abuse

NEW YORK (AP) — Harry Belafonte, the civil rights and entertainment giant who began as a groundbreaking actor and singer and became an activist, humanitarian and conscience of the world, has died. He was 96.

Belafonte died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his New York home, his wife Pamela by his side, said Ken Sunshine, of public relations firm Sunshine Sachs Morgan &amp; Lylis.

With his glowing, handsome face and silky-husky voice, Belafonte was one of the first Black performers to gain a wide following on film and to sell a million records as a singer; many still know him for his signature hit "Banana Boat Song (Day-O)," and its call of "Day-O! Daaaaay-O." But he forged a greater legacy once he scaled back his performing career in the 1960s and lived out his hero Paul Robeson's decree that artists are "gatekeepers of truth."

He stands as the model and the epitome of the celebrity activist. Few kept up with Belafonte's time and commitment and none his stature as a meeting point among Hollywood, Washington and the civil rights movement.

Belafonte not only participated in protest marches and benefit concerts, but helped organize and raise support for them. He worked closely with his friend and generational peer the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., often intervening on his behalf with both politicians and fellow entertainers and helping him financially. He risked his life and livelihood and set high standards for younger Black celebrities, scolding Jay Z and Beyonce for failing to meet their "social responsibilities," and mentoring Usher, Common, Danny Glover and many others. In Spike Lee's 2018 film "BlacKkKlansman," he was fittingly cast as an elder statesman schooling young activists about the country's past.

Belafonte's friend, civil rights leader Andrew Young, would note that Belafonte was the rare person to grow more radical with age. He was ever engaged and unyielding, willing to take on Southern segregationists, Northern liberals, the billionaire Koch brothers and the country's first Black president, Barack Obama, whom Belafonte would remember asking to cut him "some slack."

Belafonte responded, "What makes you think that's not what I've been doing?"

Belafonte had been a major artist since the 1950s. He won a Tony Award in 1954 for his starring role in John Murray Anderson's "Almanac" and five years later became the first Black performer to win an Emmy for the TV special "Tonight with Harry Belafonte."

In 1954, he co-starred with Dorothy Dandridge in the Otto Preminger-directed musical "Carmen Jones," a popular breakthrough for an all-Black cast. The 1957 movie "Island in the Sun" was banned in several Southern cities, where theater owners were threatened by the Ku Klux Klan because of the film's interracial romance between Belafonte and Joan Fontaine.

His "Calypso," released in 1955, became the first officially certified million-selling album by a solo performer, and started a national infatuation with Caribbean rhythms (Belafonte was nicknamed, reluctantly, the "King of Calypso"). Admirers of Belafonte included a young Bob Dylan, who debuted on record in the early '60s by playing harmonica on Belafonte's "Midnight Special."

"Harry was the best balladeer in the land and everybody knew it," Dylan later wrote. "He was a fantastic artist, sang about lovers and slaves — chain gang workers, saints and sinners and children. ... Harry was that rare type of character that radiates greatness, and you hope that some of it rubs off on you."

Belafonte befriended King in the spring of 1956 after the young civil rights leader called and asked for a meeting. They spoke for hours, and Belafonte would remember feeling King raised him to the "higher plane of social protest." Then at the peak of his singing career, Belafonte was soon producing a benefit concert for the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama that helped make King a national figure. By the early 1960s, he had decided to make civil rights his priority.

"I was having almost daily talks with Martin," Belafonte wrote in his memoir "My Song," published in 2011. "I realized that the movement was more important than anything else."

The Kennedys were among the first politicians to seek his opinions, which he willingly shared. John F. Kennedy, at a time when Blacks were as likely to vote for Republicans as for Democrats, was so anxious for his support that during the 1960 election he visited Belafonte at his Manhattan home. Belafonte schooled Kennedy on the importance of King, and arranged for them to speak.

"I was quite taken by the fact that he (Kennedy) knew so little about the Black community," Belafonte told NBC in 2013. "He knew the headlines of the day, but he wasn't really anywhere nuanced or detailed on the depth of Black anguish or what our struggle's really about."

Belafonte would often criticize the Kennedys for their reluctance to challenge the Southern segregationists who were then a substantial part of the Democratic Party. He argued with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, the president's brother, over the government's failure to protect the "Freedom Riders" trying to integrate bus stations. He was among the Black activists at a widely publicized meeting with the attorney general, when playwright Lorraine Hansberry and others stunned Kennedy by questioning whether the country even deserved Black allegiance.

"Bobby turned red at that. I had never seen him so shaken," Belafonte later wrote.

In 1963, Belafonte was deeply involved with the March on Washington. He recruited his close friend Sidney Poitier, Paul Newman and other celebrities and persuaded the left-wing Marlon Brando to co-chair the Hollywood delegation with the more conservative Charlton Heston, a pairing designed to appeal to the broadest possible audience. In 1964, he and Poitier personally delivered tens of thousands of dollar to activists in Mississippi after three "Freedom Summer" volunteers were murdered — the two celebrities were chased by car at one point by members of the KKK. The following year, he brought in Tony Bennett, Joan Baez and other singers to perform for the marchers in Selma, Alabama.

When King was assassinated, in 1968, Belafonte helped pick out the suit he was buried in, sat next to his widow, Coretta, at the funeral, and continued to support his family, in part through an insurance policy he had taken out on King in his lifetime.

"Much of my political outlook was already in place when I encountered Dr. King," Belafonte later wrote. "I was well on my way and utterly committed to the civil rights struggle. I came to him with expectations and he affirmed them."

King's death left Belafonte isolated from the civil rights community. He was turned off by the separatist beliefs of Stokely Carmichael and other "Black Power" activists and had little chemistry with King's designated successor, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy. But the entertainer's causes extended well beyond the U.S.

He mentored South African singer and activist Miriam Makeba and helped introduce her to American audiences, the two winning a Grammy in 1964 for the concert record "An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba." He coordinated Nelson Mandela's first visit to the U.S. since being released from prison in 1990. A few years earlier, he initiated the all-star, million-selling "We Are the World" recording, the Grammy-winning charity song for famine relief in Africa.

Belafonte's early life and career paralleled those of Poitier, who died in 2022. Both spent part of their childhoods in the Caribbean and ended up in New York. Both served in the military during World War II, acted in the American Negro Theatre and then broke into film. Poitier shared his belief in civil rights, but still dedicated much of his time to acting, a source of some tension between them. While Poitier had a sustained and historic run in the 1960s as a leading man and box office success, Belafonte grew tired of acting and turned down parts he regarded as "neutered."

"Sidney radiated a truly saintly dignity and calm. Not me," Belafonte wrote in his memoir. "I didn't want to tone down my sexuality, either. Sidney did that in every role he took."

Belafonte was very much a human being. He acknowledged extra-marital affairs, negligence as a parent and a frightening temper, driven by lifelong insecurity. "Woe to the musician who missed his cue, or the agent who fouled up a booking," he confided.

In his memoir, he chastised Poitier for a "radical breach" by backing out on a commitment to star as Mandela in a TV miniseries Belafonte had conceived, then agreeing to play Mandela for a rival production. He became so estranged from King's widow and children that he was not asked to speak at her funeral. In 2013, he sued three of King's children over control of some of the civil rights leader's personal papers. In his memoir, he would allege that the King children were more interested in "selling trinkets and memorabilia" than in serious thought.

He made news years earlier when he compared Colin Powell, the first Black secretary of state, to a slave "permitted to come into the house of the master" for his service in the George W. Bush administration. He was in Washington in January 2009 as Obama was inaugurated, officiating along with Baez and others at a gala called the Inaugural Peace Ball. But Belafonte would later criticize Obama for failing to live up to his promise and lacking "fundamental empathy with the dispossessed, be they white or Black."

Belafonte did occasionally serve in government, as cultural adviser for the Peace Corps during the Kennedy administration and decades later as goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. For his film and music career, he received the motion picture academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, a National Medal of Arts, a Grammy for lifetime achievement and numerous other honorary prizes. He found special pleasure in winning a New York Film Critics Award in 1996 for his work as a gangster in Robert Altman's "Kansas City."

"I'm as proud of that film critics' award as I am of all my gold records," he wrote in his memoir.

He was married three times, most recently to photographer Pamela Frank, and had four children. Three of them — Shari, David and Gina — became actors.

Harry Belafonte was born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr. in 1927, in a community of West Indians in Harlem. His father was a seaman and cook with Dutch and Jamaican ancestry and his mother, part Scottish, worked as a domestic. Both parents were undocumented immigrants and Belafonte recalled living "an underground life, as criminals of a sort, on the run."

The household was violent: Belafonte sustained brutal beatings from his father, and he was sent to live for several years with relatives in Jamaica. Belafonte was a poor reader — he was probably dyslexic, he later realized — and dropped out of high school, soon joining the Navy. While in the service, he read "Color and Democracy'' by the Black scholar W.E.B. Du Bois and was deeply affected, calling it the start of his political education.

After the war, he found a job in New York as an assistant janitor for some apartment buildings. One tenant liked him enough to give him free tickets to a play at the American Negro Theatre, a community repertory for black performers. Belafonte was so impressed that he joined as a volunteer, then as an actor. Poitier was a peer, both of them "skinny, brooding and vulnerable within our hard shells of self-protection," Belafonte later wrote.

Belafonte met Brando, Walter Matthau and other future stars while taking acting classes at the New School for Social Research. Brando was an inspiration as an actor, and he and Belafonte became close, sometimes riding on Brando's motorcycle or double dating or playing congas together at parties. Over the years, Belafonte's political and artistic lives would lead to friendships with everyone from Frank Sinatra and Lester Young to Eleanor Roosevelt and Fidel Castro.

His early stage credits included "Days of Our Youth" and Sean O'Casey's "Juno and the Peacock," a play Belafonte remembered less because of his own performance than because of a backstage visitor, Robeson, the actor, singer and activist.

"What I remember more than anything Robeson said, was the love he radiated, and the profound responsibility he felt, as an actor, to use his platform as a bully pulpit," Belafonte wrote in his memoir. His friendship with Robeson and support for left-wing causes eventually brought trouble from the government. FBI agents visited him at home and allegations of Communism nearly cost him an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Leftists suspected, and Belafonte emphatically denied, that he had named names of suspected Communists so he could perform on Sullivan's show.

By the 1950s, Belafonte was also singing, finding gigs at the Blue Note, the Vanguard and other clubs — he was backed for one performance by Charlie Parker and Max Roach — and becoming immersed in folk, blues, jazz and the calypso he had heard while living in Jamaica. Starting in 1954, he released such top 10 albums as "Mark Twain and Other Folk Favorites" and "Belafonte," and his popular singles included "Mathilda," "Jamaica Farewell" and "The Banana Boat Song," a reworked Caribbean ballad that was a late addition to his "Calypso" record.

"We found ourselves one or two songs short, so we threw in `Day-O' as filler," Belafonte wrote in his memoir.

He was a superstar, but one criticized, and occasionally sued, for taking traditional material and not sharing the profits. Belafonte expressed regret and also worried about being typecast as a calypso singer, declining for years to sing "Day-O" live after he gave television performances against banana boat backdrops.

Belafonte was the rare young artist to think about the business side of show business. He started one of the first all-Black music publishing companies. He produced plays, movies and TV shows, including Off-Broadway's "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black," in 1969. He was the first Black person to produce for TV.

Belafonte made history in 1968 by filling in for Johnny Carson on the "Tonight" show for a full week. Later that year, a simple, spontaneous gesture led to another milestone. Appearing on a taped TV special starring Petula Clark, Belafonte joined the British singer on the anti-war song "On the Path of Glory." At one point, Clark placed a hand on Belafonte's arm. The show's sponsor, Chrysler, demanded the segment be reshot. Clark and Belafonte resisted, successfully, and for the first time a man and woman of different colors touched on national television.

In the 1970s, he returned to movie acting, co-starring with Poitier in "Buck and the Preacher," a commercial flop, the raucous and popular comedy "Uptown Saturday Night." His other film credits include "Bobby," "White Man's Burden," and cameos in Altman's "The Player" and "Ready to Wear." He also appeared in the Altman-directed TV series "Tanner on Tanner" and was among those interviewed for "When the Levees Broke," Spike Lee's HBO documentary about Hurricane Katrina. In 2011, HBO aired a documentary about Belafonte, "Sing Your Song."

Mindful to the end that he grew up in poverty, Belafonte did not think of himself as an artist who became an activist, but an activist who happened to be an artist.

"When you grow up, son," Belafonte remembered his mother telling him, "never go to bed at night knowing that there was something you could have done during the day to strike a blow against injustice and you didn't do it."

In addition to his wife, Belafonte is survived by his children Adrienne Belafonte Biesemeyer, Shari Belafonte, Gina Belafonte and David Belafonte; two stepchildren, Sarah Frank and Lindsey Frank; and eight grandchildren.

Associated Press writer Mike Stewart contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1682431956148.png" alt="Calypso was the first Long Play record album to sell over one million copies." />
 <figcaption>Calypso was the first Long Play record album to sell over one million copies.</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — Harry Belafonte, the civil rights and entertainment giant who began as a groundbreaking actor and singer and became an activist, humanitarian and conscience of the world, has died. He was 96.Belafonte died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his New York home, his wife Pamela by his side, said Ken Sunshine, of public relations firm Sunshine Sachs Morgan &amp; Lylis.With his glowing, handsome face and silky-husky voice, Belafonte was one of the first Black performers to gain a wide following on film and to sell a million records as a singer; many still know him for his signature hit "Banana Boat Song (Day-O)," and its call of "Day-O! Daaaaay-O." But he forged a greater legacy once he scaled back his performing career in the 1960s and lived out his hero Paul Robeson's decree that artists are "gatekeepers of truth."He stands as the model and the epitome of the celebrity activist. Few kept up with Belafonte's time and commitment and none his stature as a meeting point among Hollywood, Washington and the civil rights movement.Belafonte not only participated in protest marches and benefit concerts, but helped organize and raise support for them. He worked closely with his friend and generational peer the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., often intervening on his behalf with both politicians and fellow entertainers and helping him financially. He risked his life and livelihood and set high standards for younger Black celebrities, scolding Jay Z and Beyonce for failing to meet their "social responsibilities," and mentoring Usher, Common, Danny Glover and many others. In Spike Lee's 2018 film "BlacKkKlansman," he was fittingly cast as an elder statesman schooling young activists about the country's past.Belafonte's friend, civil rights leader Andrew Young, would note that Belafonte was the rare person to grow more radical with age. He was ever engaged and unyielding, willing to take on Southern segregationists, Northern liberals, the billionaire Koch brothers and the country's first Black president, Barack Obama, whom Belafonte would remember asking to cut him "some slack."Belafonte responded, "What makes you think that's not what I've been doing?"Belafonte had been a major artist since the 1950s. He won a Tony Award in 1954 for his starring role in John Murray Anderson's "Almanac" and five years later became the first Black performer to win an Emmy for the TV special "Tonight with Harry Belafonte."In 1954, he co-starred with Dorothy Dandridge in the Otto Preminger-directed musical "Carmen Jones," a popular breakthrough for an all-Black cast. The 1957 movie "Island in the Sun" was banned in several Southern cities, where theater owners were threatened by the Ku Klux Klan because of the film's interracial romance between Belafonte and Joan Fontaine.His "Calypso," released in 1955, became the first officially certified million-selling album by a solo performer, and started a national infatuation with Caribbean rhythms (Belafonte was nicknamed, reluctantly, the "King of Calypso"). Admirers of Belafonte included a young Bob Dylan, who debuted on record in the early '60s by playing harmonica on Belafonte's "Midnight Special.""Harry was the best balladeer in the land and everybody knew it," Dylan later wrote. "He was a fantastic artist, sang about lovers and slaves — chain gang workers, saints and sinners and children. ... Harry was that rare type of character that radiates greatness, and you hope that some of it rubs off on you."Belafonte befriended King in the spring of 1956 after the young civil rights leader called and asked for a meeting. They spoke for hours, and Belafonte would remember feeling King raised him to the "higher plane of social protest." Then at the peak of his singing career, Belafonte was soon producing a benefit concert for the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama that helped make King a national figure. By the early 1960s, he had decided to make civil rights his priority."I was having almost daily talks with Martin," Belafonte wrote in his memoir "My Song," published in 2011. "I realized that the movement was more important than anything else."The Kennedys were among the first politicians to seek his opinions, which he willingly shared. John F. Kennedy, at a time when Blacks were as likely to vote for Republicans as for Democrats, was so anxious for his support that during the 1960 election he visited Belafonte at his Manhattan home. Belafonte schooled Kennedy on the importance of King, and arranged for them to speak."I was quite taken by the fact that he (Kennedy) knew so little about the Black community," Belafonte told NBC in 2013. "He knew the headlines of the day, but he wasn't really anywhere nuanced or detailed on the depth of Black anguish or what our struggle's really about."Belafonte would often criticize the Kennedys for their reluctance to challenge the Southern segregationists who were then a substantial part of the Democratic Party. He argued with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, the president's brother, over the government's failure to protect the "Freedom Riders" trying to integrate bus stations. He was among the Black activists at a widely publicized meeting with the attorney general, when playwright Lorraine Hansberry and others stunned Kennedy by questioning whether the country even deserved Black allegiance."Bobby turned red at that. I had never seen him so shaken," Belafonte later wrote.In 1963, Belafonte was deeply involved with the March on Washington. He recruited his close friend Sidney Poitier, Paul Newman and other celebrities and persuaded the left-wing Marlon Brando to co-chair the Hollywood delegation with the more conservative Charlton Heston, a pairing designed to appeal to the broadest possible audience. In 1964, he and Poitier personally delivered tens of thousands of dollar to activists in Mississippi after three "Freedom Summer" volunteers were murdered — the two celebrities were chased by car at one point by members of the KKK. The following year, he brought in Tony Bennett, Joan Baez and other singers to perform for the marchers in Selma, Alabama.When King was assassinated, in 1968, Belafonte helped pick out the suit he was buried in, sat next to his widow, Coretta, at the funeral, and continued to support his family, in part through an insurance policy he had taken out on King in his lifetime."Much of my political outlook was already in place when I encountered Dr. King," Belafonte later wrote. "I was well on my way and utterly committed to the civil rights struggle. I came to him with expectations and he affirmed them."King's death left Belafonte isolated from the civil rights community. He was turned off by the separatist beliefs of Stokely Carmichael and other "Black Power" activists and had little chemistry with King's designated successor, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy. But the entertainer's causes extended well beyond the U.S.He mentored South African singer and activist Miriam Makeba and helped introduce her to American audiences, the two winning a Grammy in 1964 for the concert record "An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba." He coordinated Nelson Mandela's first visit to the U.S. since being released from prison in 1990. A few years earlier, he initiated the all-star, million-selling "We Are the World" recording, the Grammy-winning charity song for famine relief in Africa.Belafonte's early life and career paralleled those of Poitier, who died in 2022. Both spent part of their childhoods in the Caribbean and ended up in New York. Both served in the military during World War II, acted in the American Negro Theatre and then broke into film. Poitier shared his belief in civil rights, but still dedicated much of his time to acting, a source of some tension between them. While Poitier had a sustained and historic run in the 1960s as a leading man and box office success, Belafonte grew tired of acting and turned down parts he regarded as "neutered.""Sidney radiated a truly saintly dignity and calm. Not me," Belafonte wrote in his memoir. "I didn't want to tone down my sexuality, either. Sidney did that in every role he took."Belafonte was very much a human being. He acknowledged extra-marital affairs, negligence as a parent and a frightening temper, driven by lifelong insecurity. "Woe to the musician who missed his cue, or the agent who fouled up a booking," he confided.In his memoir, he chastised Poitier for a "radical breach" by backing out on a commitment to star as Mandela in a TV miniseries Belafonte had conceived, then agreeing to play Mandela for a rival production. He became so estranged from King's widow and children that he was not asked to speak at her funeral. In 2013, he sued three of King's children over control of some of the civil rights leader's personal papers. In his memoir, he would allege that the King children were more interested in "selling trinkets and memorabilia" than in serious thought.He made news years earlier when he compared Colin Powell, the first Black secretary of state, to a slave "permitted to come into the house of the master" for his service in the George W. Bush administration. He was in Washington in January 2009 as Obama was inaugurated, officiating along with Baez and others at a gala called the Inaugural Peace Ball. But Belafonte would later criticize Obama for failing to live up to his promise and lacking "fundamental empathy with the dispossessed, be they white or Black."Belafonte did occasionally serve in government, as cultural adviser for the Peace Corps during the Kennedy administration and decades later as goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. For his film and music career, he received the motion picture academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, a National Medal of Arts, a Grammy for lifetime achievement and numerous other honorary prizes. He found special pleasure in winning a New York Film Critics Award in 1996 for his work as a gangster in Robert Altman's "Kansas City.""I'm as proud of that film critics' award as I am of all my gold records," he wrote in his memoir.He was married three times, most recently to photographer Pamela Frank, and had four children. Three of them — Shari, David and Gina — became actors.Harry Belafonte was born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr. in 1927, in a community of West Indians in Harlem. His father was a seaman and cook with Dutch and Jamaican ancestry and his mother, part Scottish, worked as a domestic. Both parents were undocumented immigrants and Belafonte recalled living "an underground life, as criminals of a sort, on the run."The household was violent: Belafonte sustained brutal beatings from his father, and he was sent to live for several years with relatives in Jamaica. Belafonte was a poor reader — he was probably dyslexic, he later realized — and dropped out of high school, soon joining the Navy. While in the service, he read "Color and Democracy'' by the Black scholar W.E.B. Du Bois and was deeply affected, calling it the start of his political education.After the war, he found a job in New York as an assistant janitor for some apartment buildings. One tenant liked him enough to give him free tickets to a play at the American Negro Theatre, a community repertory for black performers. Belafonte was so impressed that he joined as a volunteer, then as an actor. Poitier was a peer, both of them "skinny, brooding and vulnerable within our hard shells of self-protection," Belafonte later wrote.Belafonte met Brando, Walter Matthau and other future stars while taking acting classes at the New School for Social Research. Brando was an inspiration as an actor, and he and Belafonte became close, sometimes riding on Brando's motorcycle or double dating or playing congas together at parties. Over the years, Belafonte's political and artistic lives would lead to friendships with everyone from Frank Sinatra and Lester Young to Eleanor Roosevelt and Fidel Castro.His early stage credits included "Days of Our Youth" and Sean O'Casey's "Juno and the Peacock," a play Belafonte remembered less because of his own performance than because of a backstage visitor, Robeson, the actor, singer and activist."What I remember more than anything Robeson said, was the love he radiated, and the profound responsibility he felt, as an actor, to use his platform as a bully pulpit," Belafonte wrote in his memoir. His friendship with Robeson and support for left-wing causes eventually brought trouble from the government. FBI agents visited him at home and allegations of Communism nearly cost him an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Leftists suspected, and Belafonte emphatically denied, that he had named names of suspected Communists so he could perform on Sullivan's show.By the 1950s, Belafonte was also singing, finding gigs at the Blue Note, the Vanguard and other clubs — he was backed for one performance by Charlie Parker and Max Roach — and becoming immersed in folk, blues, jazz and the calypso he had heard while living in Jamaica. Starting in 1954, he released such top 10 albums as "Mark Twain and Other Folk Favorites" and "Belafonte," and his popular singles included "Mathilda," "Jamaica Farewell" and "The Banana Boat Song," a reworked Caribbean ballad that was a late addition to his "Calypso" record."We found ourselves one or two songs short, so we threw in `Day-O' as filler," Belafonte wrote in his memoir.He was a superstar, but one criticized, and occasionally sued, for taking traditional material and not sharing the profits. Belafonte expressed regret and also worried about being typecast as a calypso singer, declining for years to sing "Day-O" live after he gave television performances against banana boat backdrops.Belafonte was the rare young artist to think about the business side of show business. He started one of the first all-Black music publishing companies. He produced plays, movies and TV shows, including Off-Broadway's "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black," in 1969. He was the first Black person to produce for TV.Belafonte made history in 1968 by filling in for Johnny Carson on the "Tonight" show for a full week. Later that year, a simple, spontaneous gesture led to another milestone. Appearing on a taped TV special starring Petula Clark, Belafonte joined the British singer on the anti-war song "On the Path of Glory." At one point, Clark placed a hand on Belafonte's arm. The show's sponsor, Chrysler, demanded the segment be reshot. Clark and Belafonte resisted, successfully, and for the first time a man and woman of different colors touched on national television.In the 1970s, he returned to movie acting, co-starring with Poitier in "Buck and the Preacher," a commercial flop, the raucous and popular comedy "Uptown Saturday Night." His other film credits include "Bobby," "White Man's Burden," and cameos in Altman's "The Player" and "Ready to Wear." He also appeared in the Altman-directed TV series "Tanner on Tanner" and was among those interviewed for "When the Levees Broke," Spike Lee's HBO documentary about Hurricane Katrina. In 2011, HBO aired a documentary about Belafonte, "Sing Your Song."Mindful to the end that he grew up in poverty, Belafonte did not think of himself as an artist who became an activist, but an activist who happened to be an artist."When you grow up, son," Belafonte remembered his mother telling him, "never go to bed at night knowing that there was something you could have done during the day to strike a blow against injustice and you didn't do it."In addition to his wife, Belafonte is survived by his children Adrienne Belafonte Biesemeyer, Shari Belafonte, Gina Belafonte and David Belafonte; two stepchildren, Sarah Frank and Lindsey Frank; and eight grandchildren.____Associated Press writer Mike Stewart contributed to this report.

Harry Belafonte, activist and entertainer, dies at 96

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Monday vetoed a bill that would have cut taxes in Kansas by nearly $1.4 billion over the next three years, objecting to a proposal included by conservative Republicans to impose a single-rate flat income tax for individuals.

Kelly said abandoning the state's current three-rate individual income tax with higher rates for higher earners would have been fiscally reckless and threatened funding for public schools. She announced her veto at a Topeka-area elementary school and recalled the state's&nbsp;<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/07/kansas-brownback-tax-veto-override/">nationally notorious 2012-2013 experiment in slashing income taxes</a>&nbsp;and the huge budget shortfalls that followed under then-Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.

Republican leaders plan to attempt overriding Kelly's veto once the full GOP-controlled Legislature reconvenes Wednesday to wrap up its business for the year. Backers of the bill included Americans for Prosperity, the grassroots low-tax, small-government group funded by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers. Supporters appeared to have a good chance of getting the two-thirds majorities necessary to override a veto.

“It is a throwback to the Brownback tax experiment, and we all know how that turned out,” Kelly told reporters, hitting&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/f5741d8d0d8c40979857c9d2d6afae9f">a key theme</a>&nbsp;of her successful 2018 and 2022 campaigns for governor. “Any tax cut we pass needs to be sustainable, fiscally responsible and targeted to the people who need it the most.”

<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/summary_sb_169_2023">The measure</a>&nbsp;also would have reduced taxes on retirees' Social Security incomes and accelerate phasing out of the state's sales tax on groceries, so that it would end at the start of 2024 instead of 2025, both measures Kelly supported. It also would have reduced property taxes for most homeowners by $46 a year, a proposal pushed by Democrats.

The income tax changes were a nonstarter for many Democrats, particularly because it set the rate at 5.15% when the state's current top rate is 5.7%.

As an alternative, Kelly proposed a one-time, $450 rebate for each Kansas individual filer, so that the state's revenues would not be reduced each year going forward.

Republicans&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-personal-taxes-kansas-topeka-state-taxes-9c8e53d13a10b9bdd113db8a64be5d52">have been cold to the idea</a>&nbsp;of a rebate in the past. Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, called the rebate proposal “gimmicky” and tells people that the governor sees tax dollars as “her money,” rather than "recognizing the money we collect belongs to the people.”

Kansas' tax collections&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-topeka-kansas-personal-taxes-legislature-090092b19f2e7de084f5b48cdcb7acaf">generally have run ahead</a>&nbsp;of expectations since lawmakers repealed most of the tax experiment under Brownback in 2017.

And the veto came four days after state officials and university economists issued a new fiscal forecast that boosted the state's official projections for tax collections through June 2024 by roughly 1%. Even with the tax cuts Kelly vetoed factored in, the state is on track to end June 2024 with surplus cash and rainy day funds of more than $4 billion.

Kelly and lawmakers in both parties see the tax cuts as a way of helping people deal with inflation.

"It’s especially careless and out-of-touch for Governor Kelly to veto this broad, sustainable tax policy that provides tax relief to ALL Kansans," House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said in a statement.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1682367276877.png" alt="Republican leaders plan to attempt overriding Kelly's veto once the full GOP-controlled Legislature reconvenes Wednesday to wrap up its business for the year.-photo courtesy Kansas governor's office" />
 <figcaption>Republican leaders plan to attempt overriding Kelly's veto once the full GOP-controlled Legislature reconvenes Wednesday to wrap up its business for the year.-photo courtesy Kansas governor's office</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Monday vetoed a bill that would have cut taxes in Kansas by nearly $1.4 billion over the next three years, objecting to a proposal included by conservative Republicans to impose a single-rate flat income tax for individuals.Kelly said abandoning the state's current three-rate individual income tax with higher rates for higher earners would have been fiscally reckless and threatened funding for public schools. She announced her veto at a Topeka-area elementary school and recalled the state's&nbsp;<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/07/kansas-brownback-tax-veto-override/">nationally notorious 2012-2013 experiment in slashing income taxes</a>&nbsp;and the huge budget shortfalls that followed under then-Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.Republican leaders plan to attempt overriding Kelly's veto once the full GOP-controlled Legislature reconvenes Wednesday to wrap up its business for the year. Backers of the bill included Americans for Prosperity, the grassroots low-tax, small-government group funded by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers. Supporters appeared to have a good chance of getting the two-thirds majorities necessary to override a veto.“It is a throwback to the Brownback tax experiment, and we all know how that turned out,” Kelly told reporters, hitting&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/f5741d8d0d8c40979857c9d2d6afae9f">a key theme</a>&nbsp;of her successful 2018 and 2022 campaigns for governor. “Any tax cut we pass needs to be sustainable, fiscally responsible and targeted to the people who need it the most.”<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/summary_sb_169_2023">The measure</a>&nbsp;also would have reduced taxes on retirees' Social Security incomes and accelerate phasing out of the state's sales tax on groceries, so that it would end at the start of 2024 instead of 2025, both measures Kelly supported. It also would have reduced property taxes for most homeowners by $46 a year, a proposal pushed by Democrats.The income tax changes were a nonstarter for many Democrats, particularly because it set the rate at 5.15% when the state's current top rate is 5.7%.As an alternative, Kelly proposed a one-time, $450 rebate for each Kansas individual filer, so that the state's revenues would not be reduced each year going forward.Republicans&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-personal-taxes-kansas-topeka-state-taxes-9c8e53d13a10b9bdd113db8a64be5d52">have been cold to the idea</a>&nbsp;of a rebate in the past. Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican, called the rebate proposal “gimmicky” and tells people that the governor sees tax dollars as “her money,” rather than "recognizing the money we collect belongs to the people.”Kansas' tax collections&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-topeka-kansas-personal-taxes-legislature-090092b19f2e7de084f5b48cdcb7acaf">generally have run ahead</a>&nbsp;of expectations since lawmakers repealed most of the tax experiment under Brownback in 2017.And the veto came four days after state officials and university economists issued a new fiscal forecast that boosted the state's official projections for tax collections through June 2024 by roughly 1%. Even with the tax cuts Kelly vetoed factored in, the state is on track to end June 2024 with surplus cash and rainy day funds of more than $4 billion.Kelly and lawmakers in both parties see the tax cuts as a way of helping people deal with inflation."It’s especially careless and out-of-touch for Governor Kelly to veto this broad, sustainable tax policy that provides tax relief to ALL Kansans," House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said in a statement.

Battle over taxes in Kan.after governor vetoes $1.4 billion plan

WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;on Tuesday formally announced that he is running for reelection in 2024, asking voters to give him more time to “finish the job” he began when he was sworn in to office and to set aside their concerns about extending the run of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-inauguration-joe-biden-race-and-ethnicity-ronald-reagan-pennsylvania-48d1659d4469999be87fbd87d560a52c">America’s oldest president</a>&nbsp;for another four years.

Biden, who would be 86 at the end of a second term, is betting&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-china-pandemics-52195f4d5338b0b226aad4300436fc15">his first-term legislative achievements</a>&nbsp;and more than 50 years of experience in Washington will count for more than concerns over his age. He faces a smooth path to winning his party’s nomination, with no serious Democratic rivals. But he’s still set for a hard-fought struggle to retain the presidency in a bitterly divided nation.

The announcement, in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChjibtX0UzU">a three-minute video</a>, comes on the four-year anniversary of when Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-america-pa-state-wire-joe-biden-ap-top-news-donald-trump-d5c415b99a6945dbbecf60d57bcf68cb">declared for the White House</a>&nbsp;in 2019, promising to heal the “soul of the nation” amid&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-president-legacy-e3f2608fc3b70e2e2f45097a403150e1">the turbulent presidency of Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;— a goal that has remained elusive.

“I said we are in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are," Biden said. “The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer.”

While the question of seeking reelection has been a given for most modern presidents, that’s not always been the case for Biden, as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-poll-2024-white-house-economy-873663f6e3cbca8f2dae2f018c8be9d3">a notable swath of Democratic voters</a>&nbsp;have indicated they would prefer he not run, in part because of his age — concerns Biden has called&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-donald-trump-government-and-politics-ede57ce56fdf7958addec2cf9ef5e0de">“totally legitimate”</a>&nbsp;but ones he did not address head-on in the launch video.

Yet few things have unified Democratic voters like the prospect of Trump returning to power. And Biden’s political standing within his party stabilized after Democrats notched a stronger-than-expected performance in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections">last year’s midterm elections</a>, as the president set out to run again on the same themes that buoyed his party last fall, particularly on preserving&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-us-supreme-court-politics-texas-gavin-newsom-5db36213df3b4de5ad94ebbb53d01d30">access to abortion</a>.

“Freedom. Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans. There’s nothing more important. Nothing more sacred,” Biden said in the launch video, which painted the Republican Party as extremists trying to roll back access to abortion,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-us-republican-party-united-states-government-programs-00e9f526a93936c324a40d71df2863ba">cut Social Security</a>, limit voting rights and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-book-bans-91b2d4c086eb082cbecfdda2800ef29a">ban books</a>&nbsp;they disagree with. “Around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take those bedrock freedoms away.”

“This is not a time to be complacent,” Biden added. “That’s why I’m running for reelection."

As the contours of the campaign begin to take shape, Biden plans to campaign on his record. He spent his first two years as president combating the coronavirus pandemic and pushing through major bills such as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-congress-infrastructure-bill-signing-b5b8cca843133de060778f049861b144">the bipartisan infrastructure package</a>&nbsp;and legislation to promote high-tech manufacturing and climate measures. With Republicans now&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-house-control-79475a4fc11e4375cd0dded651b9eede">in control of the House</a>, Biden has shifted his focus to implementing those massive laws and making sure voters credit him for the improvements, while sharpening the contrast with the GOP ahead of an expected showdown over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-kevin-mccarthy-debt-limit-schumer-98fb9543dd3434d9f8a5ace09cbb1eed">raising the nation's borrowing limit</a>&nbsp;that could have debilitating consequences for the country's economy.

But the president also has multiple policy goals and unmet promises from his first campaign that he’s pitching voters on giving him another chance to fulfill.

“Let’s finish this job. I know we can,” Biden said in the video, repeating a mantra he said a dozen times during his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/state-of-the-union-biden-2023-b9bebd876a42a9510f068a04a3f2a348">State of the Union address</a>&nbsp;in February, listing everything from passing a ban on assault-style weapons and lowering the cost of prescription drugs to codifying a national right to abortion after the Supreme Court's ruling last year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">overturning Roe v. Wade</a>.

Buoyed by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections">the midterm results</a>, Biden plans to continue to cast all Republicans as embracing what he calls&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-biden-business-donald-trump-economy-accd1a895105377a3e4350067c56b64d">“ultra-MAGA” politics</a>&nbsp;— a reference to Trump’s “Make America Great Again" slogan — regardless of whether his predecessor ends up on the 2024 ballot. He’s spent the last several months road-testing campaign themes, including painting Republicans as fighting for tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy while trying to cut social safety net benefits relied on by everyday Americans and roll back access to abortion services.

Biden, speaking over brief video clips and photographs of key moments in his presidency, snapshots of diverse Americans and flashes of his outspoken Republican foes, including Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, exhorted supporters that “this is our moment” to “defend democracy. Stand up for our personal freedoms. Stand up for the right to vote and our civil rights.”

Biden also plans to point to his work over the past two years shoring up American alliances, leading a global coalition to support Ukraine’s defenses against Russia’s invasion and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-return-paris-climate-world-leaders-ee8eb8b6744394ad41e33f94843b6586">returning the U.S. to the Paris climate accord</a>. But public support in the U.S. for Ukraine has softened in recent months, and some voters question the tens of billions of dollars in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-biden-politics-ecd159914eb01c1145d703eb95855890">military and economic assistance</a>&nbsp;flowing to Kyiv.

The president faces lingering criticism over his administration's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-islamic-state-group-e10e038baea732dae879c11234507f81">chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan</a>&nbsp;after nearly 20 years of war, which undercut the image of competence he aimed to portray to the world, and he finds himself the target of GOP attacks over his immigration and economic policies.

As a candidate in 2020, Biden pitched voters on his familiarity with the halls of power in Washington and his relationships around the world as he promised to return a sense of normalcy to the country amid&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-president-legacy-e3f2608fc3b70e2e2f45097a403150e1">Trump’s tumultuous presidency</a>&nbsp;and the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

But even back then, Biden was acutely aware of voters’ concerns about his age.

“Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else,” Biden said in March 2020, as he campaigned in Michigan with younger Democrats, including now-Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “There’s an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of this country.”

Three years later, the president now 80, Biden allies say his time in office has demonstrated that he saw himself as more of a transformational than a transitional leader.

Still, many Democrats would prefer that Biden didn’t run again. A&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-poll-2024-white-house-economy-873663f6e3cbca8f2dae2f018c8be9d3">recent poll</a>&nbsp;from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows just 47% of Democrats say they want him to seek a second term, up from 37% in February. And Biden’s verbal — and occasional physical — stumbles have become fodder among the GOP, which has sought to cast him as unfit for office.

Biden, on multiple occasions, has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-donald-trump-government-and-politics-ede57ce56fdf7958addec2cf9ef5e0de">brushed back concerns about his age</a>, saying simply, “Watch me.”

During&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-united-states-government-health-bdce6c15df6186e06710f2d903a3513e">a routine physical</a>&nbsp;in February, his physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, declared him “healthy, vigorous” and “fit” to handle his White House responsibilities.

Aides acknowledge that while some in his party might prefer an alternative to Biden, there is anything but consensus within their diverse coalition on who that might be. And they insist that when Biden is compared with whomever the GOP nominates, Democrats and independents will rally around Biden.

For now, the 76-year-old Trump is the favorite to emerge as the Republican nominee, creating the potential of a historic sequel to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-confirmed-0409d7d753461377ff2c5bb91ac4050c">the bitterly fought 2020 campaign</a>. But Trump faces significant hurdles of his own, including the designation of being the first former president to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-arraignment-hush-money-81225510ef7638494852816878f612f0">face criminal charges</a>. The remaining GOP field is volatile, with DeSantis emerging as an early alternative to Trump. DeSantis' stature is also in question, however, amid questions about his readiness to campaign outside of his increasingly Republican-leaning state.

To prevail again, Biden will need to revive the alliance of young voters and Black voters — particularly women — along with blue-collar Midwesterners, moderates and disaffected Republicans who helped him win in 2020. He'll have to again carry&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-virus-outbreak-wisconsin-pennsylvania-27d3205028e5e43fa0031913c40b0b7d">the so-called “blue wall”</a>&nbsp;in the Upper Midwest, while protecting his position in Georgia and Arizona, longtime GOP strongholds that he narrowly won in his last campaign.

Biden’s reelection bid comes as the nation weathers uncertain economic crosscurrents.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-federal-reserve-interest-rates-banks-economy-40c98d52a8bc71e21a228ed5c1cbde86">Inflation is ticking down</a>&nbsp;after hitting the highest rate in a generation, driving up the price of goods and services, but unemployment is at a 50-year low, and the economy is showing signs of resilience despite Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.

Presidents typically try to delay their reelection announcements to maintain the advantages of incumbency and skate above the political fray for as long as possible while their rivals trade jabs. But the leg up offered by being in the White House can be rickety — three of the last seven presidents have lost reelection, most recently Trump in 2020.

Biden’s announcement is roughly consistent with the timeline followed by then-President Barack Obama, who waited until April 2011 to declare for a second term. Trump launched his reelection bid on the day he was sworn in in 2017.

Biden is not expected to dramatically alter his day-to-day schedule as a candidate — at least not immediately — with aides believing his strongest political asset is showing the American people that he is governing. And if he follows the Obama playbook, he may not hold any formal campaign rallies until well into 2024. Obama didn't hold a reelection rally until May 2012.

On Tuesday, Biden named White House adviser&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cesar-chavez-legacy-biden-white-house-b582b1e7b43ccd25d61e1fdad9607db1">Julie Chávez Rodríguez</a>&nbsp;to serve as campaign manager and Quentin Fulks, who ran Sen. Raphael Warnock's reelection campaign in Georgia last year, to serve as principal deputy campaign manager. Reps. Lisa Blunt-Rochester, Jim Clyburn and Veronica Escobar; Sens. Chris Coons and Tammy Duckworth; entertainment mogul and Democratic mega-donor Jeffrey Katzenberg; and Whitmer will serve as campaign co-chairs.

On the heels of the announcement Tuesday, Biden was set to deliver remarks to union members before hosting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-south-korea-yoon-state-visit-09aec0df6af76da4e5e0a29d04b85114">a state visit</a>&nbsp;at the White House. He plans to meet with party donors in Washington later this week.

Biden’s formal go-ahead comes after months of public incredulity that the president would seek another term despite plentiful signs that he was intent on doing so.

Ahead of the president’s announcement, first lady Jill Biden expressed disbelief at the persistent questions about her husband’s intent to run.

“How many times does he have to say it for you to believe it?”&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jill-biden-joe-biden-reelection-1659403d211d40212abbfef3b9847491">she told The Associated Press</a>&nbsp;in late February. “He says he’s not done."

WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;on Tuesday formally announced that he is running for reelection in 2024, asking voters to give him more time to “finish the job” he began when he was sworn in to office and to set aside their concerns about extending the run of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-inauguration-joe-biden-race-and-ethnicity-ronald-reagan-pennsylvania-48d1659d4469999be87fbd87d560a52c">America’s oldest president</a>&nbsp;for another four years.<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ChjibtX0UzU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>Biden, who would be 86 at the end of a second term, is betting&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-china-pandemics-52195f4d5338b0b226aad4300436fc15">his first-term legislative achievements</a>&nbsp;and more than 50 years of experience in Washington will count for more than concerns over his age. He faces a smooth path to winning his party’s nomination, with no serious Democratic rivals. But he’s still set for a hard-fought struggle to retain the presidency in a bitterly divided nation.The announcement, in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChjibtX0UzU">a three-minute video</a>, comes on the four-year anniversary of when Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-america-pa-state-wire-joe-biden-ap-top-news-donald-trump-d5c415b99a6945dbbecf60d57bcf68cb">declared for the White House</a>&nbsp;in 2019, promising to heal the “soul of the nation” amid&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-president-legacy-e3f2608fc3b70e2e2f45097a403150e1">the turbulent presidency of Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;— a goal that has remained elusive.“I said we are in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are," Biden said. “The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer.”While the question of seeking reelection has been a given for most modern presidents, that’s not always been the case for Biden, as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-poll-2024-white-house-economy-873663f6e3cbca8f2dae2f018c8be9d3">a notable swath of Democratic voters</a>&nbsp;have indicated they would prefer he not run, in part because of his age — concerns Biden has called&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-donald-trump-government-and-politics-ede57ce56fdf7958addec2cf9ef5e0de">“totally legitimate”</a>&nbsp;but ones he did not address head-on in the launch video.Yet few things have unified Democratic voters like the prospect of Trump returning to power. And Biden’s political standing within his party stabilized after Democrats notched a stronger-than-expected performance in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections">last year’s midterm elections</a>, as the president set out to run again on the same themes that buoyed his party last fall, particularly on preserving&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-us-supreme-court-politics-texas-gavin-newsom-5db36213df3b4de5ad94ebbb53d01d30">access to abortion</a>.“Freedom. Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans. There’s nothing more important. Nothing more sacred,” Biden said in the launch video, which painted the Republican Party as extremists trying to roll back access to abortion,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-us-republican-party-united-states-government-programs-00e9f526a93936c324a40d71df2863ba">cut Social Security</a>, limit voting rights and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-book-bans-91b2d4c086eb082cbecfdda2800ef29a">ban books</a>&nbsp;they disagree with. “Around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take those bedrock freedoms away.”“This is not a time to be complacent,” Biden added. “That’s why I’m running for reelection."As the contours of the campaign begin to take shape, Biden plans to campaign on his record. He spent his first two years as president combating the coronavirus pandemic and pushing through major bills such as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-congress-infrastructure-bill-signing-b5b8cca843133de060778f049861b144">the bipartisan infrastructure package</a>&nbsp;and legislation to promote high-tech manufacturing and climate measures. With Republicans now&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-house-control-79475a4fc11e4375cd0dded651b9eede">in control of the House</a>, Biden has shifted his focus to implementing those massive laws and making sure voters credit him for the improvements, while sharpening the contrast with the GOP ahead of an expected showdown over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-kevin-mccarthy-debt-limit-schumer-98fb9543dd3434d9f8a5ace09cbb1eed">raising the nation's borrowing limit</a>&nbsp;that could have debilitating consequences for the country's economy.But the president also has multiple policy goals and unmet promises from his first campaign that he’s pitching voters on giving him another chance to fulfill.“Let’s finish this job. I know we can,” Biden said in the video, repeating a mantra he said a dozen times during his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/state-of-the-union-biden-2023-b9bebd876a42a9510f068a04a3f2a348">State of the Union address</a>&nbsp;in February, listing everything from passing a ban on assault-style weapons and lowering the cost of prescription drugs to codifying a national right to abortion after the Supreme Court's ruling last year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">overturning Roe v. Wade</a>.Buoyed by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections">the midterm results</a>, Biden plans to continue to cast all Republicans as embracing what he calls&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-biden-business-donald-trump-economy-accd1a895105377a3e4350067c56b64d">“ultra-MAGA” politics</a>&nbsp;— a reference to Trump’s “Make America Great Again" slogan — regardless of whether his predecessor ends up on the 2024 ballot. He’s spent the last several months road-testing campaign themes, including painting Republicans as fighting for tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy while trying to cut social safety net benefits relied on by everyday Americans and roll back access to abortion services.Biden, speaking over brief video clips and photographs of key moments in his presidency, snapshots of diverse Americans and flashes of his outspoken Republican foes, including Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, exhorted supporters that “this is our moment” to “defend democracy. Stand up for our personal freedoms. Stand up for the right to vote and our civil rights.”Biden also plans to point to his work over the past two years shoring up American alliances, leading a global coalition to support Ukraine’s defenses against Russia’s invasion and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-return-paris-climate-world-leaders-ee8eb8b6744394ad41e33f94843b6586">returning the U.S. to the Paris climate accord</a>. But public support in the U.S. for Ukraine has softened in recent months, and some voters question the tens of billions of dollars in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-biden-politics-ecd159914eb01c1145d703eb95855890">military and economic assistance</a>&nbsp;flowing to Kyiv.The president faces lingering criticism over his administration's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-islamic-state-group-e10e038baea732dae879c11234507f81">chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan</a>&nbsp;after nearly 20 years of war, which undercut the image of competence he aimed to portray to the world, and he finds himself the target of GOP attacks over his immigration and economic policies.As a candidate in 2020, Biden pitched voters on his familiarity with the halls of power in Washington and his relationships around the world as he promised to return a sense of normalcy to the country amid&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-president-legacy-e3f2608fc3b70e2e2f45097a403150e1">Trump’s tumultuous presidency</a>&nbsp;and the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.But even back then, Biden was acutely aware of voters’ concerns about his age.“Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else,” Biden said in March 2020, as he campaigned in Michigan with younger Democrats, including now-Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “There’s an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of this country.”Three years later, the president now 80, Biden allies say his time in office has demonstrated that he saw himself as more of a transformational than a transitional leader.Still, many Democrats would prefer that Biden didn’t run again. A&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-poll-2024-white-house-economy-873663f6e3cbca8f2dae2f018c8be9d3">recent poll</a>&nbsp;from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows just 47% of Democrats say they want him to seek a second term, up from 37% in February. And Biden’s verbal — and occasional physical — stumbles have become fodder among the GOP, which has sought to cast him as unfit for office.Biden, on multiple occasions, has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-donald-trump-government-and-politics-ede57ce56fdf7958addec2cf9ef5e0de">brushed back concerns about his age</a>, saying simply, “Watch me.”During&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-united-states-government-health-bdce6c15df6186e06710f2d903a3513e">a routine physical</a>&nbsp;in February, his physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, declared him “healthy, vigorous” and “fit” to handle his White House responsibilities.Aides acknowledge that while some in his party might prefer an alternative to Biden, there is anything but consensus within their diverse coalition on who that might be. And they insist that when Biden is compared with whomever the GOP nominates, Democrats and independents will rally around Biden.For now, the 76-year-old Trump is the favorite to emerge as the Republican nominee, creating the potential of a historic sequel to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-confirmed-0409d7d753461377ff2c5bb91ac4050c">the bitterly fought 2020 campaign</a>. But Trump faces significant hurdles of his own, including the designation of being the first former president to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-arraignment-hush-money-81225510ef7638494852816878f612f0">face criminal charges</a>. The remaining GOP field is volatile, with DeSantis emerging as an early alternative to Trump. DeSantis' stature is also in question, however, amid questions about his readiness to campaign outside of his increasingly Republican-leaning state.To prevail again, Biden will need to revive the alliance of young voters and Black voters — particularly women — along with blue-collar Midwesterners, moderates and disaffected Republicans who helped him win in 2020. He'll have to again carry&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-virus-outbreak-wisconsin-pennsylvania-27d3205028e5e43fa0031913c40b0b7d">the so-called “blue wall”</a>&nbsp;in the Upper Midwest, while protecting his position in Georgia and Arizona, longtime GOP strongholds that he narrowly won in his last campaign.Biden’s reelection bid comes as the nation weathers uncertain economic crosscurrents.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-federal-reserve-interest-rates-banks-economy-40c98d52a8bc71e21a228ed5c1cbde86">Inflation is ticking down</a>&nbsp;after hitting the highest rate in a generation, driving up the price of goods and services, but unemployment is at a 50-year low, and the economy is showing signs of resilience despite Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.Presidents typically try to delay their reelection announcements to maintain the advantages of incumbency and skate above the political fray for as long as possible while their rivals trade jabs. But the leg up offered by being in the White House can be rickety — three of the last seven presidents have lost reelection, most recently Trump in 2020.Biden’s announcement is roughly consistent with the timeline followed by then-President Barack Obama, who waited until April 2011 to declare for a second term. Trump launched his reelection bid on the day he was sworn in in 2017.Biden is not expected to dramatically alter his day-to-day schedule as a candidate — at least not immediately — with aides believing his strongest political asset is showing the American people that he is governing. And if he follows the Obama playbook, he may not hold any formal campaign rallies until well into 2024. Obama didn't hold a reelection rally until May 2012.On Tuesday, Biden named White House adviser&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cesar-chavez-legacy-biden-white-house-b582b1e7b43ccd25d61e1fdad9607db1">Julie Chávez Rodríguez</a>&nbsp;to serve as campaign manager and Quentin Fulks, who ran Sen. Raphael Warnock's reelection campaign in Georgia last year, to serve as principal deputy campaign manager. Reps. Lisa Blunt-Rochester, Jim Clyburn and Veronica Escobar; Sens. Chris Coons and Tammy Duckworth; entertainment mogul and Democratic mega-donor Jeffrey Katzenberg; and Whitmer will serve as campaign co-chairs.On the heels of the announcement Tuesday, Biden was set to deliver remarks to union members before hosting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-south-korea-yoon-state-visit-09aec0df6af76da4e5e0a29d04b85114">a state visit</a>&nbsp;at the White House. He plans to meet with party donors in Washington later this week.Biden’s formal go-ahead comes after months of public incredulity that the president would seek another term despite plentiful signs that he was intent on doing so.Ahead of the president’s announcement, first lady Jill Biden expressed disbelief at the persistent questions about her husband’s intent to run.“How many times does he have to say it for you to believe it?”&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jill-biden-joe-biden-reelection-1659403d211d40212abbfef3b9847491">she told The Associated Press</a>&nbsp;in late February. “He says he’s not done."

🎥Biden announces 2024 reelection bid: 'Let’s finish this job'

Meetings set to provide information for canola growers

K-State Research and Extension news service&nbsp;

MANHATTAN – A decision by a Nebraska-based agribusiness to recommission an oilseed crush facility near Goodland has opened an opportunity for farmers in Kansas and Oklahoma, said a Kansas State University agronomist.&nbsp;

Canola breeder Mike Stamm noted that Scoular – which lists more than 100 offices in North America and Asia and sales of more than $9 billion –&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scoular.com/news/scoular-invests-in-kansas-oilseed-crush-facility-for-renewable-fuels-market/">announced in mid-March</a>&nbsp;that it would retrofit the facility to crush both soybeans and canola.&nbsp;

The facility is expected to begin operations in fall 2024.&nbsp;

“We wanted to support them by getting growers together to learn more,” Stamm said. “For alternative oilseeds like canola to be successfully grown in Kansas, it is crucial to have a readily available end market within the region, which Scoular will provide.”&nbsp;

Stamm said K-State Research and the Great Plains Canola Association will host several canola informational meetings for new and experienced growers. The meetings are scheduled for May 11 in Enid, Oklahoma, and May 18 in Montezuma, Kansas and Harper, Kansas.&nbsp;&nbsp;

He said the meetings will include an update from Scoular on their marketing and pricing strategies and the company’s vision for the rapidly changing renewable fuels market. Brief updates on canola research and extension activities will be given, as well as an update from the Great Plains Canola Association.&nbsp;

The meetings are free to attend, but reservations are required because a meal will be provided. Location and contacts for each meeting include:&nbsp;&nbsp;

Thursday, May 11: Hoover Building, 300 E Oxford Ave, Enid, Okla.&nbsp;

RSVP to Ron Sholar,&nbsp;<a></a><a href="mailto:jrsholar@aol.com">jrsholar@aol.com</a>&nbsp; Thursday, May 18: Montezuma Community Building, 508 West Sunnyside Ave., Montezuma, Kansas.&nbsp;

RSVP to the Gray County Extension Office, 620-855-3821, or Kurt Werth,&nbsp;<a></a><a href="mailto:kwerth@ksu.edu">kwerth@ksu.edu</a>&nbsp; Thursday, May 18, 2023 – Fencepost, 700 E. 14th St., Harper, Kansas&nbsp;

<a>RSVP to the Harper County Extension Office, 620-842-5445, or Jenni Carr,&nbsp;</a><a></a><a href="mailto:jlcarr@ksu.edu">jlcarr@ksu.edu</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1682342241976.png" alt="Photo courtesy Scoular" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Scoular</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Meetings set to provide information for canola growers</h2>K-State Research and Extension news service&nbsp;MANHATTAN – A decision by a Nebraska-based agribusiness to recommission an oilseed crush facility near Goodland has opened an opportunity for farmers in Kansas and Oklahoma, said a Kansas State University agronomist.&nbsp;Canola breeder Mike Stamm noted that Scoular – which lists more than 100 offices in North America and Asia and sales of more than $9 billion –&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scoular.com/news/scoular-invests-in-kansas-oilseed-crush-facility-for-renewable-fuels-market/">announced in mid-March</a>&nbsp;that it would retrofit the facility to crush both soybeans and canola.&nbsp;The facility is expected to begin operations in fall 2024.&nbsp;“We wanted to support them by getting growers together to learn more,” Stamm said. “For alternative oilseeds like canola to be successfully grown in Kansas, it is crucial to have a readily available end market within the region, which Scoular will provide.”&nbsp;Stamm said K-State Research and the Great Plains Canola Association will host several canola informational meetings for new and experienced growers. The meetings are scheduled for May 11 in Enid, Oklahoma, and May 18 in Montezuma, Kansas and Harper, Kansas.&nbsp;&nbsp;He said the meetings will include an update from Scoular on their marketing and pricing strategies and the company’s vision for the rapidly changing renewable fuels market. Brief updates on canola research and extension activities will be given, as well as an update from the Great Plains Canola Association.&nbsp;The meetings are free to attend, but reservations are required because a meal will be provided. Location and contacts for each meeting include:&nbsp;&nbsp;Thursday, May 11: Hoover Building, 300 E Oxford Ave, Enid, Okla.&nbsp;<ul>
 <li>9:30 a.m., Coffee and networking&nbsp;</li><li>10 a.m., presentation and meeting&nbsp;</li>
 </ul>RSVP to Ron Sholar,&nbsp;<a></a><a href="mailto:jrsholar@aol.com">jrsholar@aol.com</a>&nbsp; Thursday, May 18: Montezuma Community Building, 508 West Sunnyside Ave., Montezuma, Kansas.&nbsp;<ul>
 <li>12 p.m., presentation and meal&nbsp;</li>
 </ul>RSVP to the Gray County Extension Office, 620-855-3821, or Kurt Werth,&nbsp;<a></a><a href="mailto:kwerth@ksu.edu">kwerth@ksu.edu</a>&nbsp; Thursday, May 18, 2023 – Fencepost, 700 E. 14th St., Harper, Kansas&nbsp;<ul>
 <li>6 p.m., presentation and meal&nbsp;</li>
 </ul> <a>RSVP to the Harper County Extension Office, 620-842-5445, or Jenni Carr,&nbsp;</a><a></a><a href="mailto:jlcarr@ksu.edu">jlcarr@ksu.edu</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;

Goodland crush facility opens opportunity for Kansas, Oklahoma farmers

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two juveniles on multiple charges after a high-speed chase

On April 22, a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) deputy with the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office observed a silver 2006 Chevrolet HHR that was unable to maintain a single lane of travel and speeding 20 miles per hour over the speed limit on NE 46th Street, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.

The deputy attempted to conduct a traffic stop near NE Edgewood Drive and NE Indian Creek Road, however the driver refused to stop and initiated a pursuit.

The driver fled north on NE Ashby Lane from Edgewood, leveled the stop sign at NE 54th Street as it continued eastbound, went south on NE Kendall Wood Drive and then west into a driveway in the 600 block of NE Margo Court. 

The two occupants exited the vehicle and attempted to enter the residence. They eventually complied with the deputy’s commands and were taken into custody.

During the investigation, an open container of alcohol, illegal narcotics and drug paraphernalia were located.

The driver, Jordan J. Minger, 16, of Topeka, was given a Notice To Appear&nbsp; and faces requested charges of&nbsp; driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, felony flee or attempt to elude, transporting an open container of liquor and duty of driver upon damaging unattended vehicle or other property (hit and run accident).

The passenger, Lorenzo V. Wadkins, 16, of Topeka, was found in possession of a loaded firearm and was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on charges of criminal use of weapons, possession of marijuana, possession of tobacco by a minor and possession of drug paraphernalia.

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two juveniles on multiple charges after a high-speed chaseOn April 22, a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) deputy with the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office observed a silver 2006 Chevrolet HHR that was unable to maintain a single lane of travel and speeding 20 miles per hour over the speed limit on NE 46th Street, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.The deputy attempted to conduct a traffic stop near NE Edgewood Drive and NE Indian Creek Road, however the driver refused to stop and initiated a pursuit.The driver fled north on NE Ashby Lane from Edgewood, leveled the stop sign at NE 54th Street as it continued eastbound, went south on NE Kendall Wood Drive and then west into a driveway in the 600 block of NE Margo Court. The two occupants exited the vehicle and attempted to enter the residence. They eventually complied with the deputy’s commands and were taken into custody.During the investigation, an open container of alcohol, illegal narcotics and drug paraphernalia were located.The driver, Jordan J. Minger, 16, of Topeka, was given a Notice To Appear&nbsp; and faces requested charges of&nbsp; driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, felony flee or attempt to elude, transporting an open container of liquor and duty of driver upon damaging unattended vehicle or other property (hit and run accident).The passenger, Lorenzo V. Wadkins, 16, of Topeka, was found in possession of a loaded firearm and was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on charges of criminal use of weapons, possession of marijuana, possession of tobacco by a minor and possession of drug paraphernalia.