DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling more than 1.5 million vehicles in the U.S. in two actions to fix leaky brake hoses and windshield wiper arms that can break.

The largest of two recalls covers nearly 1.3 million 2013 through 2018 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKX midsize cars. The company says in documents posted Friday by safety regulators that the front brake hoses can rupture and leak brake fluid. That would increase brake pedal travel and make stopping distances longer.

Dealers will replace the hoses. Ford will mail owner notification letters starting April 17. They'll get a second letter once parts are available for the fix.

Owners who are experiencing problems should call their dealer, Ford says. There are some parts already available for repairs. The company says only about 2% of the vehicles will have brake hose leaks.

Ford says it’s aware of one crash with no mention of injuries due to the problem.

The second recall covers more than 222,000 F-150 pickups from 2021. The windshield wiper arms can break.

Dealers will replace the arms if needed. Owners will be notified starting March 27.

DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling more than 1.5 million vehicles in the U.S. in two actions to fix leaky brake hoses and windshield wiper arms that can break.The largest of two recalls covers nearly 1.3 million 2013 through 2018 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKX midsize cars. The company says in documents posted Friday by safety regulators that the front brake hoses can rupture and leak brake fluid. That would increase brake pedal travel and make stopping distances longer.Dealers will replace the hoses. Ford will mail owner notification letters starting April 17. They'll get a second letter once parts are available for the fix.Owners who are experiencing problems should call their dealer, Ford says. There are some parts already available for repairs. The company says only about 2% of the vehicles will have brake hose leaks.Ford says it’s aware of one crash with no mention of injuries due to the problem.The second recall covers more than 222,000 F-150 pickups from 2021. The windshield wiper arms can break.Dealers will replace the arms if needed. Owners will be notified starting March 27.

Ford recalls 1.5M vehicles to fix brake hoses, wiper arms

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. European Command released video Thursday of a Russian fighter jet dumping fuel on a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-kramatorsk-peace-plan-fde09a8ea4d9b692637ad8f76cd05f3a">U.S. Air Force surveillance drone</a>&nbsp;as the U.S. sought to hold Russia responsible for the collision that led to the drone's crash into the Black Sea without escalating already fraught tensions with the Kremlin.

(click the video below to watch courtesy U.S. European Command)

Poland, meanwhile, said it's giving&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-poland-russia-war-jets-migs-6d843ccbd50fef5f96091a5bff8f3e01">Ukraine a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets</a>, becoming the first NATO member to fulfill Kyiv's increasingly urgent requests for warplanes.

The U.S. military's declassified 42-second color footage shows a Russian Su-27 approaching the back of the MQ-9 Reaper drone and releasing fuel as it passes, the Pentagon said. Dumping the fuel appeared to be aimed at blinding the drone's optical instruments to drive it from the area.

On a second approach, either the same jet or another Russian Su-27 that had been shadowing the MQ-9 struck the drone’s propeller, damaging a blade, according to the U.S. military, which said it then ditched the aircraft in the sea.

The video excerpt does not show the collision, although it does show the damage to the propeller.

Russia said its fighters didn’t strike the drone and claimed the unmanned aerial vehicle went down after making a sharp maneuver.

While calling out Russia for “reckless” action, the White House tried to strike a balance to avoid exacerbating tensions. U.S. officials said they have not been able to determine whether the Russian pilot intentionally struck the American drone and stressed that lines of communication with Moscow remain open.

“I can’t point to that video and say this is a deliberate attempt to escalate or ... tangibly bring about Putin’s false claim that this is about the West versus Russia.,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “We have made clear on many occasions, we do not seek a conflict with Russia.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin argues that by providing weapons to Ukraine and sharing intelligence information with Kyiv, the U.S. and its allies have effectively become engaged in the war, now in its 13th month.

Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, said Wednesday that an attempt would be made to recover the drone debris.

U.S. officials have expressed confidence that nothing of military value would remain from the drone even if Russia retrieved the wreckage. They left open the possibility of trying to recover portions of the downed $32 million aircraft, which they said crashed into waters that were 4,000 to 5,000 feet (1,200 to 1,500 meters) deep, although the U.S. does not have any ships in the area.

Russia and NATO member countries routinely intercept each other’s warplanes, but Tuesday's incident marked the first time since the Cold War that a U.S. aircraft went down during such a confrontation, raising concerns it could bring the United States and Russia closer to a direct conflict.

Moscow has repeatedly voiced concern about U.S. intelligence flights near the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014 and illegally annexed.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-drone-pentagon-9f4b3e8fdd719c0fa91a0683228b9e51">top U.S. and Russian defense and military leaders</a>&nbsp;spoke Wednesday about the destruction of the drone, underscoring the event's seriousness.

The calls between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, as well as between Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russian General Staff, were the first since October.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in its report of the call with Austin that Shoigu accused the U.S. of provoking the incident by ignoring flight restrictions the Kremlin had imposed because of its military operations in Ukraine. The U.S. said the drone was operating in international airspace.

The MQ-9, which has a 66-foot (20-meter) wingspan, includes a ground control station and satellite equipment. It is capable of carrying munitions, but Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, would not say whether the ditched drone had been armed.

The video's release is the latest example of the Biden administration making public intelligence findings over the course of the war. The administration has said it wants to highlight Russian malicious activity as well as plans for Russian misinformation operations so allies remain clear-eyed about Moscow’s intent.

The White House deferred to Austin on the decision to release it, with the Pentagon and President Joe Biden’s national security aides agreeing it was important to let the world see what happened, according to an administration official familiar with the decision-making process. The official, who requested anonymity to discuss the deliberations, said it took time to go through the declassification process and insisted the administration was not concerned it would further escalate tensions with Russia.

Because the video does not show the actual collision, some involved in the decision to release the footage wondered whether the Russians would seize on that as proof there was no contact between the jet and the drone, according to another official familiar with the discussions about making it public. Those concerns were overcome when the Pentagon explained that the video showed the immediate aftermath and damage to the drone’s propeller, which could have come only from a collision, according to the second official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to disclose the details.

Separately, Polish President Andrzej Duda said Warsaw would give Ukraine four Soviet-made MiG-29s “within the next few days” and that the rest needed servicing and would be supplied later. The Polish word he used to describe the total number of warplanes can mean between 11 and 19.

“They are in the last years of their functioning but they are in good working condition,” Duda added. He did not say whether other countries would follow suit, although Slovakia has said it would send Ukraine its disused MiGs.

While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pleaded for fighter jets from the West, some NATO members — including the U.S. — have expressed hesitancy.

The White House said Poland gave the U.S. advanced notice of its decision to provide the MiGs.

Kirby, the White House spokesman, called Poland’s providing the fighter jets a sovereign decision and cheered the Poles for continuing to “punch above their weight” in assisting Kyiv, but insisted that Duda's decision would have no bearing on the U.S. president's decision, thus far, not to provide American-made F-16s.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine had several dozen MiG-29s it inherited in the 1991 demise of the Soviet Union, but it’s unclear how many remain in service.

Duda said Poland’s air force would replace the planes it gives to Ukraine with South Korean-made FA-50 fighters and American-made F-35s.

A crucial ally of Kyiv, Poland hosts thousands of U.S. troops and is taking in more people fleeing the war in the neighboring country than any other nation. It has suffered invasions and occupations by Russia for centuries and still fears Russia despite being a member of NATO.

Authorities in Warsaw also said the security services have detained members of a Russian espionage ring, alleging they were preparing acts of sabotage in Poland and had been monitoring railroad routes used to transport weapons into Ukraine.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679049345331.png" alt="The MQ-9 struck the drone’s propeller, damaging a blade.-image from the video" />
 <figcaption>The MQ-9 struck the drone’s propeller, damaging a blade.-image from the video</figcaption>
 </figure>KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. European Command released video Thursday of a Russian fighter jet dumping fuel on a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-kramatorsk-peace-plan-fde09a8ea4d9b692637ad8f76cd05f3a">U.S. Air Force surveillance drone</a>&nbsp;as the U.S. sought to hold Russia responsible for the collision that led to the drone's crash into the Black Sea without escalating already fraught tensions with the Kremlin.(click the video below to watch courtesy U.S. European Command)<div><iframe src="https://www.dvidshub.net/video/embed/876667" width="800" height="450" frameborder="0" allowtransparency allowfullscreen></iframe></div>Poland, meanwhile, said it's giving&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-poland-russia-war-jets-migs-6d843ccbd50fef5f96091a5bff8f3e01">Ukraine a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets</a>, becoming the first NATO member to fulfill Kyiv's increasingly urgent requests for warplanes.The U.S. military's declassified 42-second color footage shows a Russian Su-27 approaching the back of the MQ-9 Reaper drone and releasing fuel as it passes, the Pentagon said. Dumping the fuel appeared to be aimed at blinding the drone's optical instruments to drive it from the area.On a second approach, either the same jet or another Russian Su-27 that had been shadowing the MQ-9 struck the drone’s propeller, damaging a blade, according to the U.S. military, which said it then ditched the aircraft in the sea.The video excerpt does not show the collision, although it does show the damage to the propeller.Russia said its fighters didn’t strike the drone and claimed the unmanned aerial vehicle went down after making a sharp maneuver.While calling out Russia for “reckless” action, the White House tried to strike a balance to avoid exacerbating tensions. U.S. officials said they have not been able to determine whether the Russian pilot intentionally struck the American drone and stressed that lines of communication with Moscow remain open.“I can’t point to that video and say this is a deliberate attempt to escalate or ... tangibly bring about Putin’s false claim that this is about the West versus Russia.,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “We have made clear on many occasions, we do not seek a conflict with Russia.”Russian President Vladimir Putin argues that by providing weapons to Ukraine and sharing intelligence information with Kyiv, the U.S. and its allies have effectively become engaged in the war, now in its 13th month.Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, said Wednesday that an attempt would be made to recover the drone debris.U.S. officials have expressed confidence that nothing of military value would remain from the drone even if Russia retrieved the wreckage. They left open the possibility of trying to recover portions of the downed $32 million aircraft, which they said crashed into waters that were 4,000 to 5,000 feet (1,200 to 1,500 meters) deep, although the U.S. does not have any ships in the area.Russia and NATO member countries routinely intercept each other’s warplanes, but Tuesday's incident marked the first time since the Cold War that a U.S. aircraft went down during such a confrontation, raising concerns it could bring the United States and Russia closer to a direct conflict.Moscow has repeatedly voiced concern about U.S. intelligence flights near the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014 and illegally annexed.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-drone-pentagon-9f4b3e8fdd719c0fa91a0683228b9e51">top U.S. and Russian defense and military leaders</a>&nbsp;spoke Wednesday about the destruction of the drone, underscoring the event's seriousness.The calls between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, as well as between Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russian General Staff, were the first since October.The Russian Defense Ministry said in its report of the call with Austin that Shoigu accused the U.S. of provoking the incident by ignoring flight restrictions the Kremlin had imposed because of its military operations in Ukraine. The U.S. said the drone was operating in international airspace.The MQ-9, which has a 66-foot (20-meter) wingspan, includes a ground control station and satellite equipment. It is capable of carrying munitions, but Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, would not say whether the ditched drone had been armed.The video's release is the latest example of the Biden administration making public intelligence findings over the course of the war. The administration has said it wants to highlight Russian malicious activity as well as plans for Russian misinformation operations so allies remain clear-eyed about Moscow’s intent.The White House deferred to Austin on the decision to release it, with the Pentagon and President Joe Biden’s national security aides agreeing it was important to let the world see what happened, according to an administration official familiar with the decision-making process. The official, who requested anonymity to discuss the deliberations, said it took time to go through the declassification process and insisted the administration was not concerned it would further escalate tensions with Russia.Because the video does not show the actual collision, some involved in the decision to release the footage wondered whether the Russians would seize on that as proof there was no contact between the jet and the drone, according to another official familiar with the discussions about making it public. Those concerns were overcome when the Pentagon explained that the video showed the immediate aftermath and damage to the drone’s propeller, which could have come only from a collision, according to the second official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to disclose the details.Separately, Polish President Andrzej Duda said Warsaw would give Ukraine four Soviet-made MiG-29s “within the next few days” and that the rest needed servicing and would be supplied later. The Polish word he used to describe the total number of warplanes can mean between 11 and 19.“They are in the last years of their functioning but they are in good working condition,” Duda added. He did not say whether other countries would follow suit, although Slovakia has said it would send Ukraine its disused MiGs.While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pleaded for fighter jets from the West, some NATO members — including the U.S. — have expressed hesitancy.The White House said Poland gave the U.S. advanced notice of its decision to provide the MiGs.Kirby, the White House spokesman, called Poland’s providing the fighter jets a sovereign decision and cheered the Poles for continuing to “punch above their weight” in assisting Kyiv, but insisted that Duda's decision would have no bearing on the U.S. president's decision, thus far, not to provide American-made F-16s.Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine had several dozen MiG-29s it inherited in the 1991 demise of the Soviet Union, but it’s unclear how many remain in service.Duda said Poland’s air force would replace the planes it gives to Ukraine with South Korean-made FA-50 fighters and American-made F-35s.A crucial ally of Kyiv, Poland hosts thousands of U.S. troops and is taking in more people fleeing the war in the neighboring country than any other nation. It has suffered invasions and occupations by Russia for centuries and still fears Russia despite being a member of NATO.Authorities in Warsaw also said the security services have detained members of a Russian espionage ring, alleging they were preparing acts of sabotage in Poland and had been monitoring railroad routes used to transport weapons into Ukraine.___

🎥Spat between U.S., Russia over downed $32M drone escalating

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a bank robbery and quickly made an arrest.

Just before 1 p.m. Thursday, police responded to a bank robbery in the 2400 block of S. Seneca, according to Officer Chad Ditch. An employee of Emprise Bank reported a man had passed a note to a clerk demanding money and claiming to have a weapon. 

Officers obtained a description of the suspect and began checking the area in an attempt to locate him.

An officer contacted a man matching the description of the suspect in a nearby McDonald’s restaurant at 2418 South Seneca and <a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=20052107">took 52-year-old Brian Richards</a>&nbsp; into custody without incident.

<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=20052107">He is being held on a requested charge </a>of aggravated robbery, according to online jail records.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679049529946.png" alt="Richards-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Richards-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a bank robbery and quickly made an arrest.Just before 1 p.m. Thursday, police responded to a bank robbery in the 2400 block of S. Seneca, according to Officer Chad Ditch. An employee of Emprise Bank reported a man had passed a note to a clerk demanding money and claiming to have a weapon. Officers obtained a description of the suspect and began checking the area in an attempt to locate him.An officer contacted a man matching the description of the suspect in a nearby McDonald’s restaurant at 2418 South Seneca and <a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=20052107">took 52-year-old Brian Richards</a>&nbsp; into custody without incident. <a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=20052107">He is being held on a requested charge </a>of aggravated robbery, according to online jail records.

Police: Kansas man robbed bank and went to McDonald's 

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The first appearance for Howard University in the NCAA Tournament since 1992 included a visit by one of the school's most prominent alums.

Vice President Kamala Harris watched Howard's 96-68&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-kansas-howard-a37482476123ba6f8f6c337deef99096">first-round loss to Kansas</a>&nbsp;from a suite at Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday afternoon and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1636466845296238611">met with the team afterward</a>.

As supporters in the hallway chanted “H-U, you know!” players trickled into the locker room. Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, walked in a few minutes later.

“You played hard. You played to the very last second. You made all us Bisons proud,” Harris said, according to the press pool account of her address of the players. "You are smart. You are disciplined. You put everything you had into the game. You guys did not stop, and that is so inspiring. So you keep playing with chin up and shoulders back because you showed the world who Bison are.”

Harris, who graduated in 1986 from the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hbcus-nil-transfer-portal-swac-ciaa-siac-gcac-54fe3605b5690498a6341617f7c688e1">historically Black university</a>&nbsp;in the nation's capital, said she has heard alumni all over the world talking about their pride in the team.

“So I know you may not be feeling great right now, OK, but know who you are,” Harris said. “You are excellence. You are hard work. You are powerful, and you are winners."

The players were subdued after the end of their season but still able to recognize the significance of meeting Harris.

“It’s amazing to know we have people of such power that are affiliated with us and supporting us at the same time,” freshman forward Shy Odom said.

When Harris was shown on the video board during the game, the boos — Kansas and Iowa are Republican-leaning states, after all — outweighed the applause.

Wearing their&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wusa9.com/article/sports/howard-university-basketball-unveils-the-mecca-jerseys-for-black-history-month/65-b07e04d3-7a33-4239-bab3-857342033dae">Black History Month jerseys</a>&nbsp;with green trim and a red script “The Mecca” on the front — in reference to Howard’s nickname as the country’s most prominent historically Black university — the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion Bison took the court with plenty of confidence.

“I just love how they have grown as people and have become better men over the course of this season,” coach Kenny Blakeney said. “That’s a victory no one can take away from us. I’m thrilled that we were able to represent Howard University in a classy way that honored so many people before us.”

This was just the third NCAA Tournament appearance in program history for Howard.

“We have had a lot of games on national TV," Blakeney said, "but certainly being in the NCAA Tournament there are more eyes and visibility on you, which is amazing because we have a chance to talk about our university as one of the greatest on the face of this planet.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The first appearance for Howard University in the NCAA Tournament since 1992 included a visit by one of the school's most prominent alums.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Congratulations to my <a href="https://twitter.com/HowardU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HowardU</a> Bison on a tremendous season. You make us so proud. <a href="https://t.co/twSLZgI9Af">pic.twitter.com/twSLZgI9Af</a>&mdash; Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) <a href="https://twitter.com/VP/status/1636540290776399873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Vice President Kamala Harris watched Howard's 96-68&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-kansas-howard-a37482476123ba6f8f6c337deef99096">first-round loss to Kansas</a>&nbsp;from a suite at Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday afternoon and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1636466845296238611">met with the team afterward</a>.As supporters in the hallway chanted “H-U, you know!” players trickled into the locker room. Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, walked in a few minutes later.“You played hard. You played to the very last second. You made all us Bisons proud,” Harris said, according to the press pool account of her address of the players. "You are smart. You are disciplined. You put everything you had into the game. You guys did not stop, and that is so inspiring. So you keep playing with chin up and shoulders back because you showed the world who Bison are.”Harris, who graduated in 1986 from the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hbcus-nil-transfer-portal-swac-ciaa-siac-gcac-54fe3605b5690498a6341617f7c688e1">historically Black university</a>&nbsp;in the nation's capital, said she has heard alumni all over the world talking about their pride in the team.“So I know you may not be feeling great right now, OK, but know who you are,” Harris said. “You are excellence. You are hard work. You are powerful, and you are winners."The players were subdued after the end of their season but still able to recognize the significance of meeting Harris.“It’s amazing to know we have people of such power that are affiliated with us and supporting us at the same time,” freshman forward Shy Odom said.When Harris was shown on the video board during the game, the boos — Kansas and Iowa are Republican-leaning states, after all — outweighed the applause.Wearing their&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wusa9.com/article/sports/howard-university-basketball-unveils-the-mecca-jerseys-for-black-history-month/65-b07e04d3-7a33-4239-bab3-857342033dae">Black History Month jerseys</a>&nbsp;with green trim and a red script “The Mecca” on the front — in reference to Howard’s nickname as the country’s most prominent historically Black university — the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion Bison took the court with plenty of confidence.“I just love how they have grown as people and have become better men over the course of this season,” coach Kenny Blakeney said. “That’s a victory no one can take away from us. I’m thrilled that we were able to represent Howard University in a classy way that honored so many people before us.”This was just the third NCAA Tournament appearance in program history for Howard.“We have had a lot of games on national TV," Blakeney said, "but certainly being in the NCAA Tournament there are more eyes and visibility on you, which is amazing because we have a chance to talk about our university as one of the greatest on the face of this planet.”

🎥 Vice President attended KU's NCAA tourney game

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate took a first step Thursday toward repealing two measures that give open-ended approval for military action in Iraq, pushing to end that authority as the United States marks the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War.

Senators voted 68-27 to move forward on legislation that would repeal the 2002 measure that greenlighted that March 2003 invasion of Iraq and also a 1991 measure that sanctioned the U.S.-led Gulf War to expel Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's forces from Kuwait. Nineteen Republicans including Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall of Kansas and Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt of Missouri joined Democrats in supporting the repeal.

The bipartisan effort comes as lawmakers in both parties are increasingly seeking to claw back congressional powers over U.S. military strikes and deployments, arguing that the war authorizations are no longer necessary and subject to misuse if they are left on the books. President Joe Biden has backed the push, and the White House issued a statement Thursday in support.

"Repeal of these authorizations would have no impact on current U.S. military operations and would support this administration's commitment to a strong and comprehensive relationship with our Iraqi partners," the White House said.

Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Todd Young, R-Ind., said they believe the 68 votes in support send a powerful message to Americans who believe their voice should be heard on matters of war and peace. Kaine and Young have led the push for repeal and have worked for several years on the issue.

"It is time for Congress to have its voice heard on these matters, and I believe this will establish a very important precedent moving forward," Young said.

It's unclear whether leaders in the Republican-controlled House will bring the bill up for a vote, even if it passes the Senate. Forty-nine House Republicans supported the legislation when then-majority Democrats held a vote two years ago, but current House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has opposed it.

Senate Republicans are also split on the legislation. While the 19 GOP senators voted for it, opponents argue that the repeal could project weakness to U.S. enemies. They have pointed out that President Donald Trump's administration cited the 2002 Iraq war resolution as part of its legal justification for a 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani.

The October 2002 votes to give President George W. Bush broad authority for the invasion — coming just a month before the midterm elections that year — became a defining moment for many members of Congress as the country debated whether a military strike was warranted. The U.S. was already at war then in Afghanistan, the country that hosted the al-Qaida plotters responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, something Iraq played no part in.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat who was in the Senate at the time and voted against the resolution, said on the floor before Thursday's vote that "I look back on it, as I'm sure others do, as one of the most important votes that I ever cast."

"The repeal of this authorization of use the use of military force does not mean the United States has become a pacifist nation," Durbin said. "It means that the United States is going to be a constitutional nation and the premise of our Founding Fathers will be respected."

The Bush administration had drummed up support among members of Congress and Americans for invading Iraq by promoting false intelligence claims about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction.

After the initial March 2003 invasion, American ground forces quickly discovered that the allegations of nuclear or chemical weapons programs were baseless. But the U.S. overthrow of Iraq's security forces precipitated a brutal sectarian fight and violent campaigns by Islamic extremist groups in Iraq. Car bombings, assassinations, torture and kidnapping became a part of daily life in Iraq for years.

Nearly 5,000 U.S. troops were killed in the war. Iraqi deaths are estimated in the hundreds of thousands.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in the hours before the vote that he was glad that the repeal is a bipartisan effort after the Iraq conflict was the cause of "so much bitterness" in the past.

"Americans are tired of endless wars in the Middle East," Schumer said.

The Senate will consider the legislation next week, with possible amendments from both sides.

One of the amendments that could be considered would repeal a separate authorization of military force passed immediately after the 2001 attacks. It gave Bush broad authority for the invasion of Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism but did not name one country, instead broadly approving force "against those nations, organizations, or persons" that planned or aided the attacks on the U.S.

But there is less support in the Senate and Congress overall for repealing the broader authority. Biden and some lawmakers have supported replacing or revising that authorization in the future, but "not right now," Kaine said, as it is still used by the military.

In its statement of policy, the White House appeared to reference the 2001 authority, saying that Biden "remains committed to working with the Congress to ensure that outdated authorizations for the use of military force are replaced with a narrow and specific framework more appropriate to protecting Americans from modern terrorist threats."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679016319597.png" alt="Nineteen Republicans including Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall of Kansas and Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt of Missouri joined Democrats in supporting the repeal.CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Nineteen Republicans including Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall of Kansas and Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt of Missouri joined Democrats in supporting the repeal.CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate took a first step Thursday toward repealing two measures that give open-ended approval for military action in Iraq, pushing to end that authority as the United States marks the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War.Senators voted 68-27 to move forward on legislation that would repeal the 2002 measure that greenlighted that March 2003 invasion of Iraq and also a 1991 measure that sanctioned the U.S.-led Gulf War to expel Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's forces from Kuwait. Nineteen Republicans including Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall of Kansas and Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt of Missouri joined Democrats in supporting the repeal.The bipartisan effort comes as lawmakers in both parties are increasingly seeking to claw back congressional powers over U.S. military strikes and deployments, arguing that the war authorizations are no longer necessary and subject to misuse if they are left on the books. President Joe Biden has backed the push, and the White House issued a statement Thursday in support."Repeal of these authorizations would have no impact on current U.S. military operations and would support this administration's commitment to a strong and comprehensive relationship with our Iraqi partners," the White House said.Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Todd Young, R-Ind., said they believe the 68 votes in support send a powerful message to Americans who believe their voice should be heard on matters of war and peace. Kaine and Young have led the push for repeal and have worked for several years on the issue."It is time for Congress to have its voice heard on these matters, and I believe this will establish a very important precedent moving forward," Young said.It's unclear whether leaders in the Republican-controlled House will bring the bill up for a vote, even if it passes the Senate. Forty-nine House Republicans supported the legislation when then-majority Democrats held a vote two years ago, but current House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has opposed it.Senate Republicans are also split on the legislation. While the 19 GOP senators voted for it, opponents argue that the repeal could project weakness to U.S. enemies. They have pointed out that President Donald Trump's administration cited the 2002 Iraq war resolution as part of its legal justification for a 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani.The October 2002 votes to give President George W. Bush broad authority for the invasion — coming just a month before the midterm elections that year — became a defining moment for many members of Congress as the country debated whether a military strike was warranted. The U.S. was already at war then in Afghanistan, the country that hosted the al-Qaida plotters responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, something Iraq played no part in.Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat who was in the Senate at the time and voted against the resolution, said on the floor before Thursday's vote that "I look back on it, as I'm sure others do, as one of the most important votes that I ever cast.""The repeal of this authorization of use the use of military force does not mean the United States has become a pacifist nation," Durbin said. "It means that the United States is going to be a constitutional nation and the premise of our Founding Fathers will be respected."The Bush administration had drummed up support among members of Congress and Americans for invading Iraq by promoting false intelligence claims about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction.After the initial March 2003 invasion, American ground forces quickly discovered that the allegations of nuclear or chemical weapons programs were baseless. But the U.S. overthrow of Iraq's security forces precipitated a brutal sectarian fight and violent campaigns by Islamic extremist groups in Iraq. Car bombings, assassinations, torture and kidnapping became a part of daily life in Iraq for years.Nearly 5,000 U.S. troops were killed in the war. Iraqi deaths are estimated in the hundreds of thousands.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in the hours before the vote that he was glad that the repeal is a bipartisan effort after the Iraq conflict was the cause of "so much bitterness" in the past."Americans are tired of endless wars in the Middle East," Schumer said.The Senate will consider the legislation next week, with possible amendments from both sides.One of the amendments that could be considered would repeal a separate authorization of military force passed immediately after the 2001 attacks. It gave Bush broad authority for the invasion of Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism but did not name one country, instead broadly approving force "against those nations, organizations, or persons" that planned or aided the attacks on the U.S.But there is less support in the Senate and Congress overall for repealing the broader authority. Biden and some lawmakers have supported replacing or revising that authorization in the future, but "not right now," Kaine said, as it is still used by the military.In its statement of policy, the White House appeared to reference the 2001 authority, saying that Biden "remains committed to working with the Congress to ensure that outdated authorizations for the use of military force are replaced with a narrow and specific framework more appropriate to protecting Americans from modern terrorist threats."

Moran, Marshall vote to advance repeal of Iraq war authorization

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators aren't likely to legalize marijuana for medical uses this year following a vote Thursday.

A Senate committee tabled a bill that would allow doctors to sign off on patients using marijuana products to treat 21 illnesses or conditions, including cancer, epilepsy, spinal cord injuries or chronic pain, starting in July 2024. Committee Chair Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, said he has no plans to bring the bill back up this year.

Thirty-seven states allow the medical use of marijuana, including Oklahoma and Arkansas. Of those, 21 also allow recreational use, including Colorado and Missouri.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly supports legalizing medical marijuana, but opposition from law enforcement officials bolstered the skepticism of Thompson and other conservative Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature.

The Kansas House&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-health-medical-marijuana-marijuana-7f059c07fd72dbec30180f0f50f6dc74">passed a medical marijuana bill</a>&nbsp;in 2021, but the measure didn't receive a committee vote in the Senate. Like this year's bill, the earlier measure would prohibit smoking pot or vaping with it.

The bill before the Senate committee would require both patients and their caregivers to register with the state health department to have permission to buy marijuana at state-licensed dispensaries. The state would impose a 10% tax on dispensaries' sales.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/8/1564743065476.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN HANNA&nbsp;TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators aren't likely to legalize marijuana for medical uses this year following a vote Thursday.A Senate committee tabled a bill that would allow doctors to sign off on patients using marijuana products to treat 21 illnesses or conditions, including cancer, epilepsy, spinal cord injuries or chronic pain, starting in July 2024. Committee Chair Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, said he has no plans to bring the bill back up this year.Thirty-seven states allow the medical use of marijuana, including Oklahoma and Arkansas. Of those, 21 also allow recreational use, including Colorado and Missouri.Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly supports legalizing medical marijuana, but opposition from law enforcement officials bolstered the skepticism of Thompson and other conservative Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature.The Kansas House&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-health-medical-marijuana-marijuana-7f059c07fd72dbec30180f0f50f6dc74">passed a medical marijuana bill</a>&nbsp;in 2021, but the measure didn't receive a committee vote in the Senate. Like this year's bill, the earlier measure would prohibit smoking pot or vaping with it.The bill before the Senate committee would require both patients and their caregivers to register with the state health department to have permission to buy marijuana at state-licensed dispensaries. The state would impose a 10% tax on dispensaries' sales.___

Kansas push for medical marijuana appears done for this year

KANSAS CITY —A Kansas City man faces charges in connection with the March 12, 2023, fatal shooting of Darryl B. Brown III, who answered the door of a south Kansas City residence and was met by gunfire from the defendant, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.

Derek C. Jones, 24, faces Murder 2nd Degree, Armed Criminal Action, and Violation of an Order of Protection.

According to court records, police were dispatched to the 8400 block of Highland Avenue in Kansas City on a report of shots fired. They encountered a victim on the floor inside the front door of the residence. 

He was unresponsive and was later pronounced deceased. Officers obtained information that the defendant, Derek C. Jones, was the shooting suspect. 

Witnesses told police that the victim was with several children in the residence when there was a knock at the door and the victim went to the door. 

Jones stepped one foot inside, the witness told police, and discharged a firearm several times at the victim.

 He backed up and re-approached the door, discharging more rounds at the victim. He did the same a third time. Jones told police he knocked on the door and fired shots at the victim when it was opened. He also retrieved the victim's pistol and took it with him when he left the residence. Jones is being held on a $250,000 cash bond.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678905755457.png" alt="Jones-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Jones-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —A Kansas City man faces charges in connection with the March 12, 2023, fatal shooting of Darryl B. Brown III, who answered the door of a south Kansas City residence and was met by gunfire from the defendant, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.Derek C. Jones, 24, faces Murder 2nd Degree, Armed Criminal Action, and Violation of an Order of Protection.According to court records, police were dispatched to the 8400 block of Highland Avenue in Kansas City on a report of shots fired. They encountered a victim on the floor inside the front door of the residence. He was unresponsive and was later pronounced deceased. Officers obtained information that the defendant, Derek C. Jones, was the shooting suspect. Witnesses told police that the victim was with several children in the residence when there was a knock at the door and the victim went to the door. Jones stepped one foot inside, the witness told police, and discharged a firearm several times at the victim. He backed up and re-approached the door, discharging more rounds at the victim. He did the same a third time. Jones told police he knocked on the door and fired shots at the victim when it was opened. He also retrieved the victim's pistol and took it with him when he left the residence. Jones is being held on a $250,000 cash bond.

Man shot, killed when he answered door of his KC home

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug charges after he was seen littering from his vehicle.

Just before 3a.m. Thursday,&nbsp; a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) deputy with the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop on a&nbsp; 2000 Ford Taurus after a mattress fell off the top of the vehicle near SW 29th Street and SW Topeka Boulevard, according to Deputy Abigail Christian. 

The driver identified as 59-year-old Robert N. Kirk, Jr.&nbsp; of Topeka had an expired and suspended Kansas driver’s license and felony warrants out of Shawnee County and Elk County, Kansas.

During the investigation, the deputy found illegal narcotics and arrested Kirk on requested&nbsp;charge of possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while license suspended and littering from vehicle.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678991093670.png" alt="Kirk-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Kirk-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug charges after he was seen littering from his vehicle.Just before 3a.m. Thursday,&nbsp; a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) deputy with the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop on a&nbsp; 2000 Ford Taurus after a mattress fell off the top of the vehicle near SW 29th Street and SW Topeka Boulevard, according to Deputy Abigail Christian. The driver identified as 59-year-old Robert N. Kirk, Jr.&nbsp; of Topeka had an expired and suspended Kansas driver’s license and felony warrants out of Shawnee County and Elk County, Kansas.During the investigation, the deputy found illegal narcotics and arrested Kirk on requested&nbsp;charge of possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while license suspended and littering from vehicle.

Sheriff: Kan. driver lost mattress and is accused of drug possession

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers pushing to prevent Kansas from investing its funds using socially and environmentally conscious principles disagree about also imposing rules for investment managers handling private funds, complicating their efforts to thwart what they see as “woke” investing.

Committees in the Kansas House and Senate this week approved competing versions of anti-ESG legislation, and the two chambers could debate them as early as next week. ESG stands for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-esg-investing-3a98b6f584357b8e10c31b1ff93ce4b6">environmental, social and governance</a>&nbsp;and those considerations have become more prominent in investing in recent years, sparking a nationwide backlash from conservative Republicans.

The Kansas Senate's version of the anti-ESG measure would require private money managers to get their clients' written consent before investing their funds along ESG principles. The House bill contains no such provision.

The issue of requiring managers of private funds to disclose their ESG activities to clients or to get clients' verbal or written consent to use them appears to be the last major sticking point among Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature. They've already backed off the toughest version of the anti-ESG legislation because of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/esg-woke-investing-big-business-backlash-be6dac7d7d25d823645525597b6f1782">opposition from powerful business groups</a>, and have rewritten both bills to prevent projected investment losses of $3.6 billion over 10 years for the pension fund for Kansas teachers and government workers.

A desire to thwart ESG investing has some Republicans breaking with the party's longstanding aversion to tougher business regulations.

“We have labels on our food,” said state Rep. Michael Murphy, a Republican from rural south-central Kansas who backed the strongest anti-ESG legislation. “We could look at it and say, ‘Well, I don’t want that, and I’ll take this over here.' It allows you to make that choice, and that's all this is.”

Supporters of ESG principles argue that they're not about investment managers boycotting industries such as oil production. Instead, they encourage being more comprehensive about assessing investment risks, such as whether concerns about climate change make green energy more attractive and fossil fuels less so. They also argue that Republicans have turned ESG into a culture war issue to keep the GOP's conservative base riled up.

In Kansas, Democrats argue that anti-ESG legislation is unnecessary because state law already requires its managers to work to get the maximum investment returns possible. They also worry that even if the final legislation focuses on the investment of state funds, its provisions will be broad enough to handcuff cities and counties if, for example, they want to purchase energy from green sources.

“It's going to cause problems,” said Kansas City-area Rep. Rui Xu, the top Democrat on the House committee that handled the anti-ESG legislation.

Utah's Republican state treasurer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2023/03/14/utah-treasurer-marlo-oaks-tells/">recently told a GOP gathering</a>&nbsp;that ESG “opens the door to authoritarianism” and is “Satan's plan.” On Thursday, 19 GOP governors, including Ron DeSantis of Florida and Kristi Noem of South Dakota, issued&nbsp;<a href="https://governor.sd.gov/doc/JointGovernors-Policy-StatementonESG_3-16-2023.pdf">a joint statement</a>&nbsp;calling ESG a "direct threat to the American economy, individual economic freedom, and our way of life.”

In Kansas, newly elected GOP Attorney General Kris Kobach and Republican State Treasurer Steven Johnson back anti-ESG measures, but they've argued that allowing the investment of state funds using ESG principles threatens to reduce the state's investment returns. Kobach has argued for an informed consent requirement for private money managers as a consumer protection measure.

But state Rep. Nick Hoheisel, a Wichita Republican who chairs the House committee that handled anti-ESG legislation, said its GOP members don't want to impose new mandates on private businesses.

“We have enough mandates on businesses already,” Hoheisel said after the committee approved its bill. “In fact, we need to go back and start repealing some mandates on businesses.”

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers pushing to prevent Kansas from investing its funds using socially and environmentally conscious principles disagree about also imposing rules for investment managers handling private funds, complicating their efforts to thwart what they see as “woke” investing.Committees in the Kansas House and Senate this week approved competing versions of anti-ESG legislation, and the two chambers could debate them as early as next week. ESG stands for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-esg-investing-3a98b6f584357b8e10c31b1ff93ce4b6">environmental, social and governance</a>&nbsp;and those considerations have become more prominent in investing in recent years, sparking a nationwide backlash from conservative Republicans.The Kansas Senate's version of the anti-ESG measure would require private money managers to get their clients' written consent before investing their funds along ESG principles. The House bill contains no such provision.The issue of requiring managers of private funds to disclose their ESG activities to clients or to get clients' verbal or written consent to use them appears to be the last major sticking point among Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature. They've already backed off the toughest version of the anti-ESG legislation because of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/esg-woke-investing-big-business-backlash-be6dac7d7d25d823645525597b6f1782">opposition from powerful business groups</a>, and have rewritten both bills to prevent projected investment losses of $3.6 billion over 10 years for the pension fund for Kansas teachers and government workers.A desire to thwart ESG investing has some Republicans breaking with the party's longstanding aversion to tougher business regulations.“We have labels on our food,” said state Rep. Michael Murphy, a Republican from rural south-central Kansas who backed the strongest anti-ESG legislation. “We could look at it and say, ‘Well, I don’t want that, and I’ll take this over here.' It allows you to make that choice, and that's all this is.”Supporters of ESG principles argue that they're not about investment managers boycotting industries such as oil production. Instead, they encourage being more comprehensive about assessing investment risks, such as whether concerns about climate change make green energy more attractive and fossil fuels less so. They also argue that Republicans have turned ESG into a culture war issue to keep the GOP's conservative base riled up.In Kansas, Democrats argue that anti-ESG legislation is unnecessary because state law already requires its managers to work to get the maximum investment returns possible. They also worry that even if the final legislation focuses on the investment of state funds, its provisions will be broad enough to handcuff cities and counties if, for example, they want to purchase energy from green sources.“It's going to cause problems,” said Kansas City-area Rep. Rui Xu, the top Democrat on the House committee that handled the anti-ESG legislation.Utah's Republican state treasurer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2023/03/14/utah-treasurer-marlo-oaks-tells/">recently told a GOP gathering</a>&nbsp;that ESG “opens the door to authoritarianism” and is “Satan's plan.” On Thursday, 19 GOP governors, including Ron DeSantis of Florida and Kristi Noem of South Dakota, issued&nbsp;<a href="https://governor.sd.gov/doc/JointGovernors-Policy-StatementonESG_3-16-2023.pdf">a joint statement</a>&nbsp;calling ESG a "direct threat to the American economy, individual economic freedom, and our way of life.”In Kansas, newly elected GOP Attorney General Kris Kobach and Republican State Treasurer Steven Johnson back anti-ESG measures, but they've argued that allowing the investment of state funds using ESG principles threatens to reduce the state's investment returns. Kobach has argued for an informed consent requirement for private money managers as a consumer protection measure.But state Rep. Nick Hoheisel, a Wichita Republican who chairs the House committee that handled anti-ESG legislation, said its GOP members don't want to impose new mandates on private businesses.“We have enough mandates on businesses already,” Hoheisel said after the committee approved its bill. “In fact, we need to go back and start repealing some mandates on businesses.”

Kansas anti-ESG push slowed by debate over private investors

BUTLER COUNTY—The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and El Dorado Police continue their investigation of a shooting that critically injured a woman in El Dorado.

On Thursday, the victim was identified as 38-year-old Nateka Jones of El Dorado, according to Police Chief Mike Holton.

Just after 1a.m. Wednesday, police responded to report of a shooting at a home in the 600 block of west Olive Street in El Dorado, according to Police Chief Mike Holton.

First responders found Jones who had been shot at the home. Butler County EMS transported her to a Wichita hospital.

 She remained in critical, but stable condition Thursday afternoon, according to Holton.&nbsp; Police have interviewed a person of interest in this case and hope to obtain a statement from the victim as soon as she is able to talk with investigators.

BUTLER COUNTY—The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and El Dorado Police continue their investigation of a shooting that critically injured a woman in El Dorado.On Thursday, the victim was identified as 38-year-old Nateka Jones of El Dorado, according to Police Chief Mike Holton.Just after 1a.m. Wednesday, police responded to report of a shooting at a home in the 600 block of west Olive Street in El Dorado, according to Police Chief Mike Holton.First responders found Jones who had been shot at the home. Butler County EMS transported her to a Wichita hospital. She remained in critical, but stable condition Thursday afternoon, according to Holton.&nbsp; Police have interviewed a person of interest in this case and hope to obtain a statement from the victim as soon as she is able to talk with investigators.---------

Police: Kan. woman remains in critical condition from shooting 

NEW YORK (AP) — Eleven of the biggest banks in the country announced a $30 billion rescue package for First Republic Bank on Thursday, in an effort to prevent the California-based bank from becoming the third bank to fail in less than a week.

First Republic serves a similar clientele as Silicon Valley Bank, which failed Friday after depositors withdrew about $40 billion. It appears that First Republic, which had deposits totaling $176.4 billion as of Dec. 31, was facing a similar crisis.

In a statement, the group of banks confirmed that other unnamed banks had seen large amounts of withdrawals of uninsured deposits, which are those that exceed the $250,000 level insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. First Republic's shares dropped more than 60% Monday, even after the bank said it had secured additional funding from JPMorgan and the Federal Reserve.

Thursday the bank’s shares were down as much as 36%, but rallied after reports the rescue package was in the works, and closed up nearly 9%.

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo have agreed to each put $5 billion in uninsured deposits into First Republic. Meanwhile Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs would deposit $2.5 billion each into the bank. The remaining $5 billion would consist of $1 billion contributions from BNY Mellon, State Street, PNC Bank, Truist and US Bank.

“The actions of America's largest banks reflect their confidence in the country's banking system,” the banks said in their statement.

The nation's banking regulators also issued a statement in support of the bank rescue package.

“This show of support by a group of large banks is most welcome, and demonstrates the resilience of the banking system,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg.

The news could help calm the nerves of bank investors after the collapse last week of Silicon Valley Bank, which was the second biggest bank failure in U.S. history after the demise of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/08aeb5a6c9d542ccb6d6154d4fa1e3a6">Washington Mutual</a>&nbsp;in 2008.

The shuttering of Silicon Valley Bank Friday and of New York-based Signature Bank two days later has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/banks-federal-reserve-silicon-valley-lending-rescue-a04875a164165b50e971ff4576bf4e27">revived bad memories</a>&nbsp;of the financial crisis that plunged the United States into the Great Recession of 2007-2009.

Over the weekend the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-wall-street-silicon-valley-banks-trump-e6c27850d35d7f782fc6af9498925e7f">federal government</a>, determined to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/silicon-valley-bank-uk-bailout-hsbc-sale-4d2da0e9c6f39c0fd8faf321a2b295cf">restore public confidence</a>&nbsp;in the banking system, moved to protect all the banks' deposits, even those that exceeded the FDIC’s $250,000 limit per individual account.

NEW YORK (AP) — A group of Wall Street banks is planning a rescue package of at least $20 billion for <a href="https://www.firstrepublic.com/locations?gnav=globalheader;locations-view-all-locations">First Republic Bank, </a>sources told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The rescue package comes as San Francisco-based First Republic has been battered by investors and worries have grown that the midsized bank might be the next to fail, after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

Sources familiar with the matter said that JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs are part of the group of banks pulling together the package. It is likely to consist of $20 billion in deposits and capital for First Republic, but it might be as high as $30 billion.

The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because the package was still being developed.

A First Republic spokesman declined to comment on the reports.

First Republic Bank's stock has faltered as customers began pulling their deposits out. But it was up more than 3% Thursday after reports of the recue package surfaced.

The news comes after the collapse last week of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/svb-fed-bonds-rates-banks-inflation-a24b28b3caeede91c76cd120aa9b7966">Silicon Valley Bank</a>, which was the second biggest bank failure in U.S. history after the demise of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/08aeb5a6c9d542ccb6d6154d4fa1e3a6">Washington Mutual</a>&nbsp;in 2008.

The shuttering of Silicon Valley Bank Friday and of New York-based&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/signature-bank-fdic-new-york-svb-40c361918e2bc9c20d7b19b683b01f65">Signature Bank</a>&nbsp;two days later has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/banks-federal-reserve-silicon-valley-lending-rescue-a04875a164165b50e971ff4576bf4e27">revived bad memories</a>&nbsp;of the financial crisis that plunged the United States into the Great Recession of 2007-2009.

The White House had no comment Thursday on the reports of the rescue package for First Republic Bank, which has more than $200 billion in assets.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678995137267.png" alt="First Republic Bank's stock has faltered as customers began pulling their deposits out. But it was up more than 3% Thursday after reports of the recue package surfaced-photo courtesy First Republic Bank" />
 <figcaption>First Republic Bank's stock has faltered as customers began pulling their deposits out. But it was up more than 3% Thursday after reports of the recue package surfaced-photo courtesy First Republic Bank</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — Eleven of the biggest banks in the country announced a $30 billion rescue package for First Republic Bank on Thursday, in an effort to prevent the California-based bank from becoming the third bank to fail in less than a week.First Republic serves a similar clientele as Silicon Valley Bank, which failed Friday after depositors withdrew about $40 billion. It appears that First Republic, which had deposits totaling $176.4 billion as of Dec. 31, was facing a similar crisis.In a statement, the group of banks confirmed that other unnamed banks had seen large amounts of withdrawals of uninsured deposits, which are those that exceed the $250,000 level insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. First Republic's shares dropped more than 60% Monday, even after the bank said it had secured additional funding from JPMorgan and the Federal Reserve.Thursday the bank’s shares were down as much as 36%, but rallied after reports the rescue package was in the works, and closed up nearly 9%.JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo have agreed to each put $5 billion in uninsured deposits into First Republic. Meanwhile Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs would deposit $2.5 billion each into the bank. The remaining $5 billion would consist of $1 billion contributions from BNY Mellon, State Street, PNC Bank, Truist and US Bank.“The actions of America's largest banks reflect their confidence in the country's banking system,” the banks said in their statement.The nation's banking regulators also issued a statement in support of the bank rescue package.“This show of support by a group of large banks is most welcome, and demonstrates the resilience of the banking system,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg.The news could help calm the nerves of bank investors after the collapse last week of Silicon Valley Bank, which was the second biggest bank failure in U.S. history after the demise of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/08aeb5a6c9d542ccb6d6154d4fa1e3a6">Washington Mutual</a>&nbsp;in 2008.The shuttering of Silicon Valley Bank Friday and of New York-based Signature Bank two days later has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/banks-federal-reserve-silicon-valley-lending-rescue-a04875a164165b50e971ff4576bf4e27">revived bad memories</a>&nbsp;of the financial crisis that plunged the United States into the Great Recession of 2007-2009.Over the weekend the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-wall-street-silicon-valley-banks-trump-e6c27850d35d7f782fc6af9498925e7f">federal government</a>, determined to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/silicon-valley-bank-uk-bailout-hsbc-sale-4d2da0e9c6f39c0fd8faf321a2b295cf">restore public confidence</a>&nbsp;in the banking system, moved to protect all the banks' deposits, even those that exceeded the FDIC’s $250,000 limit per individual account.----------------NEW YORK (AP) — A group of Wall Street banks is planning a rescue package of at least $20 billion for <a href="https://www.firstrepublic.com/locations?gnav=globalheader;locations-view-all-locations">First Republic Bank, </a>sources told The Associated Press on Thursday.The rescue package comes as San Francisco-based First Republic has been battered by investors and worries have grown that the midsized bank might be the next to fail, after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.Sources familiar with the matter said that JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs are part of the group of banks pulling together the package. It is likely to consist of $20 billion in deposits and capital for First Republic, but it might be as high as $30 billion.The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because the package was still being developed.A First Republic spokesman declined to comment on the reports.First Republic Bank's stock has faltered as customers began pulling their deposits out. But it was up more than 3% Thursday after reports of the recue package surfaced.The news comes after the collapse last week of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/svb-fed-bonds-rates-banks-inflation-a24b28b3caeede91c76cd120aa9b7966">Silicon Valley Bank</a>, which was the second biggest bank failure in U.S. history after the demise of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/08aeb5a6c9d542ccb6d6154d4fa1e3a6">Washington Mutual</a>&nbsp;in 2008.The shuttering of Silicon Valley Bank Friday and of New York-based&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/signature-bank-fdic-new-york-svb-40c361918e2bc9c20d7b19b683b01f65">Signature Bank</a>&nbsp;two days later has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/banks-federal-reserve-silicon-valley-lending-rescue-a04875a164165b50e971ff4576bf4e27">revived bad memories</a>&nbsp;of the financial crisis that plunged the United States into the Great Recession of 2007-2009.Over the weekend the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-wall-street-silicon-valley-banks-trump-e6c27850d35d7f782fc6af9498925e7f">federal government</a>, determined to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/silicon-valley-bank-uk-bailout-hsbc-sale-4d2da0e9c6f39c0fd8faf321a2b295cf">restore public confidence</a>&nbsp;in the banking system, moved to protect all the banks' deposits, even those that exceeded the FDIC’s $250,000 limit per individual account.The White House had no comment Thursday on the reports of the rescue package for First Republic Bank, which has more than $200 billion in assets.

Effort underway on $30 billion rescue plan for failing U.S. bank

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti won confirmation Wednesday from a divided Senate as the nation’s next ambassador to India, more than a year and a half after he was first nominated by President Joe Biden and after weathering doubts about his truthfulness in a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-india-los-angeles-chuck-grassley-dfefd15c6e8a199fb9246df8a6ef5d0a">sexual harassment scandal</a>&nbsp;involving a City Hall adviser.

<a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1181/vote_118_1_00055.htm">The 52-42 vote gave the</a> administration a long-sought victory with several Republicans breaking party discipline for the vote that they said was critical to fill one of the country’s highest-profile diplomatic posts.

<a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1181/vote_118_1_00055.htm">Kansas Senator Roger Marshall</a> joined Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Steve Daines of Montana, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Todd Young of Indiana and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1181/vote_118_1_00055.htm">voted</a>&nbsp;to confirm Garcetti.&nbsp; Kansas senior Senator Jerry Moran voted against the nomination.

“It’s a national security imperative to immediately have an ambassador in place in India. We can’t afford to wait any longer,” said Indiana Sen. Todd Young, one of the Republican crossover votes.

The day began with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/india-biden-garcetti-senate-ef19f4f436b38e3bd6f80d834b852fc8">uncertain prospects for Garcetti,</a>&nbsp;a two-term, progressive Democrat first nominated to the diplomatic post by Biden in July 2021.

With several Democrats defecting, Garcetti's fate rested with Republican senators in a chamber&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-biden-business-eric-garcetti-congress-601c278321167879fcc81b53f904818e">often divided along partisan lines.</a>&nbsp;He secured seven GOP votes, more than enough to make up for the Democratic breakaways.

Marshall said having an ambassador in place in India was vital in advancing relations among members of the “quad” — the U.S. India, Australia and Japan, which he said puts pressure on China.

“We don’t agree on all the different policies he did as mayor, but I think he’s a good person at heart and he would be a good ambassador,” Marshall said. He said on the allegations: “He answered my questions adequately.”

At the White House, spokesperson Olivia Dalton said Biden “believes that we have a crucial and consequential partnership with India and that Mayor Garcetti will make a strong and effective ambassador.”

The vacancy in the ambassadorship had left a significant diplomatic gap for the administration at a time of rising global tensions, including China’s increasingly assertive presence in the Pacific region and Russia’s war with Ukraine.

India, the world’s most populous democracy, is continuing to buy oil from Russia, while Western governments move to limit fossil fuel earnings that support Moscow’s budget, its military and its invasion of Ukraine. Russia also provides the majority of India’s military hardware.

The nomination had been freighted with questions about what the former mayor knew, and when, about sexual harassment allegations against his friend and once-close adviser, Rick Jacobs. A lawsuit alleges that Jacobs frequently harassed one of the then-mayor’s police bodyguards while Garcetti ignored the abuse or laughed it off.

Garcetti, the son of former Los Angeles district attorney Gil Garcetti, has repeatedly denied the claims. Jacobs has called the allegations against him “pure fiction.” The case is scheduled to go to trial later this year.

At a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-joe-biden-health-los-angeles-india-3e3ed6a19cfba4fb441a041586dd5051">Senate committee hearing</a>&nbsp;in December 2021, Garcetti said, “I never witnessed, nor was it brought to my attention, the behavior that’s been alleged. … If it had been, I would have immediately taken action to stop that.”

Wednesday's vote tested Democratic loyalty to Biden, and also measured assessments of Garcetti’s judgment and trustworthiness, stemming from the City Hall allegations that shadowed him in the #MeToo era.

“I think we can find somebody that will do the job better,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, one of the Democrats who opposed Garcetti.

Garcetti also failed to win over Democrat Mark Kelly of Arizona, who said he had “serious concerns.”

Rachel Rizzo, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said she sensed frustration about the lack of an ambassador during a recent trip to India. She said it gave "an impression that the relationship isn’t important.”

“It really points to the internal dysfunction in the U.S. Congress at the moment, and it makes it very hard for us to send the messages that we’re trying to send when it looks to our diplomatic partners that we don’t have our house in order,” she said.

Last May, a top Senate Republican&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-india-los-angeles-chuck-grassley-dfefd15c6e8a199fb9246df8a6ef5d0a">released an investigation t</a>&nbsp;hat concluded Garcetti “likely knew or should have known” that Jacobs was alleged to be sexually harassing city employees, a finding that appeared to contradict the mayor’s assertion that he was unaware of any inappropriate behavior. The 23-page report released by Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa found it was “extremely unlikely” that the mayor would not have been aware.

The White House called that report a partisan smear.

In a final push to stop the nomination, Grassley released a statement Tuesday saying his office identified at least 19 people who said they either witnessed inappropriate behavior by Jacobs or were victims of it.

“On the one hand, the Biden administration says it supports victims," Grassley wrote. "Yet, on the other hand, the Biden administration supports a nominee who enables misconduct that creates more victims.”

The legal nonprofit Whistleblower Aid, which sought to defeat the nomination, said the vote “will have a chilling effect on future attempts to hold enablers and perpetrators to account and cause victims and witnesses to think twice about the risks they are taking in coming forward.”

The nomination, first announced in July 2021, cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January 2022 but was not considered by the full Senate.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-los-angeles-india-eric-garcetti-898945408a3033d088c0dff961bd5c4a">Biden renominated Garcetti early this year,</a>&nbsp;and the White House has defended him as a well-qualified candidate.

On a politically divided vote, the committee again advanced the nomination to the full Senate early this month, though Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the panel, said that “new evidence” had raised questions about Garcetti’s judgment and prompted him to oppose the nomination.

Garcetti’s confirmation follows a contentious tenure at Los Angeles City Hall framed by rising homelessness, the pandemic and high crime rates as well as sexual harassment and corruption scandals. The Los Angeles area, once known for boundless growth, has seen its population decline.

Garcetti took office in 2013 with a “back to basics” agenda that centered on fixing L.A.’s notoriously cratered streets and sidewalks. But those early ambitions faded as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-business-crime-los-angeles-homelessness-16e5653f2eaf40b1574fd0d512aa2240">out-of-control homeless encampments</a>&nbsp;transformed the city and then the government shuttered businesses, restaurants and schoolrooms — and shed hundreds of thousands of jobs — in the depths of the pandemic.

Still, the former mayor has been credited with continuing a transit buildup in a city choked with traffic and establishing tougher earthquake safety standards for thousands of buildings.

An Ivy Leaguer and Rhodes Scholar, he spent two decades in city government either as mayor or a city councilman and took a circuitous path toward the diplomatic corps. Ambassadorships are frequently a reward for political supporters.

Garcetti&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/c71a4bec6c434383b37bc46c58a4ff74">considered a 2020 White House</a>&nbsp;run but later became part of Biden’s inner circle, emerging as a widely discussed possibility to join the Cabinet.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-race-and-ethnicity-cabinets-coronavirus-pandemic-f81b90eeab4f8ee51dbc6e43b8c93f76">He took himself out of the running</a>&nbsp;after many of the plum jobs had been filled, saying the coronavirus crisis at the time made it impossible for him to step away from City Hall.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678927862432.png" alt="Marshall said having an ambassador in place in India was vital in advancing relations among members of the “quad” — the U.S. India, Australia and Japan, which he said puts pressure on China.- photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Marshall said having an ambassador in place in India was vital in advancing relations among members of the “quad” — the U.S. India, Australia and Japan, which he said puts pressure on China.- photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti won confirmation Wednesday from a divided Senate as the nation’s next ambassador to India, more than a year and a half after he was first nominated by President Joe Biden and after weathering doubts about his truthfulness in a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-india-los-angeles-chuck-grassley-dfefd15c6e8a199fb9246df8a6ef5d0a">sexual harassment scandal</a>&nbsp;involving a City Hall adviser.<a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1181/vote_118_1_00055.htm">The 52-42 vote gave the</a> administration a long-sought victory with several Republicans breaking party discipline for the vote that they said was critical to fill one of the country’s highest-profile diplomatic posts.<a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1181/vote_118_1_00055.htm">Kansas Senator Roger Marshall</a> joined Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Steve Daines of Montana, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Todd Young of Indiana and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1181/vote_118_1_00055.htm">voted</a>&nbsp;to confirm Garcetti.&nbsp; Kansas senior Senator Jerry Moran voted against the nomination.“It’s a national security imperative to immediately have an ambassador in place in India. We can’t afford to wait any longer,” said Indiana Sen. Todd Young, one of the Republican crossover votes.The day began with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/india-biden-garcetti-senate-ef19f4f436b38e3bd6f80d834b852fc8">uncertain prospects for Garcetti,</a>&nbsp;a two-term, progressive Democrat first nominated to the diplomatic post by Biden in July 2021.With several Democrats defecting, Garcetti's fate rested with Republican senators in a chamber&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-biden-business-eric-garcetti-congress-601c278321167879fcc81b53f904818e">often divided along partisan lines.</a>&nbsp;He secured seven GOP votes, more than enough to make up for the Democratic breakaways.Marshall said having an ambassador in place in India was vital in advancing relations among members of the “quad” — the U.S. India, Australia and Japan, which he said puts pressure on China.“We don’t agree on all the different policies he did as mayor, but I think he’s a good person at heart and he would be a good ambassador,” Marshall said. He said on the allegations: “He answered my questions adequately.”At the White House, spokesperson Olivia Dalton said Biden “believes that we have a crucial and consequential partnership with India and that Mayor Garcetti will make a strong and effective ambassador.”The vacancy in the ambassadorship had left a significant diplomatic gap for the administration at a time of rising global tensions, including China’s increasingly assertive presence in the Pacific region and Russia’s war with Ukraine.India, the world’s most populous democracy, is continuing to buy oil from Russia, while Western governments move to limit fossil fuel earnings that support Moscow’s budget, its military and its invasion of Ukraine. Russia also provides the majority of India’s military hardware.The nomination had been freighted with questions about what the former mayor knew, and when, about sexual harassment allegations against his friend and once-close adviser, Rick Jacobs. A lawsuit alleges that Jacobs frequently harassed one of the then-mayor’s police bodyguards while Garcetti ignored the abuse or laughed it off.Garcetti, the son of former Los Angeles district attorney Gil Garcetti, has repeatedly denied the claims. Jacobs has called the allegations against him “pure fiction.” The case is scheduled to go to trial later this year.At a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-joe-biden-health-los-angeles-india-3e3ed6a19cfba4fb441a041586dd5051">Senate committee hearing</a>&nbsp;in December 2021, Garcetti said, “I never witnessed, nor was it brought to my attention, the behavior that’s been alleged. … If it had been, I would have immediately taken action to stop that.”Wednesday's vote tested Democratic loyalty to Biden, and also measured assessments of Garcetti’s judgment and trustworthiness, stemming from the City Hall allegations that shadowed him in the #MeToo era.“I think we can find somebody that will do the job better,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, one of the Democrats who opposed Garcetti.Garcetti also failed to win over Democrat Mark Kelly of Arizona, who said he had “serious concerns.”Rachel Rizzo, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said she sensed frustration about the lack of an ambassador during a recent trip to India. She said it gave "an impression that the relationship isn’t important.”“It really points to the internal dysfunction in the U.S. Congress at the moment, and it makes it very hard for us to send the messages that we’re trying to send when it looks to our diplomatic partners that we don’t have our house in order,” she said.Last May, a top Senate Republican&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-india-los-angeles-chuck-grassley-dfefd15c6e8a199fb9246df8a6ef5d0a">released an investigation t</a>&nbsp;hat concluded Garcetti “likely knew or should have known” that Jacobs was alleged to be sexually harassing city employees, a finding that appeared to contradict the mayor’s assertion that he was unaware of any inappropriate behavior. The 23-page report released by Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa found it was “extremely unlikely” that the mayor would not have been aware.The White House called that report a partisan smear.In a final push to stop the nomination, Grassley released a statement Tuesday saying his office identified at least 19 people who said they either witnessed inappropriate behavior by Jacobs or were victims of it.“On the one hand, the Biden administration says it supports victims," Grassley wrote. "Yet, on the other hand, the Biden administration supports a nominee who enables misconduct that creates more victims.”The legal nonprofit Whistleblower Aid, which sought to defeat the nomination, said the vote “will have a chilling effect on future attempts to hold enablers and perpetrators to account and cause victims and witnesses to think twice about the risks they are taking in coming forward.”The nomination, first announced in July 2021, cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January 2022 but was not considered by the full Senate.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-los-angeles-india-eric-garcetti-898945408a3033d088c0dff961bd5c4a">Biden renominated Garcetti early this year,</a>&nbsp;and the White House has defended him as a well-qualified candidate.On a politically divided vote, the committee again advanced the nomination to the full Senate early this month, though Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the panel, said that “new evidence” had raised questions about Garcetti’s judgment and prompted him to oppose the nomination.Garcetti’s confirmation follows a contentious tenure at Los Angeles City Hall framed by rising homelessness, the pandemic and high crime rates as well as sexual harassment and corruption scandals. The Los Angeles area, once known for boundless growth, has seen its population decline.Garcetti took office in 2013 with a “back to basics” agenda that centered on fixing L.A.’s notoriously cratered streets and sidewalks. But those early ambitions faded as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-business-crime-los-angeles-homelessness-16e5653f2eaf40b1574fd0d512aa2240">out-of-control homeless encampments</a>&nbsp;transformed the city and then the government shuttered businesses, restaurants and schoolrooms — and shed hundreds of thousands of jobs — in the depths of the pandemic.Still, the former mayor has been credited with continuing a transit buildup in a city choked with traffic and establishing tougher earthquake safety standards for thousands of buildings.An Ivy Leaguer and Rhodes Scholar, he spent two decades in city government either as mayor or a city councilman and took a circuitous path toward the diplomatic corps. Ambassadorships are frequently a reward for political supporters.Garcetti&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/c71a4bec6c434383b37bc46c58a4ff74">considered a 2020 White House</a>&nbsp;run but later became part of Biden’s inner circle, emerging as a widely discussed possibility to join the Cabinet.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-race-and-ethnicity-cabinets-coronavirus-pandemic-f81b90eeab4f8ee51dbc6e43b8c93f76">He took himself out of the running</a>&nbsp;after many of the plum jobs had been filled, saying the coronavirus crisis at the time made it impossible for him to step away from City Hall.___

Marshall voted with Dems to confirm controversial ambassador  

KANSAS CITY (AP) —The stakes are higher in Ohio this year for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness">March Madness</a>&nbsp;— and not just because it's a regional host for the first round of the men's NCAA basketball tournament.

For the first time, Ohio sports fans can click on a mobile app or tap into kiosks at bars, restaurants or grocery stores and legally bet on the famed tournament.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-legislature-betting-dodge-city-3dd926041924c63c3cdbf4ba950b1d98">Kansas</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-sports-betting-addiction-mobile-massachusetts-2a82643a86d6d17a42a1e52c27215854">Massachusetts</a>&nbsp;and Maryland also are new additions to the world of online sports betting since the NCAA tournament last tipped off. A total of 33 states and the District of Columbia now offer at least some form of sports wagering — each scrambling for shares of a multibillion-dollar enterprise that has rapidly expanded after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nv-state-wire-north-america-courts-supreme-courts-gambling-industry-f3fa1f71b8f44378a7e2c51d321b13b4">the U.S. Supreme Court allowed it</a>&nbsp;nearly five years ago.

Ohio got off to a booming start when it launched sports betting in January. In its first month, Ohio bettors&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ohio-sports-betting-gambling-acedf48f0a29188936c9f95a16d4ca7a">wagered more than $1.1 billion</a>, generating more than $20 million in state tax revenue. That nearly tripled the revenue amount that legislative analysts had projected for the entire first six months of operation. But no one's blaming them for missing the mark.

“They couldn’t know how big of a market we were going to have on day one,” said Jessica Franks, communications director at the Ohio Casino Control Commission.

Whereas some states started with limited in-person sports betting and gradually added mobile apps, Ohio began more aggressively — simultaneously launching numerous mobile options and retail locations. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is now proposing to double the tax rate on sports betting.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/d09a306184914ed28c402251176cec8d">New York began allowing sports betting</a>&nbsp;in 2019, but only in person at four upstate casinos, limiting the market. Betting boomed when the state began allowing people to make sports bets through cell phones and computers in January 2022. In the first month,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-business-football-new-york-new-jersey-5dd240f1375493c5c08066ec74034890">more than $1.6 billion was wagered</a>&nbsp;through online sports betting, compared to just $15 million through in-person sports bets at casinos.

New York charges a 51% tax on revenue from mobile sports betting — a far higher rate than other states — with most revenue going to education. Budget officials originally projected that mobile sports betting would generate $357 million in state tax revenue for the 2023 fiscal year, which ends March 31. Bettors have blown that away. Through February, mobile sports betting had&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gaming.ny.gov/pdf/mobile/Monthly%20Mobile%20Sports%20Wagering%20Report%20Statewide.pdf">generated $661 million of tax revenue</a>&nbsp;for education.

State Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr., who advocated for sports betting as chair of the Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, said even he is amazed at the results.

“There is an appetite, certainly, to do sports betting with a mobile device," Addabbo said.

New York and Ohio both have large populations and multiple professional sports teams to help drive interest in sports betting.

Arkansas, a much smaller state without major league sports teams, began in-person sports betting at casinos in July 2019. Things really took off last year when it launched mobile sports betting. State figures show nearly $3 million was wagered on this year's Super Bowl — more than three times the annual amount before mobile betting was allowed.

State officials expect people from neighboring states to cross into Arkansas to bet on March Madness.

“We will be surprised if March doesn’t set a new monthly record for sports betting in the state,” said Scott Hardin, spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.

Other states also have exceeded expectations for sports betting revenues.

Indiana's sports wagering taxes topped $31 million in the 2022 fiscal year — well more than&nbsp;<a href="https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2019/bills/house/1015#document-e379226d">the $12 million projection</a>&nbsp;when lawmakers authorized it in 2019. New Hampshire's tax take of nearly $24 million from sports betting easily doubled its original projection for the 2022 fiscal year.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1678989435605.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By DAVID A. LIEB&nbsp;KANSAS CITY (AP) —The stakes are higher in Ohio this year for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness">March Madness</a>&nbsp;— and not just because it's a regional host for the first round of the men's NCAA basketball tournament.For the first time, Ohio sports fans can click on a mobile app or tap into kiosks at bars, restaurants or grocery stores and legally bet on the famed tournament.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-legislature-betting-dodge-city-3dd926041924c63c3cdbf4ba950b1d98">Kansas</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-sports-betting-addiction-mobile-massachusetts-2a82643a86d6d17a42a1e52c27215854">Massachusetts</a>&nbsp;and Maryland also are new additions to the world of online sports betting since the NCAA tournament last tipped off. A total of 33 states and the District of Columbia now offer at least some form of sports wagering — each scrambling for shares of a multibillion-dollar enterprise that has rapidly expanded after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nv-state-wire-north-america-courts-supreme-courts-gambling-industry-f3fa1f71b8f44378a7e2c51d321b13b4">the U.S. Supreme Court allowed it</a>&nbsp;nearly five years ago.Ohio got off to a booming start when it launched sports betting in January. In its first month, Ohio bettors&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ohio-sports-betting-gambling-acedf48f0a29188936c9f95a16d4ca7a">wagered more than $1.1 billion</a>, generating more than $20 million in state tax revenue. That nearly tripled the revenue amount that legislative analysts had projected for the entire first six months of operation. But no one's blaming them for missing the mark.“They couldn’t know how big of a market we were going to have on day one,” said Jessica Franks, communications director at the Ohio Casino Control Commission.Whereas some states started with limited in-person sports betting and gradually added mobile apps, Ohio began more aggressively — simultaneously launching numerous mobile options and retail locations. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is now proposing to double the tax rate on sports betting.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/d09a306184914ed28c402251176cec8d">New York began allowing sports betting</a>&nbsp;in 2019, but only in person at four upstate casinos, limiting the market. Betting boomed when the state began allowing people to make sports bets through cell phones and computers in January 2022. In the first month,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-business-football-new-york-new-jersey-5dd240f1375493c5c08066ec74034890">more than $1.6 billion was wagered</a>&nbsp;through online sports betting, compared to just $15 million through in-person sports bets at casinos.New York charges a 51% tax on revenue from mobile sports betting — a far higher rate than other states — with most revenue going to education. Budget officials originally projected that mobile sports betting would generate $357 million in state tax revenue for the 2023 fiscal year, which ends March 31. Bettors have blown that away. Through February, mobile sports betting had&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gaming.ny.gov/pdf/mobile/Monthly%20Mobile%20Sports%20Wagering%20Report%20Statewide.pdf">generated $661 million of tax revenue</a>&nbsp;for education.State Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr., who advocated for sports betting as chair of the Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, said even he is amazed at the results.“There is an appetite, certainly, to do sports betting with a mobile device," Addabbo said.New York and Ohio both have large populations and multiple professional sports teams to help drive interest in sports betting.Arkansas, a much smaller state without major league sports teams, began in-person sports betting at casinos in July 2019. Things really took off last year when it launched mobile sports betting. State figures show nearly $3 million was wagered on this year's Super Bowl — more than three times the annual amount before mobile betting was allowed.State officials expect people from neighboring states to cross into Arkansas to bet on March Madness.“We will be surprised if March doesn’t set a new monthly record for sports betting in the state,” said Scott Hardin, spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.Other states also have exceeded expectations for sports betting revenues.Indiana's sports wagering taxes topped $31 million in the 2022 fiscal year — well more than&nbsp;<a href="https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2019/bills/house/1015#document-e379226d">the $12 million projection</a>&nbsp;when lawmakers authorized it in 2019. New Hampshire's tax take of nearly $24 million from sports betting easily doubled its original projection for the 2022 fiscal year.But not every state is banking as many bucks as projected from sports betting.Legislative analysts in Montana, which allows sports bets only from online networks inside bars and casinos, had anticipated that $79 million of bets would be cast last fiscal year, generating $4.8 million of state tax revenue. The actual results were about half that — $2.4 million of state tax revenue from about $45 million of sports bets.Connecticut received less than $20 million in sports betting taxes in the first 16 months since wagering began in October 2021. Legislative analysts had projected $21 million in its first full fiscal year.Nationwide, legal sports betting has generated more than $3 billion in state and federal taxes since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling allowing it, according to the American Gaming Association. It's producing about three-quarters of what eventually could be expected from a fully mature market.The debate about sports betting has shifted from "`Is this something we should consider?' to 'How should we go about doing this in a way that best serves our constituencies?’” said Casey Clark, the association's senior vice president.The prospects for sports betting to expand into more states this year appear mixed.A bill legalizing sports betting&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-gambling-legalized-betting-wagering-kentucky-8031ecb4f4568769eb4d22b6fc1201b6">passed the Kentucky House</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-gambling-legalized-betting-kentucky-legislature-5d51206d19c953e173c5036f92d9bb61">advanced Wednesday to the Senate</a>&nbsp;but still faces a high hurdle. Similar bills have died in the past in the Senate, and this year's version would a need three-fifths vote to pass.Supporters also are taking another run at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-sports-minnesota-state-government-business-72906b8d372a2e1b9c7da3bcfd5005e1">a sports betting bill in Minnesota</a>&nbsp;and various other states.In Missouri, attempts to authorize sports betting have gotten bogged down in the Senate over whether to pair them with regulations on slot-machine-style games that have been popping up in convenience stores.In Georgia,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gambling-gaming-sports-betting-georgia-51ba7da58835cf3ae47bf3dc67eb9324">sports betting bills have stalled</a>&nbsp;amid debate about whether a constitutional amendment is needed, how to spend the potential tax revenue and whether to pair sports betting with the legalization of casinos and horse racing tracks.The three most populous states — California, Texas and Florida — all currently lack online sports betting. The Seminole Tribe of Florida, which received exclusive state rights to run sports betting,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-business-florida-district-of-columbia-sports-betting-c1eaff80b40aeea9d243abeb5d760e01">shut down its online app</a>&nbsp;in December 2021 after federal courts ruled it violated a rule requiring people to be physically present on tribal land when wagering.After the most expensive ballot issue battle in U.S. history, California voters last November rejected a pair of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-technology-sports-business-california-7552c76ea151ba145e8c85ee7b277838">rival sports betting initiatives</a>&nbsp;backed by Native American tribes and the gambling industry. Supporters are likely to try again, though it's unclear when that might occur.