YEMEN—U.S. forces conducted multiple precision strikes against two Iranian-backed Houthi underground Advanced Conventional Weapon&nbsp; storage facilities within Houthi-controlled territories of Yemen on Wednesday, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command.

 The Houthis used these facilities to conduct attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

There were no injuries or damage to U.S. personnel or equipment.

"The strikes are part of CENTCOM's effort to degrade Iranian-backed Houthi attempts to threaten regional partners and military and merchant vessels in the region."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1736385717405.png" alt="Photo U.S. Central Command" />
 <figcaption>Photo U.S. Central Command</figcaption>
 </figure>YEMEN—U.S. forces conducted multiple precision strikes against two Iranian-backed Houthi underground Advanced Conventional Weapon&nbsp; storage facilities within Houthi-controlled territories of Yemen on Wednesday, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command. The Houthis used these facilities to conduct attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.There were no injuries or damage to U.S. personnel or equipment."The strikes are part of CENTCOM's effort to degrade Iranian-backed Houthi attempts to threaten regional partners and military and merchant vessels in the region."

U.S. strikes Terrorist Weapons Storage Facilities in Yemen

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A fast-moving fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday night, threatening one of Los Angeles’ most iconic spots as firefighters battled to get under control three other&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfire-southern-california-santa-ana-winds-c48661615061eb631784b666cddfa4ac">major blazes</a>&nbsp;that killed five people, put 130,000 people under evacuation orders and ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to inland Pasadena.

The Sunset Fire started Wednesday evening as officials were holding a news conference to update residents on efforts to fight&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-fires-things-to-know-winds-f93d41dc901e352b63e86ab67ef7790e">massive fires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena</a>&nbsp;and to warn that fire danger remained high. Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley made a hasty exit after announcing the new fire and soon after an evacuation order was issued.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame was bustling and the streets around the TCL Chinese Theatre and Madame Tussauds were packed with stop-and-go traffic as sirens blared and low-flying helicopters flew overhead to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-pacific-palisades-wildfires-los-angeles-4b67b7f29d0d6eb7321a52ef60c17d60">dump water on the flames</a>, which were only about a mile away. People toting suitcases left hotels while some onlookers walked toward the flames, recording the fire on their phones.

Within a few hours, firefighters had made major progress. Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott said they were able to keep the fire in check because “we hit it hard and fast and mother nature was a little nicer to us today than she was yesterday.”

A day earlier, hurricane-force winds&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/la-wildfire-flee-evacuation-wind-palisades-f302b4cd347f9a4f4fe707fa0a717aca">blew embers through the air</a>, igniting block after block in the coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades as well as in Altadena, a community near Pasadena that is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east.

Nearly 2,000 homes, businesses and other structures have been destroyed in those blazes — called the Palisades and Eaton fires — and the number is expected to rise. The five deaths recorded so far were from the Eaton Fire.

The Palisades Fire already is the most destructive in Los Angeles history, with at least 1,000 structures burned.

More than half a dozen schools in the area were either damaged or destroyed, including Palisades Charter High School, which has been featured in many Hollywood productions, including the 1976 horror movie “Carrie” and the TV series “Teen Wolf,” officials said. UCLA has canceled classes for the week.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said air operations were dousing flames. She warned they still faced “erratic winds,” though not like Tuesday evening, when aircraft had to be grounded and much of the destruction occurred.

In Pasadena, Fire Chief Chad Augustin said the city's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfire-california-climate-603512236222f82c77901db1039e959f">water system was stretched</a>&nbsp;and was further hampered by power outages, but even without those issues, firefighters would not have been able to stop the fire due to the intense winds fanning the flames.

“Those erratic wind gusts were throwing embers for multiple miles ahead of the fire,” he said.

As flames moved through his neighborhood, Jose Velasquez sprayed down his family’s Altadena home with water as embers rained down on the roof. He managed to save their home, which also houses their family business selling churros, a Mexican pastry. Others weren’t so lucky. Many of his neighbors were at work when they lost their homes.

“So we had to call a few people and then we had people messaging, asking if their house was still standing,” he said. “We had to tell them that it’s not.”

In&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-wildfires-pacific-palisades-celebrity-20fbace2f7cd66441942674ffb5c75da">Pacific Palisades</a>, a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity homes, the scope of the destruction was just becoming clear:

Block after block of California Mission Style homes and bungalows were reduced to charred remains. Ornate iron railing wrapped around the smoldering frame of one house Swimming pools were blackened with soot, and sports cars slumped on melted tires.

The flames marched toward highly populated and affluent neighborhoods, including Calabasas and Santa Monica, home to California’s rich and famous.

Mandy Moore, Cary Elwes and Paris Hilton were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-los-angeles-celebrities-1337e6e1f6d631aa931684ad185310cd">among the stars</a>&nbsp;who lost homes. Billy Crystal and his wife Janice lost their home of 45 years in the Palisades Fire.

“We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away," the Crystals wrote in the statement.

In Palisades Village, the public library, two major grocery stores, a pair of banks and several boutiques were destroyed.

“It’s just really weird coming back to somewhere that doesn’t really exist anymore,” said Dylan Vincent, who returned to the neighborhood to retrieve some items and saw that his elementary school had burned down and that whole blocks had been flattened.

Fast-moving flames allowed little time to escape

The fires have consumed a total of about 42 square miles (108 square kilometers) — nearly the size of the entire city of San Francisco.

Flames moved so quickly that many barely had time to escape. Police sought shelter inside their patrol cars, and residents at a senior living center were pushed in wheelchairs and hospital beds down a street to safety.

In&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfiresafetyevacuationtipsmap-1b3bdaa19fc990bceacd60cf074eda41">the race to get away</a>&nbsp;in Pacific Palisades, roadways became impassable when scores of people abandoned their vehicles and set out on foot.

Higher temperatures and less rain mean a longer fire season

California’s wildfire season is beginning earlier and ending later due to rising temperatures and decreased rainfall tied to climate change, according to recent data. Rains that usually end fire season are often delayed, meaning fires can burn through the winter months, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://wfca.com/wildfire-articles/california-fire-season-in-depth-guide/#:~:text=Fires%20are%20possible%20throughout%20the,June)%20and%20runs%20until%20October.">Western Fire Chiefs Association</a>.

Dry winds, including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/santa-ana-winds-california-0b2c68cdc29a7c354238c6ccc09c830c">the notorious Santa Anas</a>, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, which has not seen more than 0.1 inches (2.5 millimeters) of rain since early May.

The winds increased to 80 mph (129 kph) Wednesday, according to reports received by the National Weather Service. Forecasters predicted wind gusts of 35-55 mph (56 to 88 kph) that could rise higher in the mountains and foothills. Fire conditions could last through Friday.

Landmarks get scorched and studios suspend production

President Joe Biden signed a federal emergency declaration after arriving at a Santa Monica fire station for a briefing with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who dispatched National Guard troops to help.

Several Hollywood studios suspended production, and Universal Studios closed its theme park between Pasadena and Pacific Palisades.

As of Wednesday evening, more than 330,000 people were without power in southern California, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us.

Several Southern California landmarks were heavily damaged, including the Reel Inn in Malibu, a seafood restaurant. Owner Teddy Leonard and her husband hope to rebuild.

“When you look at the grand scheme of things, as long as your family is well and everyone’s alive, you’re still winning, right?” she said.

Golden reported from Seattle and Watson from San Diego. Associated Press journalists Christopher Weber and Eugene Garcia in Los Angeles; Ethan Swope in Pasadena, California; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Janie Har in San Francisco; Brian Melley in London; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; and Tammy Webber in Detroit contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1736421470615.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>LOS ANGELES (AP) — A fast-moving fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday night, threatening one of Los Angeles’ most iconic spots as firefighters battled to get under control three other&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfire-southern-california-santa-ana-winds-c48661615061eb631784b666cddfa4ac">major blazes</a>&nbsp;that killed five people, put 130,000 people under evacuation orders and ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to inland Pasadena.The Sunset Fire started Wednesday evening as officials were holding a news conference to update residents on efforts to fight&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-fires-things-to-know-winds-f93d41dc901e352b63e86ab67ef7790e">massive fires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena</a>&nbsp;and to warn that fire danger remained high. Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley made a hasty exit after announcing the new fire and soon after an evacuation order was issued.The Hollywood Walk of Fame was bustling and the streets around the TCL Chinese Theatre and Madame Tussauds were packed with stop-and-go traffic as sirens blared and low-flying helicopters flew overhead to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-pacific-palisades-wildfires-los-angeles-4b67b7f29d0d6eb7321a52ef60c17d60">dump water on the flames</a>, which were only about a mile away. People toting suitcases left hotels while some onlookers walked toward the flames, recording the fire on their phones.Within a few hours, firefighters had made major progress. Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott said they were able to keep the fire in check because “we hit it hard and fast and mother nature was a little nicer to us today than she was yesterday.”A day earlier, hurricane-force winds&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/la-wildfire-flee-evacuation-wind-palisades-f302b4cd347f9a4f4fe707fa0a717aca">blew embers through the air</a>, igniting block after block in the coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades as well as in Altadena, a community near Pasadena that is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east.Nearly 2,000 homes, businesses and other structures have been destroyed in those blazes — called the Palisades and Eaton fires — and the number is expected to rise. The five deaths recorded so far were from the Eaton Fire.The Palisades Fire already is the most destructive in Los Angeles history, with at least 1,000 structures burned.More than half a dozen schools in the area were either damaged or destroyed, including Palisades Charter High School, which has been featured in many Hollywood productions, including the 1976 horror movie “Carrie” and the TV series “Teen Wolf,” officials said. UCLA has canceled classes for the week.Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said air operations were dousing flames. She warned they still faced “erratic winds,” though not like Tuesday evening, when aircraft had to be grounded and much of the destruction occurred.In Pasadena, Fire Chief Chad Augustin said the city's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfire-california-climate-603512236222f82c77901db1039e959f">water system was stretched</a>&nbsp;and was further hampered by power outages, but even without those issues, firefighters would not have been able to stop the fire due to the intense winds fanning the flames.“Those erratic wind gusts were throwing embers for multiple miles ahead of the fire,” he said.As flames moved through his neighborhood, Jose Velasquez sprayed down his family’s Altadena home with water as embers rained down on the roof. He managed to save their home, which also houses their family business selling churros, a Mexican pastry. Others weren’t so lucky. Many of his neighbors were at work when they lost their homes.“So we had to call a few people and then we had people messaging, asking if their house was still standing,” he said. “We had to tell them that it’s not.”In&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-wildfires-pacific-palisades-celebrity-20fbace2f7cd66441942674ffb5c75da">Pacific Palisades</a>, a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity homes, the scope of the destruction was just becoming clear:Block after block of California Mission Style homes and bungalows were reduced to charred remains. Ornate iron railing wrapped around the smoldering frame of one house Swimming pools were blackened with soot, and sports cars slumped on melted tires.The apocalyptic scenes spread for miles.<h2>Actors lost homes</h2>The flames marched toward highly populated and affluent neighborhoods, including Calabasas and Santa Monica, home to California’s rich and famous.Mandy Moore, Cary Elwes and Paris Hilton were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-los-angeles-celebrities-1337e6e1f6d631aa931684ad185310cd">among the stars</a>&nbsp;who lost homes. Billy Crystal and his wife Janice lost their home of 45 years in the Palisades Fire.“We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away," the Crystals wrote in the statement.In Palisades Village, the public library, two major grocery stores, a pair of banks and several boutiques were destroyed.“It’s just really weird coming back to somewhere that doesn’t really exist anymore,” said Dylan Vincent, who returned to the neighborhood to retrieve some items and saw that his elementary school had burned down and that whole blocks had been flattened.<h2>Fast-moving flames allowed little time to escape</h2>The fires have consumed a total of about 42 square miles (108 square kilometers) — nearly the size of the entire city of San Francisco.Flames moved so quickly that many barely had time to escape. Police sought shelter inside their patrol cars, and residents at a senior living center were pushed in wheelchairs and hospital beds down a street to safety.In&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfiresafetyevacuationtipsmap-1b3bdaa19fc990bceacd60cf074eda41">the race to get away</a>&nbsp;in Pacific Palisades, roadways became impassable when scores of people abandoned their vehicles and set out on foot.<h2>Higher temperatures and less rain mean a longer fire season</h2>California’s wildfire season is beginning earlier and ending later due to rising temperatures and decreased rainfall tied to climate change, according to recent data. Rains that usually end fire season are often delayed, meaning fires can burn through the winter months, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://wfca.com/wildfire-articles/california-fire-season-in-depth-guide/#:~:text=Fires%20are%20possible%20throughout%20the,June)%20and%20runs%20until%20October.">Western Fire Chiefs Association</a>.Dry winds, including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/santa-ana-winds-california-0b2c68cdc29a7c354238c6ccc09c830c">the notorious Santa Anas</a>, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, which has not seen more than 0.1 inches (2.5 millimeters) of rain since early May.The winds increased to 80 mph (129 kph) Wednesday, according to reports received by the National Weather Service. Forecasters predicted wind gusts of 35-55 mph (56 to 88 kph) that could rise higher in the mountains and foothills. Fire conditions could last through Friday.<h2>Landmarks get scorched and studios suspend production</h2>President Joe Biden signed a federal emergency declaration after arriving at a Santa Monica fire station for a briefing with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who dispatched National Guard troops to help.Several Hollywood studios suspended production, and Universal Studios closed its theme park between Pasadena and Pacific Palisades.As of Wednesday evening, more than 330,000 people were without power in southern California, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us.Several Southern California landmarks were heavily damaged, including the Reel Inn in Malibu, a seafood restaurant. Owner Teddy Leonard and her husband hope to rebuild.“When you look at the grand scheme of things, as long as your family is well and everyone’s alive, you’re still winning, right?” she said.___Golden reported from Seattle and Watson from San Diego. Associated Press journalists Christopher Weber and Eugene Garcia in Los Angeles; Ethan Swope in Pasadena, California; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Janie Har in San Francisco; Brian Melley in London; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; and Tammy Webber in Detroit contributed to this report.

Deadly wildfires continue to burn across Los Angeles 

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating two teens in connection with a convenience store robbery.

Just after 8p.m.&nbsp; January 5, 2025, near 8:00 p.m., police responded to a reported aggravated robbery attempt to the Kwik Shop, 746 NE Wabash Avenue in Topeka, according to Topeka Police Lt. Edward Stanley.

 Upon arrival officers learned that two individuals believed to be involved had already left the area.

A short time later, officers located the suspects near the area of the 800 block of NE Kellam Avenue. These individuals were taken into custody and transported to the Law Enforcement Center to speak with detectives.

As a result of the investigation, Kenyan M. Hooper, 18, and a juvenile male, 15, both of Topeka, were arrested. Hooper was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections, and the juvenile was booked into the Shawnee County Juvenile Department of Corrections.

Hooper is being held on requested charges of&nbsp;Attempted Aggravated Robbery and Aggravated Assault.

The juvenile is jailed on a requested charge of Attempted Aggravated Robbery.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1736172902304.png" alt="Hooper-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Hooper-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating two teens in connection with a convenience store robbery.Just after 8p.m.&nbsp; January 5, 2025, near 8:00 p.m., police responded to a reported aggravated robbery attempt to the Kwik Shop, 746 NE Wabash Avenue in Topeka, according to Topeka Police Lt. Edward Stanley. Upon arrival officers learned that two individuals believed to be involved had already left the area.A short time later, officers located the suspects near the area of the 800 block of NE Kellam Avenue. These individuals were taken into custody and transported to the Law Enforcement Center to speak with detectives.As a result of the investigation, Kenyan M. Hooper, 18, and a juvenile male, 15, both of Topeka, were arrested. Hooper was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections, and the juvenile was booked into the Shawnee County Juvenile Department of Corrections.Hooper is being held on requested charges of&nbsp;Attempted Aggravated Robbery and Aggravated Assault.The juvenile is jailed on a requested charge of Attempted Aggravated Robbery.

15-year-old accused of role in Kansas store robbery

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump, who has alternated among praising, criticizing and mocking&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jimmy-carter">Jimmy Carter</a>, came Wednesday to the Capitol Rotunda to pay his respects to Carter as the 39th president lies in state ahead of his funeral Thursday in the nation's capital.

Carter was often the target of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-jimmy-carter-2024-election-6d58fb7dee75422ff555239013a6b52f">Trump's derision during his 2024 campaign</a>, and the president-elect has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/carter-trump-contradictory-relationship-e82074628e4faa974d8263017c8b5b3a">renewed his critique</a>&nbsp;of the Georgia Democrat this week for ceding control of the Panama Canal to its home country when he was president more than four decades ago.

Trump, who plans to attend Carter's funeral Thursday at Washington National Cathedral, played it straight on Capitol Hill, walking somberly into the rotunda with his wife, Melania, and pausing in front of Carter's flag-draped casket, which is resting atop the Lincoln catafalque and stands surrounded by a military honor guard.

Throughout his successful 2024 campaign, Trump lampooned President Joe Biden and Carter together and played up Republican caricatures of Carter.

“Jimmy Carter is happy because he had a brilliant presidency compared to Biden,” Trump would say, even using some version of the attack when former first lady&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rosalynn-carter-dead-69fadff26354d26bdda94c5d52558a7f">Rosalynn Carter</a>&nbsp;was on her deathbed in 2023 and on Carter’s 100th birthday on Oct. 1, 2024. On Tuesday, the day Carter's remains arrived in Washington, Trump added of Carter, “I liked him as a man. I disagreed with his policies. He thought giving away the Panama Canal was a good thing.”

Members of Congress, Capitol Hill staffers and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy also joined the long line of mourners. Lynda Robb and Luci Baines Johnson, the daughters of President Lyndon Johnson, paid their respects as well. Luci Baines Johnson blew a kiss toward the casket as she walked away.

Carter, the longest-lived U.S. president,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-carter-dies-18c198c20352c835bca3eec276020dd7">died Dec. 29</a>&nbsp;at the age of 100.

A U.S. Naval Academy graduate, submarine officer and peanut farmer before entering politics, Carter won the White House in 1976 as an outsider in the wake of the Vietnam War and Watergate. He endured a rocky four years of economic unrest and international crises that ended with his defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. But he also lived long enough to see historians reassess his presidency more charitably than voters did in 1980, and the national rites of a state funeral afford him a notable counter to the often testy relationship he had with Washington during his four years in the Oval Office.

“President Carter was the governor of the great state of Georgia when I was born,” said Lyn Leverett, among the people who waited in below-freezing weather Wednesday. “So he’s been around my, you know, my whole entire being. And I just want to pay my respects to a decent person.”

Some visitors fondly recalled personal connections to Carter's 1976 campaign, when his family, close friends and other supporters from Georgia formed the “Peanut Brigade” to fan out across Iowa, New Hampshire and other key primary states and help Carter surprise the Washington establishment by winning the Democratic nomination.

“I’m originally from Nashua, New Hampshire, and when I was a child, Jimmy Carter slept at my house,” said Susan Prolman. “He had just won the Iowa caucuses and he was in New Hampshire campaigning for the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire presidential primary. And I created this little poster for him, and he very kindly signed it.”

Margaret Fitzpatrick, of Kensington, Maryland, recalled a family friend who had attended the Naval Academy with Carter in the 1940s and later hosted him as a presidential candidate. But she and others said what most drew them to the Capitol was what they remember of Carter once he left office — and the distinctions they see between Carter and Trump.

“The contrast is amazing,” Fitzpatrick said, as she noted the juxtaposition of Carter's funeral with the obvious preparations around Washington for Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration. “I'm here to respect somebody who has built a reputation on honesty, character and integrity. President Carter was a decent, kind, genuine and gentle person.”

Kim James, also a Maryland resident, said she had yet to start grade school when Carter was elected and thinks of him more as the white-haired former president who fought disease and advocated for democracy in the developing world and built homes for Habitat for Humanity in the U.S. and abroad.

“He cared about other people,” she said, adding that political leaders today should work harder to replicate that example. “That selflessness — it always stood out.”

Official ceremonies this week also have remembered Carter's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-carter-baptist-faith-93343181bb9fac49723470c7e10561d1">religious convictions</a>, long public service and decades of humanitarian work beyond what he accomplished in politics. Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-carter-funeral-lie-state-9200a643ca205719d94895c9a5deb36f">eulogized Carter a day earlier at the Capitol</a>, when his remains first arrived in the rotunda.

Carter will remain at the Capitol until Thursday morning, when he is transported to Washington National Cathedral for a state funeral that begins at 10 a.m. Eastern. Biden, a longtime Carter ally,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-carter-funeral-joe-biden-eulogy-13716fdd8c52b4f2ba8c14824b3707b3">will deliver a eulogy</a>. Other living former presidents, including Trump, are expected to attend.

After the funeral, the Boeing 747 that is Air Force One when a sitting president is aboard will carry Carter and his family back to Georgia. An invitation-only funeral will be held at Maranatha Baptist Church in tiny Plains, Georgia, where Carter&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-carter-plains-georgia-maranatha-sunday-school-a1a692079be175cf2e882176fc343344">taught Sunday School</a>&nbsp;for decades after leaving office.

Carter will be buried next to his wife in a plot near the home they built before his first state Senate campaign in 1962 and where they lived out their lives with the exception of four years in the Georgia Governor's Mansion and four years in the White House.

___ Associated Press journalist Jack Auresto contributed.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1736382954672.png" alt="Image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump, who has alternated among praising, criticizing and mocking&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jimmy-carter">Jimmy Carter</a>, came Wednesday to the Capitol Rotunda to pay his respects to Carter as the 39th president lies in state ahead of his funeral Thursday in the nation's capital.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President-elect Trump pays respects to Jimmy Carter in U.S. Capitol <a href="https://t.co/OIQpncbSa3">pic.twitter.com/OIQpncbSa3</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1877127906150715550?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Brief remarks from Pres.-elect Trump to the press before paying respects to Jimmy Carter in the U.S. Capitol <a href="https://t.co/x2qw4ElZZX">pic.twitter.com/x2qw4ElZZX</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1877127732594671756?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Carter was often the target of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-jimmy-carter-2024-election-6d58fb7dee75422ff555239013a6b52f">Trump's derision during his 2024 campaign</a>, and the president-elect has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/carter-trump-contradictory-relationship-e82074628e4faa974d8263017c8b5b3a">renewed his critique</a>&nbsp;of the Georgia Democrat this week for ceding control of the Panama Canal to its home country when he was president more than four decades ago.Trump, who plans to attend Carter's funeral Thursday at Washington National Cathedral, played it straight on Capitol Hill, walking somberly into the rotunda with his wife, Melania, and pausing in front of Carter's flag-draped casket, which is resting atop the Lincoln catafalque and stands surrounded by a military honor guard.Throughout his successful 2024 campaign, Trump lampooned President Joe Biden and Carter together and played up Republican caricatures of Carter.“Jimmy Carter is happy because he had a brilliant presidency compared to Biden,” Trump would say, even using some version of the attack when former first lady&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rosalynn-carter-dead-69fadff26354d26bdda94c5d52558a7f">Rosalynn Carter</a>&nbsp;was on her deathbed in 2023 and on Carter’s 100th birthday on Oct. 1, 2024. On Tuesday, the day Carter's remains arrived in Washington, Trump added of Carter, “I liked him as a man. I disagreed with his policies. He thought giving away the Panama Canal was a good thing.”Members of Congress, Capitol Hill staffers and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy also joined the long line of mourners. Lynda Robb and Luci Baines Johnson, the daughters of President Lyndon Johnson, paid their respects as well. Luci Baines Johnson blew a kiss toward the casket as she walked away.Carter, the longest-lived U.S. president,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-carter-dies-18c198c20352c835bca3eec276020dd7">died Dec. 29</a>&nbsp;at the age of 100.A U.S. Naval Academy graduate, submarine officer and peanut farmer before entering politics, Carter won the White House in 1976 as an outsider in the wake of the Vietnam War and Watergate. He endured a rocky four years of economic unrest and international crises that ended with his defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. But he also lived long enough to see historians reassess his presidency more charitably than voters did in 1980, and the national rites of a state funeral afford him a notable counter to the often testy relationship he had with Washington during his four years in the Oval Office.“President Carter was the governor of the great state of Georgia when I was born,” said Lyn Leverett, among the people who waited in below-freezing weather Wednesday. “So he’s been around my, you know, my whole entire being. And I just want to pay my respects to a decent person.”Some visitors fondly recalled personal connections to Carter's 1976 campaign, when his family, close friends and other supporters from Georgia formed the “Peanut Brigade” to fan out across Iowa, New Hampshire and other key primary states and help Carter surprise the Washington establishment by winning the Democratic nomination.“I’m originally from Nashua, New Hampshire, and when I was a child, Jimmy Carter slept at my house,” said Susan Prolman. “He had just won the Iowa caucuses and he was in New Hampshire campaigning for the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire presidential primary. And I created this little poster for him, and he very kindly signed it.”Margaret Fitzpatrick, of Kensington, Maryland, recalled a family friend who had attended the Naval Academy with Carter in the 1940s and later hosted him as a presidential candidate. But she and others said what most drew them to the Capitol was what they remember of Carter once he left office — and the distinctions they see between Carter and Trump.“The contrast is amazing,” Fitzpatrick said, as she noted the juxtaposition of Carter's funeral with the obvious preparations around Washington for Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration. “I'm here to respect somebody who has built a reputation on honesty, character and integrity. President Carter was a decent, kind, genuine and gentle person.”Kim James, also a Maryland resident, said she had yet to start grade school when Carter was elected and thinks of him more as the white-haired former president who fought disease and advocated for democracy in the developing world and built homes for Habitat for Humanity in the U.S. and abroad.“He cared about other people,” she said, adding that political leaders today should work harder to replicate that example. “That selflessness — it always stood out.”Official ceremonies this week also have remembered Carter's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-carter-baptist-faith-93343181bb9fac49723470c7e10561d1">religious convictions</a>, long public service and decades of humanitarian work beyond what he accomplished in politics. Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-carter-funeral-lie-state-9200a643ca205719d94895c9a5deb36f">eulogized Carter a day earlier at the Capitol</a>, when his remains first arrived in the rotunda.Carter will remain at the Capitol until Thursday morning, when he is transported to Washington National Cathedral for a state funeral that begins at 10 a.m. Eastern. Biden, a longtime Carter ally,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-carter-funeral-joe-biden-eulogy-13716fdd8c52b4f2ba8c14824b3707b3">will deliver a eulogy</a>. Other living former presidents, including Trump, are expected to attend.After the funeral, the Boeing 747 that is Air Force One when a sitting president is aboard will carry Carter and his family back to Georgia. An invitation-only funeral will be held at Maranatha Baptist Church in tiny Plains, Georgia, where Carter&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-carter-plains-georgia-maranatha-sunday-school-a1a692079be175cf2e882176fc343344">taught Sunday School</a>&nbsp;for decades after leaving office.Carter will be buried next to his wife in a plot near the home they built before his first state Senate campaign in 1962 and where they lived out their lives with the exception of four years in the Georgia Governor's Mansion and four years in the White House.___ Associated Press journalist Jack Auresto contributed.

🎥President-elect Trump pays respects to Jimmy Carter in U.S. Capitol

SHERIDAN COUNTY —Investigators are working to confirm the cause of a house fire that left a family without a home in northwest Kansas.

Just before 12:30p.m. Wednesday,&nbsp;Sheridan County Communications received a 911 call reporting a fire in at a home in Selden, according to a media release from the Sheridan County Sheriff.

The Selden Fire Department determined the actual location of the fire to be a two-story single-family residence at 310 W. 5th Street. The home was occupied by a man who was asleep on the second floor at the time the fire began.&nbsp; He was able safely escape without injury.

Preliminary findings suggest it may have been caused by an electrical issue. The fire left the Eatherly family displaced due to extensive damage. 

Community members wishing to assist are encouraged to contribute monetary donations. Donations can be sent or dropped off at:

The Bank, 108 N. Kansas Avenue in Selden, Kansas Please make checks payable to The Bank, and include “Eatherly Family Fire Donation” in the memo line.

Additionally, the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office will release a follow-up information with clothing sizes and recommended toys for the children to assist further in meeting the family’s immediate needs.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1736377861980.png" alt="-Photo Sheridan County Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>-Photo Sheridan County Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>SHERIDAN COUNTY —Investigators are working to confirm the cause of a house fire that left a family without a home in northwest Kansas.Just before 12:30p.m. Wednesday,&nbsp;Sheridan County Communications received a 911 call reporting a fire in at a home in Selden, according to a media release from the Sheridan County Sheriff.The Selden Fire Department determined the actual location of the fire to be a two-story single-family residence at 310 W. 5th Street. The home was occupied by a man who was asleep on the second floor at the time the fire began.&nbsp; He was able safely escape without injury.Preliminary findings suggest it may have been caused by an electrical issue. The fire left the Eatherly family displaced due to extensive damage. Community members wishing to assist are encouraged to contribute monetary donations. Donations can be sent or dropped off at:The Bank, 108 N. Kansas Avenue in Selden, Kansas Please make checks payable to The Bank, and include “Eatherly Family Fire Donation” in the memo line.Additionally, the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office will release a follow-up information with clothing sizes and recommended toys for the children to assist further in meeting the family’s immediate needs.

NW Kansas family displaced after house fire

WASHINGTON —United States Capitol Police officers prevented a man from bringing a machete and three knives past a screening checkpoint in the Capitol Visitor Center.

Just after 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, during security screening at the CVC’s north doors, USCP officers spotted a machete in a bag, which was going through the x-ray machine. Officers stopped the machine and searched the bag, which contained a machete and three knives.&nbsp;

“Our officers know they cannot let their guard down for one second,” said U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger. “It is this constant focus and attention to detail that helps keep this campus safe.”

44-year-old Mel J. Horne, of Washington, D.C., was arrested for multiple counts of Carrying a Dangerous Weapon.&nbsp;

Security screening was temporarily stopped at the north side of the Capitol Visitor Center, while the USCP investigated, but the checkpoint was reopened approximately an hour later. Public viewing for the lying in state was not stopped and will continue throughout the night, into Thursday morning.&nbsp;

Horne will be interviewed by USCP investigators to determine his motive. At this time there is no on-going threat towards the Congress, the U.S. Capitol, or the public.

WASHINGTON —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after an incident Wednesday in Washington.

Just after 2:00 p.m., U.S. Capitol Police officers stopped and arrested a man who tried to get a machete into the Capitol Visitor Center, according to a media release.

Three knives were also found in the bag, along with the machete. Security screening was temporarily stopped at the north side of the Capitol Visitor Center while police investigated.

The man is being held on multiple requested charges of Carrying a Dangerous Weapon. Check the Post for more information once it is available.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730837573908.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON —United States Capitol Police officers prevented a man from bringing a machete and three knives past a screening checkpoint in the Capitol Visitor Center.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1736381404606.png" alt="Photo U.S. Capitol Police" />
 <figcaption>Photo U.S. Capitol Police</figcaption>
 </figure>Just after 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, during security screening at the CVC’s north doors, USCP officers spotted a machete in a bag, which was going through the x-ray machine. Officers stopped the machine and searched the bag, which contained a machete and three knives.&nbsp;“Our officers know they cannot let their guard down for one second,” said U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger. “It is this constant focus and attention to detail that helps keep this campus safe.”44-year-old Mel J. Horne, of Washington, D.C., was arrested for multiple counts of Carrying a Dangerous Weapon.&nbsp;Security screening was temporarily stopped at the north side of the Capitol Visitor Center, while the USCP investigated, but the checkpoint was reopened approximately an hour later. Public viewing for the lying in state was not stopped and will continue throughout the night, into Thursday morning.&nbsp;Horne will be interviewed by USCP investigators to determine his motive. At this time there is no on-going threat towards the Congress, the U.S. Capitol, or the public.-----------WASHINGTON —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after an incident Wednesday in Washington.Just after 2:00 p.m., U.S. Capitol Police officers stopped and arrested a man who tried to get a machete into the Capitol Visitor Center, according to a media release.Three knives were also found in the bag, along with the machete. Security screening was temporarily stopped at the north side of the Capitol Visitor Center while police investigated.The man is being held on multiple requested charges of Carrying a Dangerous Weapon. Check the Post for more information once it is available.

Police: Man with Machete Attempted to Enter U.S. Capitol 

Despite voicing opposition to abortion, most members of the Rolla City Council worried the ordinance would do little besides inspire costly litigation

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

Less than a month after a state constitutional amendment legalizing abortion went into effect, a national movement to establish pockets of resistance is dividing one Missouri town.

Rolla, a town of about 20,000 people that sits 100 miles southwest of St. Louis, is being courted by<a href="https://sanctuarycitiesfortheunborn.org/" target="_blank">&nbsp;Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn</a>, an anti-abortion activist group out of Texas. If approved by the city council, it would be the first municipality in Missouri to adopt the title.&nbsp;

But during a public hearing Monday night, council members expressed concerns about adopting the ordinance, which uses a 150-year-old federal law to give local citizens the ability to sue any person or entity who provides abortion medication. The concern is it would do little besides put the town at the center of costly litigation and negative national press.

“Why are we doing this?” Rolla Mayor Louis Magdits IV asked during&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X33Di5KfsRU" target="_blank">Monday’s meeting.&nbsp;</a>“What is out to be accomplished?”

Rolla is home to one of Missouri’s six remaining Planned Parenthood clinics. The rest are located in and around Democrat-leaning cities Columbia, Kansas City and St. Louis.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.warrencountyrecord.com/stories/wright-city-official-wont-back-local-push-to-ban-abortion,72627" target="_blank">Wright City,&nbsp;</a>a town of about 5,000 people just off Interstate 70, west of St. Louis, also considered becoming a sanctuary city for the unborn in 2023 but never made it official.&nbsp;

Missouri’s legal landscape around abortion has changed drastically since then.&nbsp;

Amendment 3, which was&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/11/05/missouri-voters-overturn-states-near-total-abortion-ban/">narrowly approved by voters in November,</a>&nbsp;made unconstitutional the state’s trigger law, which in June 2022 outlawed all abortions in the state, with exceptions only for medical emergencies.&nbsp;

Under Amendment 3, Missourians have a constitutional right to reproductive health care, including abortion up until the point of fetal viability.&nbsp;

Abortions have not yet re-started in Missouri, though. Planned Parenthood is currently suing the state in an effort to take down its existing laws regulating abortion that they say make it impossible for clinics to offer the procedure.

As the fight over Amendment 3 plays out in court, anti-abortion advocates hope to wage a separate campaign at the local level. And Rolla was their first stop.&nbsp;

Rolla City Councilman Joshua Vroman, who filed the “sanctuary city” ordinance, said it&nbsp;doesn’t question the validity of Amendment 3, but rather makes note of an 1873 federal law on the books that bans mailing obscene material, including for the use of abortion.&nbsp;

He worked on the latest draft of the ordinance with Brian Westbrook, with St. Louis-based Coalition Life, and Mark Lee Dickson, founder of Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn.

<a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title18-section1461&amp;num=0&amp;edition=prelim" target="_blank">The Comstock Act&nbsp;</a>outlaws the mailing of “obscene or crime-inciting” materials, including&nbsp;“every article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion, or for any indecent or immoral use.”

A number of Missouri elected officials,<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/11/06/missouri-abortion-access-planned-parenthood-lawsuit-amendment-3/">&nbsp;including U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/MarkMaxwellTV/status/1853542335172546707" target="_blank">Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey,</a>&nbsp;have called on President Joe Biden to enforce the Comstock Act in regards to medication abortion. The Biden administration has refused.&nbsp;

A renewed push for enforcement is expected when Donald Trump takes office again later this month. Trump’s prior administration did not enforce the law.

“We’re pointing to the Comstock Act saying ‘here’s the law, you have to work within the confines of this law, and here is the enforcement mechanism,’” Vroman said.&nbsp;

Magdits asked who would enforce the Rolla ordinance.&nbsp;

“The citizens will enforce,”&nbsp;Vroman said, drawing several outbursts of laughter from the crowd followed by a call for decorum.

Dickson, in an interview with The Independent, said law enforcement could not apply the ordinance, nor could a woman who receives and takes the medication be found liable under this ordinance.&nbsp;

It would rely solely on citizens suing any person or organization who provides abortion medication.&nbsp;

For example, he said, if an organization mailed abortion medication to a Rolla teenager, her parents could then sue the entity that mailed the medication.&nbsp;

And if Planned Parenthood again began prescribing drugs for medication abortions, an individual could sue Planned Parenthood.&nbsp;

The FDA has approved two medications —&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/postmarket-drug-safety-information-patients-and-providers/information-about-mifepristone-medical-termination-pregnancy-through-ten-weeks-gestation" target="_blank">mifepristone and misoprostol&nbsp;</a>— for use in the first 10 weeks or pregnancy. The availability of both are under threat under the Comstock Act. Abortions performed after 10 weeks are done surgically.&nbsp;

In the six months after the Dobbs decision, the number of&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/03/25/more-than-26000-self-managed-abortions-may-have-occurred-post-dobbs-study-shows/">self-managed medication abortions rose by more than 26,000</a>&nbsp;across the U.S. according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2024.4266?utm_campaign=articlePDF%26utm_medium=articlePDFlink%26utm_source=articlePDF%26utm_content=jama.2024.4266" target="_blank">study</a>&nbsp;published in JAMA, the American Medical Association’s journal. The medication is mailed everywhere in the U.S., including Missouri.

Vroman&nbsp;said the ordinance would only apply to elective abortions, not medically-necessary abortions.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The ACLU of Missouri disagrees, saying in a written statement that the ordinance would also leave hospitals and providers vulnerable to lawsuits, including when treating miscarriages, which are medically documented as abortions and are often treated using mifepristone or misoprostol, both of which can be used to induce labor or stop hemorrhaging after childbirth.&nbsp;

At one point during Monday night’s meeting, council members called upon Dr. Jenny Pennycook, an OB-GYN in Rolla, to explain her interpretation of the ordinance. She said she was trained at a Catholic Jesuit institution and has never been an abortion provider.&nbsp;

Asked by council members if she believed the ordinance could create hurdles for miscarriage care, Pennycook said yes.

Prior to the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in June 2022, Pennycook said she never had issues prescribing mifepristone or misoprostol.

Since then, Pennycook said she’s had numerous patients turned away from pharmacies, leaving her needing to call to clear up that the medication was not for abortion so her patient could access it.

“When pharmacists are scared about the Comstock Act and enforcement and whether or not they can dispense these medications, it makes it harder for patients to get these medications,” she said. “Untreated missed miscarriages can result in hemorrhage or infection and women can lose their uterus and never get pregnant again or even die.”

In a town that touts itself as “the middle of everywhere,” residents are wary of what could turn their&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rollacity.org/info/cd/comp2024-Rolla%20Initial%20Economic%20Indicators.pdf" target="_blank">recent economic and population growth</a>&nbsp;against them.&nbsp;

“We did not simply pick Rolla out of a hat,” Westbrook told the council after multiple members accused him and Dickson of targeting the town. “We were invited, specifically for the things that you guys are discussing today.”

Councilman Matt Fridley said while he opposes abortion, he doesn’t think it’s the responsibility of Rolla to resolve a state issue.&nbsp;

“I understand from a philosophical or a moral compass where you’re coming from for this, but I don’t believe the city should fight for this,” he said. “ … It creates negative press. It creates problems where individuals may go, ‘I don’t want to live in this community.’”&nbsp;

A few hours earlier, the council received a letter from the ACLU of Missouri that Magdits said he interpreted to mean: “this is a shot across the bow, and we’re watching what you’re doing.”

The letter, signed by Tori Schafer, an attorney who helped steer Amendment 3 to victory, threatened “costly litigation.”&nbsp;

“Rejecting this ordinance would demonstrate the city’s commitment to upholding the law and prioritizing the health and wellbeing of its community,” Schafer wrote. “Attempting to impose such a measure would invite expensive legal challenges, divert valuable city resources, and, most importantly, cause unnecessary harm and delay to individuals in need of critical health care.”&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/09/01/texas-abortion-highways/" target="_blank">Some Texas towns have also expressed concerns over litigation costs</a>&nbsp;when considering similar ordinances. In Rolla, Dickson proposed a workaround: a pro-bono attorney.

Dickson said former solicitor general of Texas Jonathan Mitchel has agreed to represent the city of Rolla pro-bono if they are sued. But that’s only if the city agreed, and it would not cover the cost of additional legal representation.

Much of the council’s confusion also centered around who could bring a lawsuit and where it would be litigated.&nbsp;

Nathan Nickolaus, the city attorney, said he believes the ordinance would allow a citizen to sue anyone who they believe helped get abortion medication to a person in Rolla.

“We’re saying you can’t do this in a state that says you can do this in a country that says you can’t do this,” Nickolaus said.

&nbsp;That suit would likely end up in municipal court, he said, “which is woefully inadequate a place to hear this kind of case. No offense to anyone in the city — I used to be a municipal prosecutor — municipal court is kind of the McDonalds of the judicial system. It’s light kind of stuff.”&nbsp;

Magdits on multiple occasions said the issue wasn’t whether or not the council opposes abortion. It was about legal repercussions.

When he was called to the podium for public comments at the end of the meeting, Dickson said the issue at hand absolutely was abortion.

“This really is a pro-life issue,” he said. “ … Are we going to stand with the attorney general of Missouri, or are we going to stand with the ACLU?”

Magdits asked if the ordinance specified what kind of medication use would be subject to litigation.&nbsp;

“It’s about abortion-causing drugs that cause abortion,” Westbrook said.

“That’s a slick answer,” Magdits said, before concluding: “Go fight this somewhere else.”

Dickson has spent much of the past few years of his life driving across the south pitching Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn to receptive audiences. But on Monday, as he ventured a bit further north, he received an icy response.&nbsp;

It took him more than an hour to scrape the ice off his car. Then, he was greeted by a barrage of Rolla citizens who addressed him as a “carpetbagger.”&nbsp;

Despite an ice and winter storm passing through the town less than 24 hours earlier, the meeting happened as planned. Some residents during public comments took note of the small crowd, blaming the council for holding the meeting on the same day the public school district called off classes.

<a href="https://www.weareplannedparenthoodaction.org/a/pack-rolla-city-council" target="_blank">Planned Parenthood Great Rivers Action</a>&nbsp;called on citizens to show up wearing pink to protest the ordinance.&nbsp;

“These bills intimidate abortion seekers and their loved ones, and waste taxpayers’ time and money just to score political points,” the release said.

Rolla resident Britt Giger said she was used to the council’s “embarrassing, crazy, chaotic” meetings, but said Monday’s events could cause national embarrassment.&nbsp;

“I don’t want to scroll TikTok and see this meeting,” she said, adding: “Imagine how university growth could be impacted if women don’t want to come here anymore.”

She was followed by&nbsp;Jenny Cunningham&nbsp;who held her husband’s hand as she explained that they moved to Rolla about a year ago in the hopes of starting a family. When Amendment 3 passed, they breathed a sigh of relief. But news of this ordinance puts women back in the “crosshairs,” she said.

“This is a bounty hunter law,”&nbsp;Cunningham&nbsp;said. “This turns citizen against citizen during the most terrible and tragic times that people can face in their lives.”&nbsp;

Joe Dalton, founder and CEO of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/prcrolla" target="_blank">Pregnancy Resource Center of Rolla</a>, testified in support of the ordinance, emphasizing that Rolla citizens have access to abortion medication by mail despite the local Planned Parenthood currently being unable to prescribe it.&nbsp;

He was followed by a registered nurse who works in Rolla in a labor and delivery unit who also supported the ordinance.&nbsp;

“This would save the lives of countless children,” she implored the council.

Pamela Timson, a resident of Rolla for more than 40 years, urged the council to set the ordinance aside for good, sharing her own story of a medical condition that made childbirth dangerous.

She found it outrageous that Rolla would attempt to qualify a constitutional amendment so soon out of the gates.&nbsp;

“We haven’t even given our state government a chance to qualify it yet,” she said.

The council ultimately decided not to officially put the ordinance on the agenda for its next meeting. But Vroman still has the opportunity to bring his revised ordinance before the council during council comments later this month.

Vroman brought the initial ordinance forward in November before recruiting Westbrook and Dickson to help him write a revised draft.&nbsp;

At a Dec. 16 council meeting, Dominic Barceleau of the Missouri Attorney General’s office testified that state law does not prohibit Rolla from enacting such an ordinance.

“It’s the intent of the legislature to regulate abortion to the fullest extent of the law,” Barceleau said. “The attorney general’s position is that doesn’t prevent concurrent municipal regulation that’s also consistent with the legislature’s intent to regulate abortion.”

Dickson, who also drove up from Texas for that meeting, told council members the target of the ordinance was not just Planned Parenthood, but also pharmacies.&nbsp;

“So when cities do this, it really is doing as much as we possibly can to push back, to align ourselves with the attorney general’s office and to put tools in our tool belts to prevent this from getting out of hand, because what the Biden administration has done in a multitude of different categories is create mass chaos,” he said before devolving into a short rant about the border wall.

The mayor remained skeptical from the start.&nbsp;

“It’s not clear to me why Rolla needs to carry this banner when the problem, whether it’s the attorney general, the governor or whoever the hell else is up there, they need to sort this out,” Magdits said last month. “I don’t think it’s Rolla, Missouri’s responsibility to lead this charge.”

His opinion seemed to change little on Monday.&nbsp;

In fact, Dickson said after the meeting, Magdits “threatened to cut my nuts off” after he accused Magdits of siding with Planned Parenthood, even though Magdits during the meeting expressed frustration that Amendment 3 even made it on the ballot.

The Independent could not immediately reach the mayor for comment, but Rolla City Administrator John Butz confirmed he overheard part of the conversation.&nbsp;

“I was there and I heard it,” Butz said. “I think in the context the mayor wasn’t threatening him per se with that, I think it was in the side conversation the two of them were having. So I’ll leave it up to them to comment on the intent or the context of what was said.”

The next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 21. Dickson said he’s not yet decided if he will be there. But he’s also not giving up.

“When properly educated, the majority of council, I think, is going to want to pass this ordinance,” Dickson said. “… We’re going to keep on keeping on.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/1/1736336053027.png" alt=" Mark Lee Dickson, founder of Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn based in Texas, spoke before the Rolla City Council on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, about an ordinance that would outlaw the mailing of abortion medication in the Missouri town (Screenshot/City of Rolla Youtube page)." />
 <figcaption> Mark Lee Dickson, founder of Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn based in Texas, spoke before the Rolla City Council on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, about an ordinance that would outlaw the mailing of abortion medication in the Missouri town (Screenshot/City of Rolla Youtube page).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Despite voicing opposition to abortion, most members of the Rolla City Council worried the ordinance would do little besides inspire costly litigation</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>Less than a month after a state constitutional amendment legalizing abortion went into effect, a national movement to establish pockets of resistance is dividing one Missouri town.Rolla, a town of about 20,000 people that sits 100 miles southwest of St. Louis, is being courted by<a href="https://sanctuarycitiesfortheunborn.org/" target="_blank">&nbsp;Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn</a>, an anti-abortion activist group out of Texas. If approved by the city council, it would be the first municipality in Missouri to adopt the title.&nbsp;But during a public hearing Monday night, council members expressed concerns about adopting the ordinance, which uses a 150-year-old federal law to give local citizens the ability to sue any person or entity who provides abortion medication. The concern is it would do little besides put the town at the center of costly litigation and negative national press.“Why are we doing this?” Rolla Mayor Louis Magdits IV asked during&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X33Di5KfsRU" target="_blank">Monday’s meeting.&nbsp;</a>“What is out to be accomplished?”Rolla is home to one of Missouri’s six remaining Planned Parenthood clinics. The rest are located in and around Democrat-leaning cities Columbia, Kansas City and St. Louis.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.warrencountyrecord.com/stories/wright-city-official-wont-back-local-push-to-ban-abortion,72627" target="_blank">Wright City,&nbsp;</a>a town of about 5,000 people just off Interstate 70, west of St. Louis, also considered becoming a sanctuary city for the unborn in 2023 but never made it official.&nbsp;Missouri’s legal landscape around abortion has changed drastically since then.&nbsp;Amendment 3, which was&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/11/05/missouri-voters-overturn-states-near-total-abortion-ban/">narrowly approved by voters in November,</a>&nbsp;made unconstitutional the state’s trigger law, which in June 2022 outlawed all abortions in the state, with exceptions only for medical emergencies.&nbsp;Under Amendment 3, Missourians have a constitutional right to reproductive health care, including abortion up until the point of fetal viability.&nbsp;Abortions have not yet re-started in Missouri, though. Planned Parenthood is currently suing the state in an effort to take down its existing laws regulating abortion that they say make it impossible for clinics to offer the procedure.As the fight over Amendment 3 plays out in court, anti-abortion advocates hope to wage a separate campaign at the local level. And Rolla was their first stop.&nbsp;Rolla City Councilman Joshua Vroman, who filed the “sanctuary city” ordinance, said it&nbsp;doesn’t question the validity of Amendment 3, but rather makes note of an 1873 federal law on the books that bans mailing obscene material, including for the use of abortion.&nbsp;He worked on the latest draft of the ordinance with Brian Westbrook, with St. Louis-based Coalition Life, and Mark Lee Dickson, founder of Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn.<a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title18-section1461&amp;num=0&amp;edition=prelim" target="_blank">The Comstock Act&nbsp;</a>outlaws the mailing of “obscene or crime-inciting” materials, including&nbsp;“every article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion, or for any indecent or immoral use.”A number of Missouri elected officials,<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/11/06/missouri-abortion-access-planned-parenthood-lawsuit-amendment-3/">&nbsp;including U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/MarkMaxwellTV/status/1853542335172546707" target="_blank">Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey,</a>&nbsp;have called on President Joe Biden to enforce the Comstock Act in regards to medication abortion. The Biden administration has refused.&nbsp;A renewed push for enforcement is expected when Donald Trump takes office again later this month. Trump’s prior administration did not enforce the law.“We’re pointing to the Comstock Act saying ‘here’s the law, you have to work within the confines of this law, and here is the enforcement mechanism,’” Vroman said.&nbsp;Magdits asked who would enforce the Rolla ordinance.&nbsp;“The citizens will enforce,”&nbsp;Vroman said, drawing several outbursts of laughter from the crowd followed by a call for decorum.Dickson, in an interview with The Independent, said law enforcement could not apply the ordinance, nor could a woman who receives and takes the medication be found liable under this ordinance.&nbsp;It would rely solely on citizens suing any person or organization who provides abortion medication.&nbsp;For example, he said, if an organization mailed abortion medication to a Rolla teenager, her parents could then sue the entity that mailed the medication.&nbsp;And if Planned Parenthood again began prescribing drugs for medication abortions, an individual could sue Planned Parenthood.&nbsp;The FDA has approved two medications —&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/postmarket-drug-safety-information-patients-and-providers/information-about-mifepristone-medical-termination-pregnancy-through-ten-weeks-gestation" target="_blank">mifepristone and misoprostol&nbsp;</a>— for use in the first 10 weeks or pregnancy. The availability of both are under threat under the Comstock Act. Abortions performed after 10 weeks are done surgically.&nbsp;In the six months after the Dobbs decision, the number of&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/03/25/more-than-26000-self-managed-abortions-may-have-occurred-post-dobbs-study-shows/">self-managed medication abortions rose by more than 26,000</a>&nbsp;across the U.S. according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2024.4266?utm_campaign=articlePDF%26utm_medium=articlePDFlink%26utm_source=articlePDF%26utm_content=jama.2024.4266" target="_blank">study</a>&nbsp;published in JAMA, the American Medical Association’s journal. The medication is mailed everywhere in the U.S., including Missouri.Vroman&nbsp;said the ordinance would only apply to elective abortions, not medically-necessary abortions.&nbsp;&nbsp;The ACLU of Missouri disagrees, saying in a written statement that the ordinance would also leave hospitals and providers vulnerable to lawsuits, including when treating miscarriages, which are medically documented as abortions and are often treated using mifepristone or misoprostol, both of which can be used to induce labor or stop hemorrhaging after childbirth.&nbsp;At one point during Monday night’s meeting, council members called upon Dr. Jenny Pennycook, an OB-GYN in Rolla, to explain her interpretation of the ordinance. She said she was trained at a Catholic Jesuit institution and has never been an abortion provider.&nbsp;Asked by council members if she believed the ordinance could create hurdles for miscarriage care, Pennycook said yes.Prior to the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in June 2022, Pennycook said she never had issues prescribing mifepristone or misoprostol.Since then, Pennycook said she’s had numerous patients turned away from pharmacies, leaving her needing to call to clear up that the medication was not for abortion so her patient could access it.“When pharmacists are scared about the Comstock Act and enforcement and whether or not they can dispense these medications, it makes it harder for patients to get these medications,” she said. “Untreated missed miscarriages can result in hemorrhage or infection and women can lose their uterus and never get pregnant again or even die.”<h2>Threat of ‘costly litigation’</h2>In a town that touts itself as “the middle of everywhere,” residents are wary of what could turn their&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rollacity.org/info/cd/comp2024-Rolla%20Initial%20Economic%20Indicators.pdf" target="_blank">recent economic and population growth</a>&nbsp;against them.&nbsp;“We did not simply pick Rolla out of a hat,” Westbrook told the council after multiple members accused him and Dickson of targeting the town. “We were invited, specifically for the things that you guys are discussing today.”Councilman Matt Fridley said while he opposes abortion, he doesn’t think it’s the responsibility of Rolla to resolve a state issue.&nbsp;“I understand from a philosophical or a moral compass where you’re coming from for this, but I don’t believe the city should fight for this,” he said. “ … It creates negative press. It creates problems where individuals may go, ‘I don’t want to live in this community.’”&nbsp;A few hours earlier, the council received a letter from the ACLU of Missouri that Magdits said he interpreted to mean: “this is a shot across the bow, and we’re watching what you’re doing.”The letter, signed by Tori Schafer, an attorney who helped steer Amendment 3 to victory, threatened “costly litigation.”&nbsp;“Rejecting this ordinance would demonstrate the city’s commitment to upholding the law and prioritizing the health and wellbeing of its community,” Schafer wrote. “Attempting to impose such a measure would invite expensive legal challenges, divert valuable city resources, and, most importantly, cause unnecessary harm and delay to individuals in need of critical health care.”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/09/01/texas-abortion-highways/" target="_blank">Some Texas towns have also expressed concerns over litigation costs</a>&nbsp;when considering similar ordinances. In Rolla, Dickson proposed a workaround: a pro-bono attorney.Dickson said former solicitor general of Texas Jonathan Mitchel has agreed to represent the city of Rolla pro-bono if they are sued. But that’s only if the city agreed, and it would not cover the cost of additional legal representation.Much of the council’s confusion also centered around who could bring a lawsuit and where it would be litigated.&nbsp;Nathan Nickolaus, the city attorney, said he believes the ordinance would allow a citizen to sue anyone who they believe helped get abortion medication to a person in Rolla.“We’re saying you can’t do this in a state that says you can do this in a country that says you can’t do this,” Nickolaus said.&nbsp;That suit would likely end up in municipal court, he said, “which is woefully inadequate a place to hear this kind of case. No offense to anyone in the city — I used to be a municipal prosecutor — municipal court is kind of the McDonalds of the judicial system. It’s light kind of stuff.”&nbsp;Magdits on multiple occasions said the issue wasn’t whether or not the council opposes abortion. It was about legal repercussions.When he was called to the podium for public comments at the end of the meeting, Dickson said the issue at hand absolutely was abortion.“This really is a pro-life issue,” he said. “ … Are we going to stand with the attorney general of Missouri, or are we going to stand with the ACLU?”Magdits asked if the ordinance specified what kind of medication use would be subject to litigation.&nbsp;“It’s about abortion-causing drugs that cause abortion,” Westbrook said.“That’s a slick answer,” Magdits said, before concluding: “Go fight this somewhere else.”<h2>An icy greeting</h2>Dickson has spent much of the past few years of his life driving across the south pitching Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn to receptive audiences. But on Monday, as he ventured a bit further north, he received an icy response.&nbsp;It took him more than an hour to scrape the ice off his car. Then, he was greeted by a barrage of Rolla citizens who addressed him as a “carpetbagger.”&nbsp;Despite an ice and winter storm passing through the town less than 24 hours earlier, the meeting happened as planned. Some residents during public comments took note of the small crowd, blaming the council for holding the meeting on the same day the public school district called off classes.<a href="https://www.weareplannedparenthoodaction.org/a/pack-rolla-city-council" target="_blank">Planned Parenthood Great Rivers Action</a>&nbsp;called on citizens to show up wearing pink to protest the ordinance.&nbsp;“These bills intimidate abortion seekers and their loved ones, and waste taxpayers’ time and money just to score political points,” the release said.Rolla resident Britt Giger said she was used to the council’s “embarrassing, crazy, chaotic” meetings, but said Monday’s events could cause national embarrassment.&nbsp;“I don’t want to scroll TikTok and see this meeting,” she said, adding: “Imagine how university growth could be impacted if women don’t want to come here anymore.”She was followed by&nbsp;Jenny Cunningham&nbsp;who held her husband’s hand as she explained that they moved to Rolla about a year ago in the hopes of starting a family. When Amendment 3 passed, they breathed a sigh of relief. But news of this ordinance puts women back in the “crosshairs,” she said.“This is a bounty hunter law,”&nbsp;Cunningham&nbsp;said. “This turns citizen against citizen during the most terrible and tragic times that people can face in their lives.”&nbsp;Joe Dalton, founder and CEO of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/prcrolla" target="_blank">Pregnancy Resource Center of Rolla</a>, testified in support of the ordinance, emphasizing that Rolla citizens have access to abortion medication by mail despite the local Planned Parenthood currently being unable to prescribe it.&nbsp;He was followed by a registered nurse who works in Rolla in a labor and delivery unit who also supported the ordinance.&nbsp;“This would save the lives of countless children,” she implored the council.Pamela Timson, a resident of Rolla for more than 40 years, urged the council to set the ordinance aside for good, sharing her own story of a medical condition that made childbirth dangerous.She found it outrageous that Rolla would attempt to qualify a constitutional amendment so soon out of the gates.&nbsp;“We haven’t even given our state government a chance to qualify it yet,” she said.<h2>Vote stalled for now</h2>The council ultimately decided not to officially put the ordinance on the agenda for its next meeting. But Vroman still has the opportunity to bring his revised ordinance before the council during council comments later this month.Vroman brought the initial ordinance forward in November before recruiting Westbrook and Dickson to help him write a revised draft.&nbsp;At a Dec. 16 council meeting, Dominic Barceleau of the Missouri Attorney General’s office testified that state law does not prohibit Rolla from enacting such an ordinance.“It’s the intent of the legislature to regulate abortion to the fullest extent of the law,” Barceleau said. “The attorney general’s position is that doesn’t prevent concurrent municipal regulation that’s also consistent with the legislature’s intent to regulate abortion.”Dickson, who also drove up from Texas for that meeting, told council members the target of the ordinance was not just Planned Parenthood, but also pharmacies.&nbsp;“So when cities do this, it really is doing as much as we possibly can to push back, to align ourselves with the attorney general’s office and to put tools in our tool belts to prevent this from getting out of hand, because what the Biden administration has done in a multitude of different categories is create mass chaos,” he said before devolving into a short rant about the border wall.The mayor remained skeptical from the start.&nbsp;“It’s not clear to me why Rolla needs to carry this banner when the problem, whether it’s the attorney general, the governor or whoever the hell else is up there, they need to sort this out,” Magdits said last month. “I don’t think it’s Rolla, Missouri’s responsibility to lead this charge.”His opinion seemed to change little on Monday.&nbsp;In fact, Dickson said after the meeting, Magdits “threatened to cut my nuts off” after he accused Magdits of siding with Planned Parenthood, even though Magdits during the meeting expressed frustration that Amendment 3 even made it on the ballot.The Independent could not immediately reach the mayor for comment, but Rolla City Administrator John Butz confirmed he overheard part of the conversation.&nbsp;“I was there and I heard it,” Butz said. “I think in the context the mayor wasn’t threatening him per se with that, I think it was in the side conversation the two of them were having. So I’ll leave it up to them to comment on the intent or the context of what was said.”The next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 21. Dickson said he’s not yet decided if he will be there. But he’s also not giving up.“When properly educated, the majority of council, I think, is going to want to pass this ordinance,” Dickson said. “… We’re going to keep on keeping on.”

Missouri town rejects initial anti-abortion push to become ‘sanctuary city for the unborn’

NEW YORK (AP) — Lenders will no longer be able to consider unpaid medical bills as a credit history factor when they evaluate potential borrowers in the U.S. for mortgages, car loans or business loans, according to a rule the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-harris-medical-debt-credit-reports-d914b690602a14348d7d25508fa8f890">Consumer Financial Protection Bureau</a>&nbsp;finalized Tuesday.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/medical-debt-credit-report-biden-ff69ce483467062d94f083116e4de8cc">Removing medical debts from consumer credit reports</a>&nbsp;is expected to increase the credit scores of millions of families by an average of 20 points, the bureau said. The CFPB says its research showed that outstanding health care claims are a poor predictor of someone’s ability to repay a loan&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/medical-debt-forgiveness-majorities-favor-poll-cc46b73d93dbf883ce9f9f2e07bbfcaf">yet often are used to deny mortgage applications</a>.

The three national credit reporting agencies — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — said last year that they were removing medical collections under $500 from U.S. consumer credit reports. The government agency’s new rule goes further by banning all outstanding medical bills from appearing on credit reports and prohibiting lenders from using the information.

The rule is set to take effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, although President-elect Donald Trump has proposed sweeping changes and limits to the CFPB’s regulatory reach.

The CFPB estimates the rule will remove $49 million in medical debt from the credit reports of 15 million Americans. According to the agency, one in five Americans have at least one medical debt collection account on their credit reports, and over half of collection entries on credit reports are for medical debts.

The problem disproportionately affects people of color, the CFPB has found: 28% of Black people and 22% of Latino people in the U.S. carry medical debt versus 17% of white people. While the national credit reporting agencies voluntarily agreed to disregard medical debt below $500, many consumers have amounts much higher than this threshold on their reports.

The CFPB says its action will give millions of consumers increased access to loans and lead to the approval of approximately 22,000 additional mortgages a year. Americans with outstanding medical bills may see their credit scores rise by an average of 20 points, according to the bureau.

The rule was also drafted to increase privacy protections and to help keep debt collectors from using the credit reporting system to coerce people into paying bills they don’t owe. The CFPB has found that consumers frequently receive inaccurate bills or are asked to pay bills that should have been covered by insurance or financial assistance programs.

What’s more, lenders will be barred from using information about medical devices, such as prosthetic limbs, to make them serve as collateral for a loan and subject to repossession, according to the CFPB’s announcement.

Nonprofits in the healthcare space are pleased.

“This decision is great news for everyday Americans,” said Carrie Joy Grimes, founder of personal finance organization WorkMoney. “Medical debt is not a reflection of being bad with money — any one of us can experience illness or injury. With this new rule, Americans will now be able to focus less on the strain of medical debt and more on getting back on their feet.”

Patricia Kelmar, health care campaigns director for the U.S. Public Interest Resource Group, said the rule would help “many financially responsible families who have accumulated medical debt from unpredictable health issues, high out-of-pocket costs, insurance claim denials and billing errors.”

What should you do after receiving an unexpectedly high medical bill?

While&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/surprise-medical-bills-handle-58dfe56afa490b582ddce491aa0ac3bc">high medical bills are common in the US</a>, including for individuals and households with insurance, there are ways to get relief.

First, determine whether you qualify for charity care. Federal law requires nonprofit hospitals to lower or write off bills for individuals depending on household income. To determine if you qualify, do an internet search for the hospital or health care provider along with the phrase “charity care” or “financial assistance policy.” The nonprofit organization Dollar For also provides&nbsp;<a href="https://dollarfor.org/how-we-help/" target="_blank">a simplified online tool</a>&nbsp;for patients.

Next, appeal under the provisions of the No Surprises Act, a federal law that says insurance companies must reasonably cover any out-of-network services related to emergency and some non-emergency medical care. If you’re being charged more than you’re used to or expect when you receive in-network services, that bill may be illegal.

Also: Always ask for an itemized bill. Medical billing is notoriously complicated and rife with errors. An itemized bill includes the billing codes of all care received. If something is off between these codes and the care provided, contesting your bill can yield changes.

Another approach — comparing the bill with insurance companies’ estimates of fair charges for services can also help. If the price you were charged is more than average, you may have your costs lowered. You could even take the provider to small claims court over the discrepancy - or let them know you have a case.

Finally, always compare your insurance company’s “explanation of benefits” to the bill. The hospital’s bill must match the explanation of costs that are covered and not covered. If it does not, you have another reason not to pay and to ask the provider to work with your insurance company further first.

Even after taking these steps, you can always appeal health claims with your insurance company if you believe there is any reason the bills should be covered entirely or more than the company initially decided. You may also contact your state insurance commissioner for support.

NEW YORK (AP) — Lenders will no longer be able to consider unpaid medical bills as a credit history factor when they evaluate potential borrowers in the U.S. for mortgages, car loans or business loans, according to a rule the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-harris-medical-debt-credit-reports-d914b690602a14348d7d25508fa8f890">Consumer Financial Protection Bureau</a>&nbsp;finalized Tuesday.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoeBiden</a> and I finalized a rule that will eliminate medical debt from your credit score. As someone who has spent my career fighting to protect consumers and lower medical bills, I know our historic rule will help more Americans save money, build wealth, and thrive.&mdash; Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) <a href="https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1876714422804127753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><a href="https://apnews.com/article/medical-debt-credit-report-biden-ff69ce483467062d94f083116e4de8cc">Removing medical debts from consumer credit reports</a>&nbsp;is expected to increase the credit scores of millions of families by an average of 20 points, the bureau said. The CFPB says its research showed that outstanding health care claims are a poor predictor of someone’s ability to repay a loan&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/medical-debt-forgiveness-majorities-favor-poll-cc46b73d93dbf883ce9f9f2e07bbfcaf">yet often are used to deny mortgage applications</a>.The three national credit reporting agencies — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — said last year that they were removing medical collections under $500 from U.S. consumer credit reports. The government agency’s new rule goes further by banning all outstanding medical bills from appearing on credit reports and prohibiting lenders from using the information.The rule is set to take effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, although President-elect Donald Trump has proposed sweeping changes and limits to the CFPB’s regulatory reach.Here’s what to know:<h2>How many people will this affect?</h2>The CFPB estimates the rule will remove $49 million in medical debt from the credit reports of 15 million Americans. According to the agency, one in five Americans have at least one medical debt collection account on their credit reports, and over half of collection entries on credit reports are for medical debts.The problem disproportionately affects people of color, the CFPB has found: 28% of Black people and 22% of Latino people in the U.S. carry medical debt versus 17% of white people. While the national credit reporting agencies voluntarily agreed to disregard medical debt below $500, many consumers have amounts much higher than this threshold on their reports.<h2>What will the impact be for consumers?</h2>The CFPB says its action will give millions of consumers increased access to loans and lead to the approval of approximately 22,000 additional mortgages a year. Americans with outstanding medical bills may see their credit scores rise by an average of 20 points, according to the bureau.The rule was also drafted to increase privacy protections and to help keep debt collectors from using the credit reporting system to coerce people into paying bills they don’t owe. The CFPB has found that consumers frequently receive inaccurate bills or are asked to pay bills that should have been covered by insurance or financial assistance programs.What’s more, lenders will be barred from using information about medical devices, such as prosthetic limbs, to make them serve as collateral for a loan and subject to repossession, according to the CFPB’s announcement.<h2>How are advocates responding?</h2>Nonprofits in the healthcare space are pleased.“This decision is great news for everyday Americans,” said Carrie Joy Grimes, founder of personal finance organization WorkMoney. “Medical debt is not a reflection of being bad with money — any one of us can experience illness or injury. With this new rule, Americans will now be able to focus less on the strain of medical debt and more on getting back on their feet.”Patricia Kelmar, health care campaigns director for the U.S. Public Interest Resource Group, said the rule would help “many financially responsible families who have accumulated medical debt from unpredictable health issues, high out-of-pocket costs, insurance claim denials and billing errors.”<h2>What should you do after receiving an unexpectedly high medical bill?</h2>While&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/surprise-medical-bills-handle-58dfe56afa490b582ddce491aa0ac3bc">high medical bills are common in the US</a>, including for individuals and households with insurance, there are ways to get relief.First, determine whether you qualify for charity care. Federal law requires nonprofit hospitals to lower or write off bills for individuals depending on household income. To determine if you qualify, do an internet search for the hospital or health care provider along with the phrase “charity care” or “financial assistance policy.” The nonprofit organization Dollar For also provides&nbsp;<a href="https://dollarfor.org/how-we-help/" target="_blank">a simplified online tool</a>&nbsp;for patients.Next, appeal under the provisions of the No Surprises Act, a federal law that says insurance companies must reasonably cover any out-of-network services related to emergency and some non-emergency medical care. If you’re being charged more than you’re used to or expect when you receive in-network services, that bill may be illegal.Also: Always ask for an itemized bill. Medical billing is notoriously complicated and rife with errors. An itemized bill includes the billing codes of all care received. If something is off between these codes and the care provided, contesting your bill can yield changes.Another approach — comparing the bill with insurance companies’ estimates of fair charges for services can also help. If the price you were charged is more than average, you may have your costs lowered. You could even take the provider to small claims court over the discrepancy - or let them know you have a case.Finally, always compare your insurance company’s “explanation of benefits” to the bill. The hospital’s bill must match the explanation of costs that are covered and not covered. If it does not, you have another reason not to pay and to ask the provider to work with your insurance company further first.Even after taking these steps, you can always appeal health claims with your insurance company if you believe there is any reason the bills should be covered entirely or more than the company initially decided. You may also contact your state insurance commissioner for support.