WASHINGTON (AP) — Thanks to a sudden $140 million cash infusion, officials in Broward County, Florida, recently broke ground on a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.broward.org/CCExpansion/pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">high-end hotel</a>&nbsp;that will have views of the Atlantic Ocean and an 11,000-square-foot spa.

In New York, Dutchess County pledged $12 million for renovations of a&nbsp;<a href="https://dutchesstourism.com/listingsv/dutchess-stadium" target="_blank">minor league baseball stadium</a>&nbsp;to meet requirements the New York Yankees set for their farm teams.

And in Massachusetts, lawmakers delivered $5 million to pay off debts of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.emkinstitute.org/" target="_blank">Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate</a>&nbsp;in Boston, a nonprofit established to honor the late senator that has struggled financially.

The three distinctly different outlays have one thing in common: Each is among the scores of projects that state and local governments across the United States are funding with federal coronavirus relief money despite having little to do with combating the pandemic, a review by The Associated Press has found.

The expenditures amount to a fraction of the $350 billion made available through last year’s&nbsp;<a href="https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/assistance-for-state-local-and-tribal-governments/state-and-local-fiscal-recovery-funds" target="_blank">American Rescue Plan</a>&nbsp;to help state and local governments weather the crisis. But they are examples of uses of the aid that are inconsistent with the rationale that Democrats offered for the record $1.9 trillion bill: The cash was desperately needed to save jobs, help those in distress, open schools and increase vaccinations.

Republicans are already balking at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-business-health-congress-e5b411a879b2becf3e342fea3b0df981">additional money for pandemic relief that President Joe Biden has requested,</a>&nbsp;and programs that seem far removed from ones that directly combat the virus will probably add to the resistance in the GOP.

“They need to give us an accounting,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who tried unsuccessfully to amend the Democrats’ bill last year to add more limits on how the money could be spent. “Show us how you’ve already spent the money Congress gave you,” he said, adding, “It’s hard to imagine how a four-star hotel is helping to solve the pain of COVID.”

Many of the projects identified by the AP echo pork-barrel spending disasters such as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fe1ef497194642dab18792e14a61e27a">Alaska’s $398 million “Bridge to Nowhere,”</a>&nbsp;which was canceled in 2007 after a public uproar.

But with permissive Treasury Department rules governing how the pandemic money can be spent, state and local governments face few limitations. New Jersey allocated $15 million for upgrades to sweeten the state’s bid to host the 2026 World Cup. In Woonsocket, Rhode Island, officials allocated $53,000 for a remodeling of City Hall.

“Outrageous” and “just nuts” is how Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., described some of the expenditures, which she said were an affront to responsible local governments.

“Our hospitals were overwhelmed because of the pandemic and somebody now has a hotel somewhere?” she added.

Included among the projects and expenditures identified by the AP:

—$400 million&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-prisons-montgomery-kay-ivey-8a7d30c43f4e61987051368a9604fda9">to build new prisons in Alabama</a>, accounting for nearly one-quarter of the total aid the state will receive through the program.

—tens of millions of dollars for tourism marketing campaigns in Puerto Rico ($70 million), Washington, D.C. ($8 million) and Tucson, Arizona ($2 million). The city of Alexandria, Virginia, also announced it would spend $120,000 to give its tourism website a makeover.

—$6.6 million to replace irrigation systems at two golf courses in Colorado Springs.

—$5 million approved by Birmingham, Alabama, to support the 2022 World Games. The event features niche sporting contests such as DanceSport, korfball and flying disc.

—$2.5 million to hire new parking enforcement officers in Washington, D.C.

—$2 million to help Pottawattamie County, Iowa, purchase a privately owned ski area.

—$1 million to pay off overdue child support in St. Louis. A city memo states that owing child support stops some people from looking for work because the overdue payments are garnished from paychecks; the program would “empower individuals” by paying down a portion.

—$300,000 to establish a museum in Worcester, Massachusetts, honoring Major Taylor, a famed Black bicycle rider from the turn of the 20th century known as the “Worcester Whirlwind” who died in 1932.

Liz Bourgeois, a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department, called the program a success that allowed state and local governments to “recover from financial distress” and “achieve their own strategies for restoring jobs and industries hit by the pandemic.”

“Ultimately local governments are accountable to their communities on their decisions on how best to use their funds,” Bourgeois said in a statement.

In Broward County, officials defended their planned 29-story, 800-room hotel, which will be owned by the county but operated by a private management group.

They also contest whether federal money is technically being used for the project. Broward County initially routed $140 million in federal coronavirus aid to the project, which ran against Treasury Department rules that generally bar spending the money on large capital projects.

To get around the prohibition, the county adopted a common workaround.

<a href="https://broward.legistar1.com/broward/meetings/2022/2/1096_A_County_Commission_22-02-22_Regular_Meeting_Agenda.pdf" target="_blank">The agenda from a Feb. 22 county board meeting</a>&nbsp;details how: In a back-to-back series of unopposed votes, commissioners clawed back the federal money they had given to the hotel. They then transferred it to the county’s general fund, describing it as a federal payment to cover lost tax revenue, which is an acceptable use. Then the cash was transferred from the general fund right back to the project.

County Administrator Monica Cepero insisted “no federal funds will be used to pay any of the cost of developing the Hotel Project.”

“The County has reviewed the Treasury guidance and modified its use of (the) funds,” she said in a statement.

Some lawmakers in Congress, however, are nonplussed.

“They are basically money laundering funding that is meant to help communities that are suffering,” said Spanberger, who called for more oversight.

Local officials in New York’s Dutchess County, home to the $12 million minor league stadium project, said in a statement that the expenditure was “completely and absolutely consistent” with Congress’ intent for the money.

“It’s ironic that this criticism emanates from the same congressional members who have brought back pork barrel earmarks,” said Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro.

The Edward Kennedy Institute did not respond to messages seeking comment on the $5 million in coronavirus aid received from Massachusetts. The institute operated at a $27 million loss between 2015 and 2019, according to tax filings from those years, the most recent that are publicly available.

Even in cases where local and state officials may have violated the spending rules, the sheer volume of money pumped out presents a challenge for government oversight offices that are often understaffed and poorly funded.

“The amount of money that went out was so massive and so far beyond anything that has ever been spent in our country before, that our capacity to audit every dollar spent is clearly stretched,” Romney said.

But groups that lobby on behalf of local governments in Washington say the spending rules were written permissively in order to give as much flexibility as possible.

“Counties should be able to determine what’s best for them,” said Mark Ritacco, director of government affairs for the National Association of Counties. “Their residents will decide whether that was appropriate or not at the ballot box.”

The new findings track closely with AP’s previous reporting, which found in October that states and large cities had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-states-cities-spend-federal-pandemic-funds-191dce8c75b0f5159691f0606d910d74">spent just a tiny fraction of their relief funding</a>&nbsp;six months after it was approved. That was despite their pleas for the emergency cash when Congress was still debating it.

Some school districts also had so much extra federal pandemic cash that they spent it on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-school-funding-sports-5b468b260ebd2593e53f03f9104d9bca">new sports stadiums, arenas and football turf.</a>&nbsp;In other instances, states used discretionary funding to further&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-education-coronavirus-pandemic-school-choice-efe85ad624d092b6eff700b635103a02">school choice initiatives</a>&nbsp;that they had failed to get through their legislatures.

Rich Delmar, the deputy inspector general for the Treasury Department, declined to say whether the office had any active investigations into uses of the state and local pot of money.

“All projects are potentially subject to audit and investigation,” Delmar said in an email, adding that “we are actively engaging in oversight.”

Biden, meanwhile, has said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-congress-7bba01ec15bdc406c793bc835f717cd1">his administration urgently needs more money</a>&nbsp;to pay for things that are directly related to the pandemic.

Without it, the White House says, the administration won’t be able to replenish depleted stockpiles of vaccines and therapeutics. Republican say winning their support will hinge on it being paid for with money that was already appropriated.

A deal that leaders struck this month would have been paid for by recouping some aid intended for states. But the agreement fell apart after several governors objected and rank-and-file House Democrats rebelled.

At least one Democrat sought to raise campaign cash off her opposition to clawing local money back.

“We had a bit of a fight when they tried to take money away from Michigan,” reads a fundraising email from Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell. “I was not going to let the Midwest get harmed. We won.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1638285832314.png" alt="“Outrageous” and “just nuts” is how Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., described some of the expenditures, which she said were an affront to responsible local governments." />
 <figcaption>“Outrageous” and “just nuts” is how Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., described some of the expenditures, which she said were an affront to responsible local governments.</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Thanks to a sudden $140 million cash infusion, officials in Broward County, Florida, recently broke ground on a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.broward.org/CCExpansion/pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">high-end hotel</a>&nbsp;that will have views of the Atlantic Ocean and an 11,000-square-foot spa.In New York, Dutchess County pledged $12 million for renovations of a&nbsp;<a href="https://dutchesstourism.com/listingsv/dutchess-stadium" target="_blank">minor league baseball stadium</a>&nbsp;to meet requirements the New York Yankees set for their farm teams.And in Massachusetts, lawmakers delivered $5 million to pay off debts of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.emkinstitute.org/" target="_blank">Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate</a>&nbsp;in Boston, a nonprofit established to honor the late senator that has struggled financially.The three distinctly different outlays have one thing in common: Each is among the scores of projects that state and local governments across the United States are funding with federal coronavirus relief money despite having little to do with combating the pandemic, a review by The Associated Press has found.The expenditures amount to a fraction of the $350 billion made available through last year’s&nbsp;<a href="https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/assistance-for-state-local-and-tribal-governments/state-and-local-fiscal-recovery-funds" target="_blank">American Rescue Plan</a>&nbsp;to help state and local governments weather the crisis. But they are examples of uses of the aid that are inconsistent with the rationale that Democrats offered for the record $1.9 trillion bill: The cash was desperately needed to save jobs, help those in distress, open schools and increase vaccinations.Republicans are already balking at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-business-health-congress-e5b411a879b2becf3e342fea3b0df981">additional money for pandemic relief that President Joe Biden has requested,</a>&nbsp;and programs that seem far removed from ones that directly combat the virus will probably add to the resistance in the GOP.“They need to give us an accounting,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who tried unsuccessfully to amend the Democrats’ bill last year to add more limits on how the money could be spent. “Show us how you’ve already spent the money Congress gave you,” he said, adding, “It’s hard to imagine how a four-star hotel is helping to solve the pain of COVID.”Many of the projects identified by the AP echo pork-barrel spending disasters such as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fe1ef497194642dab18792e14a61e27a">Alaska’s $398 million “Bridge to Nowhere,”</a>&nbsp;which was canceled in 2007 after a public uproar.But with permissive Treasury Department rules governing how the pandemic money can be spent, state and local governments face few limitations. New Jersey allocated $15 million for upgrades to sweeten the state’s bid to host the 2026 World Cup. In Woonsocket, Rhode Island, officials allocated $53,000 for a remodeling of City Hall.“Outrageous” and “just nuts” is how Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., described some of the expenditures, which she said were an affront to responsible local governments.“Our hospitals were overwhelmed because of the pandemic and somebody now has a hotel somewhere?” she added.Included among the projects and expenditures identified by the AP:—$400 million&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-prisons-montgomery-kay-ivey-8a7d30c43f4e61987051368a9604fda9">to build new prisons in Alabama</a>, accounting for nearly one-quarter of the total aid the state will receive through the program.—tens of millions of dollars for tourism marketing campaigns in Puerto Rico ($70 million), Washington, D.C. ($8 million) and Tucson, Arizona ($2 million). The city of Alexandria, Virginia, also announced it would spend $120,000 to give its tourism website a makeover.—$6.6 million to replace irrigation systems at two golf courses in Colorado Springs.—$5 million approved by Birmingham, Alabama, to support the 2022 World Games. The event features niche sporting contests such as DanceSport, korfball and flying disc.—$2.5 million to hire new parking enforcement officers in Washington, D.C.—$2 million to help Pottawattamie County, Iowa, purchase a privately owned ski area.—$1 million to pay off overdue child support in St. Louis. A city memo states that owing child support stops some people from looking for work because the overdue payments are garnished from paychecks; the program would “empower individuals” by paying down a portion.—$300,000 to establish a museum in Worcester, Massachusetts, honoring Major Taylor, a famed Black bicycle rider from the turn of the 20th century known as the “Worcester Whirlwind” who died in 1932.Liz Bourgeois, a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department, called the program a success that allowed state and local governments to “recover from financial distress” and “achieve their own strategies for restoring jobs and industries hit by the pandemic.”“Ultimately local governments are accountable to their communities on their decisions on how best to use their funds,” Bourgeois said in a statement.In Broward County, officials defended their planned 29-story, 800-room hotel, which will be owned by the county but operated by a private management group.They also contest whether federal money is technically being used for the project. Broward County initially routed $140 million in federal coronavirus aid to the project, which ran against Treasury Department rules that generally bar spending the money on large capital projects.To get around the prohibition, the county adopted a common workaround.<a href="https://broward.legistar1.com/broward/meetings/2022/2/1096_A_County_Commission_22-02-22_Regular_Meeting_Agenda.pdf" target="_blank">The agenda from a Feb. 22 county board meeting</a>&nbsp;details how: In a back-to-back series of unopposed votes, commissioners clawed back the federal money they had given to the hotel. They then transferred it to the county’s general fund, describing it as a federal payment to cover lost tax revenue, which is an acceptable use. Then the cash was transferred from the general fund right back to the project.County Administrator Monica Cepero insisted “no federal funds will be used to pay any of the cost of developing the Hotel Project.”“The County has reviewed the Treasury guidance and modified its use of (the) funds,” she said in a statement.Some lawmakers in Congress, however, are nonplussed.“They are basically money laundering funding that is meant to help communities that are suffering,” said Spanberger, who called for more oversight.Local officials in New York’s Dutchess County, home to the $12 million minor league stadium project, said in a statement that the expenditure was “completely and absolutely consistent” with Congress’ intent for the money.“It’s ironic that this criticism emanates from the same congressional members who have brought back pork barrel earmarks,” said Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro.The Edward Kennedy Institute did not respond to messages seeking comment on the $5 million in coronavirus aid received from Massachusetts. The institute operated at a $27 million loss between 2015 and 2019, according to tax filings from those years, the most recent that are publicly available.Even in cases where local and state officials may have violated the spending rules, the sheer volume of money pumped out presents a challenge for government oversight offices that are often understaffed and poorly funded.“The amount of money that went out was so massive and so far beyond anything that has ever been spent in our country before, that our capacity to audit every dollar spent is clearly stretched,” Romney said.But groups that lobby on behalf of local governments in Washington say the spending rules were written permissively in order to give as much flexibility as possible.“Counties should be able to determine what’s best for them,” said Mark Ritacco, director of government affairs for the National Association of Counties. “Their residents will decide whether that was appropriate or not at the ballot box.”The new findings track closely with AP’s previous reporting, which found in October that states and large cities had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-states-cities-spend-federal-pandemic-funds-191dce8c75b0f5159691f0606d910d74">spent just a tiny fraction of their relief funding</a>&nbsp;six months after it was approved. That was despite their pleas for the emergency cash when Congress was still debating it.Some school districts also had so much extra federal pandemic cash that they spent it on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-school-funding-sports-5b468b260ebd2593e53f03f9104d9bca">new sports stadiums, arenas and football turf.</a>&nbsp;In other instances, states used discretionary funding to further&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-education-coronavirus-pandemic-school-choice-efe85ad624d092b6eff700b635103a02">school choice initiatives</a>&nbsp;that they had failed to get through their legislatures.Rich Delmar, the deputy inspector general for the Treasury Department, declined to say whether the office had any active investigations into uses of the state and local pot of money.“All projects are potentially subject to audit and investigation,” Delmar said in an email, adding that “we are actively engaging in oversight.”Biden, meanwhile, has said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-congress-7bba01ec15bdc406c793bc835f717cd1">his administration urgently needs more money</a>&nbsp;to pay for things that are directly related to the pandemic.Without it, the White House says, the administration won’t be able to replenish depleted stockpiles of vaccines and therapeutics. Republican say winning their support will hinge on it being paid for with money that was already appropriated.A deal that leaders struck this month would have been paid for by recouping some aid intended for states. But the agreement fell apart after several governors objected and rank-and-file House Democrats rebelled.At least one Democrat sought to raise campaign cash off her opposition to clawing local money back.“We had a bit of a fight when they tried to take money away from Michigan,” reads a fundraising email from Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell. “I was not going to let the Midwest get harmed. We won.”

Pandemic relief spending had little to do with combating pandemic

Junction City Police Chief John Lamb is confirming that there was a "large melee" in the Freshman Success Academy cafeteria area on Thursday. Police estimate that it involved approximately 13 or 14 students. He stated that working with school officials they have identified all of the students and have taken&nbsp; the necessary reports.

Lamb said there will be a security meeting on Monday to talk to District officials about the security steps police will take with prosecution and moving forward with "taking the necessary course of an action."

In order to stop the violence Lamb noted that he felt the tone had to be set at the beginning of the year. "Moving forward I really want to set a strong tone next year when we go in with our school resource officers, letting them know that this type of behavior is not tolerated. It is criminal. " Lamb added working with school officials, police will take necessary actions "to hold people accountable for this type of behavior." Lamb added law enforcement and the school need to set a strong tone at the beginning of the school year.

No arrests have been made. Lamb said he had been informed that school officials wanted to charge the students with Disorderly Conduct instead of Battery because it was just a large fight. " But I want to revisit that and look at what else we can possibly do. "&nbsp;

USD 475 Superintendent Dr. Reginald Eggleston confirmed for JC Post that there was a fight between some students on Thursday in the&nbsp; freshman cafeteria at the high school and District officials are in the process of investigating and identifying everyone who was involved. "At this present moment disciplinary action will be determined. We will meet Monday in order to finalize any actions that need to be made."

Eggleston confirmed that right now officials are uncertain what caused the fight. "Don't know all of the details of that at this present moment, don't know if there was any disagreements or if something happened outside of school. At present we'll still need some time to kind of unravel all the pieces to it."

The Superintendent confirmed that safety is always the number one priority for the school district and that they do everything to try and respond appropriately to information&nbsp; that they have received, or&nbsp; anything on which they need to take action "We're going to do everything in our power to make sure we create a culture and climate in the building that is conducive to learning so that everyone involved can be productive in the environment."&nbsp;

USD 475 has issued a text statement that District leadership was aware of fights that took place at JCHS this week. They noted that they take these incidents seriously and are working with local law&nbsp; enforcement in addressing this situation, and will take the necessary&nbsp; steps to reduce incidents in the future.&nbsp; The message read that it's important for&nbsp; the public to know that the safety and well-being of the District's students and staff is our top priority. We want all kids to learn in a safe environment and feel safe coming to school.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/2/1644346880791.jpeg" alt="Junction City High School" />
 <figcaption>Junction City High School</figcaption>
 </figure>By Dewey TerrillJC PostJunction City Police Chief John Lamb is confirming that there was a "large melee" in the Freshman Success Academy cafeteria area on Thursday. Police estimate that it involved approximately 13 or 14 students. He stated that working with school officials they have identified all of the students and have taken&nbsp; the necessary reports.Lamb said there will be a security meeting on Monday to talk to District officials about the security steps police will take with prosecution and moving forward with "taking the necessary course of an action."In order to stop the violence Lamb noted that he felt the tone had to be set at the beginning of the year. "Moving forward I really want to set a strong tone next year when we go in with our school resource officers, letting them know that this type of behavior is not tolerated. It is criminal. " Lamb added working with school officials, police will take necessary actions "to hold people accountable for this type of behavior." Lamb added law enforcement and the school need to set a strong tone at the beginning of the school year.No arrests have been made. Lamb said he had been informed that school officials wanted to charge the students with Disorderly Conduct instead of Battery because it was just a large fight. " But I want to revisit that and look at what else we can possibly do. "&nbsp;USD 475 Superintendent Dr. Reginald Eggleston confirmed for JC Post that there was a fight between some students on Thursday in the&nbsp; freshman cafeteria at the high school and District officials are in the process of investigating and identifying everyone who was involved. "At this present moment disciplinary action will be determined. We will meet Monday in order to finalize any actions that need to be made."Eggleston confirmed that right now officials are uncertain what caused the fight. "Don't know all of the details of that at this present moment, don't know if there was any disagreements or if something happened outside of school. At present we'll still need some time to kind of unravel all the pieces to it."The Superintendent confirmed that safety is always the number one priority for the school district and that they do everything to try and respond appropriately to information&nbsp; that they have received, or&nbsp; anything on which they need to take action "We're going to do everything in our power to make sure we create a culture and climate in the building that is conducive to learning so that everyone involved can be productive in the environment."&nbsp;USD 475 has issued a text statement that District leadership was aware of fights that took place at JCHS this week. They noted that they take these incidents seriously and are working with local law&nbsp; enforcement in addressing this situation, and will take the necessary&nbsp; steps to reduce incidents in the future.&nbsp; The message read that it's important for&nbsp; the public to know that the safety and well-being of the District's students and staff is our top priority. We want all kids to learn in a safe environment and feel safe coming to school.

Police investigating cafeteria fight at Kan. high school

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — President Joe Biden delivered a forceful and highly personal condemnation of Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Saturday, summoning a call for liberal democracy and a durable resolve among Western nations in the face of a brutal autocrat.

As he capped a four-day trip to Europe, a blend of emotive scenes with refugees and standing among other world leaders in grand settings, Biden said of Putin: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”

It was a dramatic escalation in rhetoric — Biden had earlier called Putin a “butcher” — that the White House found itself quickly walking back. Before Biden could even board Air Force One to begin the flight back to Washington, aides were clarifying that he wasn’t calling for an immediate change in government in Moscow.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov quickly denounced Biden, saying “it’s not up to the president of the U.S. and not up to the Americans to decide who will remain in power in Russia.”

While Biden’s blunt language grabbed headlines, in other pieces of his roughly 30-minute speech before Warsaw’s iconic Royal Castle he urged Western allies to brace for what will be a turbulent road ahead in a “new battle for freedom.”

He also pointedly warned Putin against invading even “an inch” of territory of a NATO nation.

The address was a heavy bookend to a European visit in which Biden met with NATO and other Western leaders, visited the front lines of the growing refugee crisis and even held a young Ukrainian girl in his arms as he sought to spotlight some of the vast tentacles of the conflict that will likely define his presidency.

“We must remain unified today and tomorrow and the day after, and for the years and decades to come. It will not be easy,” Biden said as Russia continued to pound several Ukrainian cities. “There will be costs, but the price we have to pay, because the darkness that drives autocracy is ultimately no match for the flame of liberty that lights the souls of free people everywhere.”

Biden also made the case that multilateral institutions like NATO are more important than ever if the West and its allies are going to successfully push back against autocrats like Putin.

During his campaign for president, Biden talked often about the battle for primacy between democracies and autocracies. In those moments, his words seemed like an abstraction. Now, they have an urgent resonance.

Europe finds itself ensconced in a crisis that has virtually all of Europe revisiting defense spending, energy policy and more, and so does the U.S.

Charles Kupchan, who served as senior director for European affairs on the White House National Security Council during the Obama administration, called the invasion a “game-changer” that left Atlantic democracies with “no choice” but to bolster their posture against Russia.

But the path ahead for Biden — and the West — will only grow more complicated, Kupchan said.

“The challenges Biden’s presidency faces have just grown in magnitude,” said Kupchan, now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “He now needs to lead the West’s efforts to protect the West from the pressing external threat posed by Russia. And he needs to continue strengthening the West from within by countering the illiberal populism that still poses internal threats to democratic societies on both sides of the Atlantic.”

In one of the most poignant moments of his trip, Biden on Saturday bent down and picked up a young girl, a Ukrainian refugee in a pink winter coat, and spoke of how she reminded him of his own granddaughters.

“I don’t speak Ukrainian, but tell her I want to take her home,” Biden asked a translator to tell the smiling child.

Hours later, Biden was in front of a crowd of a 1,000 — including recent Ukrainian refugees — at the Royal Castle, a Warsaw landmark that dates back more than 400 years and was badly damaged in World War II. He made clear that the West would need to steel itself for what will be a long and difficult battle.

“We must commit now, to be this fight for the long haul,” Biden said.

The Biden administration, which has been selective about putting too great of importance on any single policy speech, sought to elevate what White House officials billed as a major address. Biden spoke with grand palace behind him to an invited audience — one bigger than just about any he’s spoken to during his presidency.

He singled out Lech Walesa, the Polish labor leader who led the push for freedom in his country and was eventually elected its president, and connected the moment to the former Soviet Union’s history of brutal oppression, including the post-World War II military operations to stamp out pro-democracy movements in Hungary, Poland and what was then Czechoslovakia. And he urged Europe to heed the words of Pope John Paul II, the first pontiff from Poland: “Be not afraid.”

Biden’s trip has reaffirmed the importance of European alliances, which atrophied under former President Donald Trump. He’s worked with his counterparts to marshal an array of punishing sanctions on Russia, and placed the continent on a course that could eliminate its dependence on Russian energy over the next several years.

The collective response to the invasion of Ukraine has little parallel in recent history, which has been more characterized by widening divisions than close coordination. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine has changed that dynamic, with European nations stepping up defense spending and imposing crushing sanctions against Moscow, and some taking initial steps to reorient their energy needs away from Russia.

“I’m confident that Vladimir Putin was counting on dividing NATO,” Biden said during a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Friday. “But he hasn’t been able to do it. We’ve all stayed together.”

Maintaining such unity will likely prove difficult as the war grinds on, and the refugee situation could become one source of strain. Much like NATO is committed to the collective defense of each member, Biden said, other nations should share the burden of caring for Ukrainian refugees. To that end, the U.S. administration announced it would admit up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees into the United States this year.

“It should be all of NATO’s responsibility,” he told Duda, whose country has accepted roughly 2.2 million of the 3.7 million who have fled Ukraine. It’s not clear how many of those displaced Ukrainians who have come through Poland have now moved on to other nations.

There’s also no clear path to ending the conflict. Although Russian officials have suggested they will focus their invasion on the Donbas, a region in East Ukraine, Biden wasn’t so sure if there was a real shift underway.

Asked on Saturday if the Russians have changed their strategy, he told reporters that “I am not sure they have.”

Despite the hazards ahead, Biden insisted there is more reason to be hopeful that the West and Ukraine can eventually succeed.

“A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase a people’s love for liberty,” Biden said. “Brutality will never grind down their will to be free. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, for free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1648345290520.png" alt="&nbsp;President Biden visited Ukrainian refugees who have fled to Poland. You don’t need to speak the same language to feel the roller-coaster of emotions in their eyes-White House photo" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;President Biden visited Ukrainian refugees who have fled to Poland. You don’t need to speak the same language to feel the roller-coaster of emotions in their eyes-White House photo</figcaption>
 </figure>WARSAW, Poland (AP) — President Joe Biden delivered a forceful and highly personal condemnation of Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Saturday, summoning a call for liberal democracy and a durable resolve among Western nations in the face of a brutal autocrat.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWhiteHouse%2Fvideos%2F736390384013878%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=12" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>As he capped a four-day trip to Europe, a blend of emotive scenes with refugees and standing among other world leaders in grand settings, Biden said of Putin: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”It was a dramatic escalation in rhetoric — Biden had earlier called Putin a “butcher” — that the White House found itself quickly walking back. Before Biden could even board Air Force One to begin the flight back to Washington, aides were clarifying that he wasn’t calling for an immediate change in government in Moscow.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov quickly denounced Biden, saying “it’s not up to the president of the U.S. and not up to the Americans to decide who will remain in power in Russia.”While Biden’s blunt language grabbed headlines, in other pieces of his roughly 30-minute speech before Warsaw’s iconic Royal Castle he urged Western allies to brace for what will be a turbulent road ahead in a “new battle for freedom.”He also pointedly warned Putin against invading even “an inch” of territory of a NATO nation.The address was a heavy bookend to a European visit in which Biden met with NATO and other Western leaders, visited the front lines of the growing refugee crisis and even held a young Ukrainian girl in his arms as he sought to spotlight some of the vast tentacles of the conflict that will likely define his presidency.“We must remain unified today and tomorrow and the day after, and for the years and decades to come. It will not be easy,” Biden said as Russia continued to pound several Ukrainian cities. “There will be costs, but the price we have to pay, because the darkness that drives autocracy is ultimately no match for the flame of liberty that lights the souls of free people everywhere.”Biden also made the case that multilateral institutions like NATO are more important than ever if the West and its allies are going to successfully push back against autocrats like Putin.During his campaign for president, Biden talked often about the battle for primacy between democracies and autocracies. In those moments, his words seemed like an abstraction. Now, they have an urgent resonance.Europe finds itself ensconced in a crisis that has virtually all of Europe revisiting defense spending, energy policy and more, and so does the U.S.Charles Kupchan, who served as senior director for European affairs on the White House National Security Council during the Obama administration, called the invasion a “game-changer” that left Atlantic democracies with “no choice” but to bolster their posture against Russia.But the path ahead for Biden — and the West — will only grow more complicated, Kupchan said.“The challenges Biden’s presidency faces have just grown in magnitude,” said Kupchan, now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “He now needs to lead the West’s efforts to protect the West from the pressing external threat posed by Russia. And he needs to continue strengthening the West from within by countering the illiberal populism that still poses internal threats to democratic societies on both sides of the Atlantic.”In one of the most poignant moments of his trip, Biden on Saturday bent down and picked up a young girl, a Ukrainian refugee in a pink winter coat, and spoke of how she reminded him of his own granddaughters.“I don’t speak Ukrainian, but tell her I want to take her home,” Biden asked a translator to tell the smiling child.Hours later, Biden was in front of a crowd of a 1,000 — including recent Ukrainian refugees — at the Royal Castle, a Warsaw landmark that dates back more than 400 years and was badly damaged in World War II. He made clear that the West would need to steel itself for what will be a long and difficult battle.“We must commit now, to be this fight for the long haul,” Biden said.The Biden administration, which has been selective about putting too great of importance on any single policy speech, sought to elevate what White House officials billed as a major address. Biden spoke with grand palace behind him to an invited audience — one bigger than just about any he’s spoken to during his presidency.He singled out Lech Walesa, the Polish labor leader who led the push for freedom in his country and was eventually elected its president, and connected the moment to the former Soviet Union’s history of brutal oppression, including the post-World War II military operations to stamp out pro-democracy movements in Hungary, Poland and what was then Czechoslovakia. And he urged Europe to heed the words of Pope John Paul II, the first pontiff from Poland: “Be not afraid.”Biden’s trip has reaffirmed the importance of European alliances, which atrophied under former President Donald Trump. He’s worked with his counterparts to marshal an array of punishing sanctions on Russia, and placed the continent on a course that could eliminate its dependence on Russian energy over the next several years.The collective response to the invasion of Ukraine has little parallel in recent history, which has been more characterized by widening divisions than close coordination. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine has changed that dynamic, with European nations stepping up defense spending and imposing crushing sanctions against Moscow, and some taking initial steps to reorient their energy needs away from Russia.“I’m confident that Vladimir Putin was counting on dividing NATO,” Biden said during a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Friday. “But he hasn’t been able to do it. We’ve all stayed together.”Maintaining such unity will likely prove difficult as the war grinds on, and the refugee situation could become one source of strain. Much like NATO is committed to the collective defense of each member, Biden said, other nations should share the burden of caring for Ukrainian refugees. To that end, the U.S. administration announced it would admit up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees into the United States this year.“It should be all of NATO’s responsibility,” he told Duda, whose country has accepted roughly 2.2 million of the 3.7 million who have fled Ukraine. It’s not clear how many of those displaced Ukrainians who have come through Poland have now moved on to other nations.There’s also no clear path to ending the conflict. Although Russian officials have suggested they will focus their invasion on the Donbas, a region in East Ukraine, Biden wasn’t so sure if there was a real shift underway.Asked on Saturday if the Russians have changed their strategy, he told reporters that “I am not sure they have.”Despite the hazards ahead, Biden insisted there is more reason to be hopeful that the West and Ukraine can eventually succeed.“A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase a people’s love for liberty,” Biden said. “Brutality will never grind down their will to be free. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, for free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness.”

🎥Biden: For God’s sake, Putin cannot remain in power

KANSAS CITY — A Kansas City man who was caught discussing plans online to sexually abuse a child pleaded guilty in federal court to distributing child pornography.

Joshua Evan Lilley, 30, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to one count of distributing child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography over the internet, according to the United State's Attorney.

According to the plea agreement, an FBI employee from the Knoxville, Tennessee, division was acting in an undercover capacity on April 30, 2021, targeting individuals on a social media site (not identified) who were actively engaged in sharing, distributing, and/or producing child pornography. The undercover FBI employee was in contact with a site user (not identified) who sent Lilley images and videos of child pornography, which that individual had produced.

Messages between Lilley and the user involved a conversation about a child victim, to whom the user had access, and whom Lilly wanted to sexually abuse. Lilley sent the user images and videos of child sexual abuse; one involved bestiality. That individual was arrested, and consented for an FBI covert employee to assume their online identity.

Lilley sent at least six videos of child sexual abuse to the FBI covert employee. Lilley also sent a link to approximately 184 videos of child sexual abuse that he had collected.

Lilley said he was involved with other groups on the social media site that shared child pornography. He asked to meet the FBI covert employee for dinner and a drink. Lilley said he wanted to meet in person before going any further in their plans. When Lilley arrived for the meeting, the FBI covert employee sent him a message that he wasn’t going to be able to make it, and there was no meeting. A surveillance team followed Lilley as he returned home. &nbsp;

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Lilley’s residence on May 5, 2021, and seized his iPhone, iPad, laptop computer and a thumb drive, each of which contained child pornography. Investigators also seized five glass containers and eight bags that contained marijuana, a loaded Taurus 9mm semi-automatic pistol with additional ammunition, a Savage Arms .22-caliber rifle, and $12,020 in cash.

Under federal statutes, Lilley is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 40 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

KANSAS CITY — A Kansas City man who was caught discussing plans online to sexually abuse a child pleaded guilty in federal court to distributing child pornography.Joshua Evan Lilley, 30, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to one count of distributing child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography over the internet, according to the United State's Attorney.According to the plea agreement, an FBI employee from the Knoxville, Tennessee, division was acting in an undercover capacity on April 30, 2021, targeting individuals on a social media site (not identified) who were actively engaged in sharing, distributing, and/or producing child pornography. The undercover FBI employee was in contact with a site user (not identified) who sent Lilley images and videos of child pornography, which that individual had produced.Messages between Lilley and the user involved a conversation about a child victim, to whom the user had access, and whom Lilly wanted to sexually abuse. Lilley sent the user images and videos of child sexual abuse; one involved bestiality. That individual was arrested, and consented for an FBI covert employee to assume their online identity.Lilley sent at least six videos of child sexual abuse to the FBI covert employee. Lilley also sent a link to approximately 184 videos of child sexual abuse that he had collected.Lilley said he was involved with other groups on the social media site that shared child pornography. He asked to meet the FBI covert employee for dinner and a drink. Lilley said he wanted to meet in person before going any further in their plans. When Lilley arrived for the meeting, the FBI covert employee sent him a message that he wasn’t going to be able to make it, and there was no meeting. A surveillance team followed Lilley as he returned home. &nbsp;Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Lilley’s residence on May 5, 2021, and seized his iPhone, iPad, laptop computer and a thumb drive, each of which contained child pornography. Investigators also seized five glass containers and eight bags that contained marijuana, a loaded Taurus 9mm semi-automatic pistol with additional ammunition, a Savage Arms .22-caliber rifle, and $12,020 in cash.Under federal statutes, Lilley is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 40 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

KC man caught discussing plans online to sexually abuse child

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities continue asking the public to help locate an inmate who was released from jail by mistake.

Just after 11:30 a.m. Monday, inmate Elijah Nehemiah Reed was released from the Sedgwick County Detention Facility in error, according to Sheriff's Lt. Benjamin Blick.

Reed was in custody on two writs to detain through the Juvenile District Court and a criminal possession of a firearm charge through the Adult District Court. After the adult case was dismissed by the District Court a paperwork error in the Sheriff’s Office was made concerning the sentencing status of the two juvenile cases and Reed was released from custody in error.

Reed is a 20 year old African-American who was last known to live in Wichita. He is 6-foot -2,&nbsp; weighs approximately 150 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Reed could be dangerous and possibly armed.

If you know of Reed’s whereabouts please call 911.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1648080074670.png" alt="Reed photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Reed photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities continue asking the public to help locate an inmate who was released from jail by mistake.Just after 11:30 a.m. Monday, inmate Elijah Nehemiah Reed was released from the Sedgwick County Detention Facility in error, according to Sheriff's Lt. Benjamin Blick.Reed was in custody on two writs to detain through the Juvenile District Court and a criminal possession of a firearm charge through the Adult District Court. After the adult case was dismissed by the District Court a paperwork error in the Sheriff’s Office was made concerning the sentencing status of the two juvenile cases and Reed was released from custody in error.Reed is a 20 year old African-American who was last known to live in Wichita. He is 6-foot -2,&nbsp; weighs approximately 150 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Reed could be dangerous and possibly armed.If you know of Reed’s whereabouts please call 911.

Search continues for dangerous Kan. inmate released by mistake

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A father was sentenced to 29 years for killing his 3-year-old daughter, whose body was found in a wooded area of Kansas City, Kansas, in July 2020.

The Kansas City Star reports that the prison term for 30-year-old Howard Jansen III was handed down Friday during a hearing in Wyandotte County District Court. Jansen pleaded no contest last month to charges of second-degree murder, child abuse, aggravated child endangerment and interfering with a law enforcement investigation.

His girlfriend, Jacqulyn Kirkpatrick, is serving a 31-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in November to second-degree murder and interfering with a law enforcement investigation. Police found the body of Olivia Jansen on July 10, 2020, hours after Jansen had reported her missing.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1594468009097.png" alt="Jansen-photo Wyandotte Co." />
 <figcaption>Jansen-photo Wyandotte Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A father was sentenced to 29 years for killing his 3-year-old daughter, whose body was found in a wooded area of Kansas City, Kansas, in July 2020.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1596232659832.png" alt="Olivia Jansen-photo KBI" />
 <figcaption>Olivia Jansen-photo KBI</figcaption>
 </figure>The Kansas City Star reports that the prison term for 30-year-old Howard Jansen III was handed down Friday during a hearing in Wyandotte County District Court. Jansen pleaded no contest last month to charges of second-degree murder, child abuse, aggravated child endangerment and interfering with a law enforcement investigation.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1648324949286.png" alt="Kirkpatrick-photo KDOC" />
 <figcaption>Kirkpatrick-photo KDOC</figcaption>
 </figure>His girlfriend, Jacqulyn Kirkpatrick, is serving a 31-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in November to second-degree murder and interfering with a law enforcement investigation. Police found the body of Olivia Jansen on July 10, 2020, hours after Jansen had reported her missing.

Kansas father sentenced for killing 3-year-old

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Trustees who oversee the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System have voted to halt future investments in Russian assets amid the country’s invasion of Ukraine. 

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that while some board members initially pushed for a full divestment, others said they would rather focus on the future and noted the fund’s current holdings in the country have been largely liquidated anyway. 

Kansas has $36 million invested in Russian equities, as of Feb. 25. That accounts for about 0.14% of the pension fund’s total investments.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1648318552362.png" alt="Google image" />
 <figcaption>Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Trustees who oversee the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System have voted to halt future investments in Russian assets amid the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that while some board members initially pushed for a full divestment, others said they would rather focus on the future and noted the fund’s current holdings in the country have been largely liquidated anyway. Kansas has $36 million invested in Russian equities, as of Feb. 25. That accounts for about 0.14% of the pension fund’s total investments.

Kansas employee pension system halts Russia investments

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is giving the Navy a freer hand determining what job assignments it gives to 35 sailors who sued after refusing on religious grounds to comply with an order to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The high court in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21a477_1bo2.pdf" target="_blank">brief order Friday</a>&nbsp;sided with the Biden administration and said that while the lawsuit plays out, the Navy may consider the sailors’ vaccination status in making deployment, assignment and other operational decisions. The group that sued includes mostly Navy SEALs.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that there was a “simple overarching reason” that he agreed with the court’s decision. The Constitution makes the president, “not any federal judge,” the commander in chief of the armed forces, he wrote, noting that courts have been traditionally “reluctant to intrude upon the authority of the Executive in military and national security affairs.”

Three conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch — noted that they disagreed with their colleagues’ decision and would have sided with the group of SEALs.

Alito wrote that his colleagues were “rubberstamping the Government’s request.” “These individuals appear to have been treated shabbily by the Navy, and the Court brushes all that aside,” Alito wrote.

A federal judge in Texas in January&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-religion-austin-texas-b8227807672374e6f99edfc851e191dd">issued a preliminary injunction barring the Navy&nbsp;</a>from acting against the sailors. The Biden administration said it was not asking the Supreme Court to block parts of the lower court order barring the sailors from being disciplined or discharged but only the requirement that their assignments be made without considering their vaccination status. That requirement posed “intolerable risks to safety and mission success,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21A477/217841/20220307123349362_21A%20Texas%20Navy%20SEALS%20stay%20app.pdf" target="_blank">the administration had argued</a>.

“Navy personnel routinely operate for extended periods of time in confined spaces that are ripe breeding grounds for respiratory illnesses, where mitigation measures such as distancing are impractical or impossible. A SEAL who falls ill not only cannot complete his or her own mission, but risks infecting others as well, particularly in close quarters, including on submarines,” Biden administration lawyers wrote.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-e08a6e68308b27ad7653ca9210d953dc">made vaccinations mandatory for service members</a>. Navy guidelines allow for exemptions to the vaccine requirement on religious and other grounds, including medical reasons and if a servicemember is about to leave the Navy. The Biden administration says the Navy has received more than 4,000 requests for religious exemptions, but it said that as of the start of February only about 80 had been fully adjudicated. It said one religious exemption had been granted.

Lawyers for the group of sailors that sued had argued that the Navy had granted hundreds of non-religious exemptions. They said that in asking the high court to allow vaccine status to be considered, the Navy was seeking “license to engage in hostile tactics designed to coerce plaintiffs into disregarding their religious beliefs.”

Lower courts had denied the Biden administration’s plea to be allowed to consider vaccination status. That includes a federal judge in Texas, Reed O’Connor, who was nominated by former President George W. Bush, and a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals. Two of those judges were appointees of former President Donald Trump while the third was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/8/1629972789785.png" alt="Photo courtesy U.S. Dept. of Defense" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy U.S. Dept. of Defense</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is giving the Navy a freer hand determining what job assignments it gives to 35 sailors who sued after refusing on religious grounds to comply with an order to get vaccinated against COVID-19.The high court in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21a477_1bo2.pdf" target="_blank">brief order Friday</a>&nbsp;sided with the Biden administration and said that while the lawsuit plays out, the Navy may consider the sailors’ vaccination status in making deployment, assignment and other operational decisions. The group that sued includes mostly Navy SEALs.Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that there was a “simple overarching reason” that he agreed with the court’s decision. The Constitution makes the president, “not any federal judge,” the commander in chief of the armed forces, he wrote, noting that courts have been traditionally “reluctant to intrude upon the authority of the Executive in military and national security affairs.”Three conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch — noted that they disagreed with their colleagues’ decision and would have sided with the group of SEALs.Alito wrote that his colleagues were “rubberstamping the Government’s request.” “These individuals appear to have been treated shabbily by the Navy, and the Court brushes all that aside,” Alito wrote.A federal judge in Texas in January&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-religion-austin-texas-b8227807672374e6f99edfc851e191dd">issued a preliminary injunction barring the Navy&nbsp;</a>from acting against the sailors. The Biden administration said it was not asking the Supreme Court to block parts of the lower court order barring the sailors from being disciplined or discharged but only the requirement that their assignments be made without considering their vaccination status. That requirement posed “intolerable risks to safety and mission success,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21A477/217841/20220307123349362_21A%20Texas%20Navy%20SEALS%20stay%20app.pdf" target="_blank">the administration had argued</a>.“Navy personnel routinely operate for extended periods of time in confined spaces that are ripe breeding grounds for respiratory illnesses, where mitigation measures such as distancing are impractical or impossible. A SEAL who falls ill not only cannot complete his or her own mission, but risks infecting others as well, particularly in close quarters, including on submarines,” Biden administration lawyers wrote.Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-e08a6e68308b27ad7653ca9210d953dc">made vaccinations mandatory for service members</a>. Navy guidelines allow for exemptions to the vaccine requirement on religious and other grounds, including medical reasons and if a servicemember is about to leave the Navy. The Biden administration says the Navy has received more than 4,000 requests for religious exemptions, but it said that as of the start of February only about 80 had been fully adjudicated. It said one religious exemption had been granted.Lawyers for the group of sailors that sued had argued that the Navy had granted hundreds of non-religious exemptions. They said that in asking the high court to allow vaccine status to be considered, the Navy was seeking “license to engage in hostile tactics designed to coerce plaintiffs into disregarding their religious beliefs.”Lower courts had denied the Biden administration’s plea to be allowed to consider vaccination status. That includes a federal judge in Texas, Reed O’Connor, who was nominated by former President George W. Bush, and a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals. Two of those judges were appointees of former President Donald Trump while the third was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan.

High court rules for the Navy in COVID-19 vaccine case

BARTON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating the death of a 10-year-old in Great Bend,

Just after 5:30p.m. March 24, officers and detectives of the&nbsp;Great Bend Police Department, along with Great Bend Fire&nbsp;and&nbsp;EMS personnel were dispatched to a residence&nbsp;in the 200 block of&nbsp;10th&nbsp;Street in Great Bend in reference to an unresponsive juvenile who had been involved in an accidental fall, according to a media release.

Upon arrival&nbsp;at the scene,&nbsp;a&nbsp;10-year-old identified as&nbsp;Angel Daniel Lopez Ramírez was found to be&nbsp;unresponsive. Life saving measures were&nbsp;attempted and the young boy was transported to The University of Kansas&nbsp;Emergency Room in Great Bend where he was pronounced dead.&nbsp; Authorities released no additional details on Saturday.

BARTON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating the death of a 10-year-old in Great Bend,Just after 5:30p.m. March 24, officers and detectives of the&nbsp;Great Bend Police Department, along with Great Bend Fire&nbsp;and&nbsp;EMS personnel were dispatched to a residence&nbsp;in the 200 block of&nbsp;10th&nbsp;Street in Great Bend in reference to an unresponsive juvenile who had been involved in an accidental fall, according to a media release. Upon arrival&nbsp;at the scene,&nbsp;a&nbsp;10-year-old identified as&nbsp;Angel Daniel Lopez Ramírez was found to be&nbsp;unresponsive. Life saving measures were&nbsp;attempted and the young boy was transported to The University of Kansas&nbsp;Emergency Room in Great Bend where he was pronounced dead.&nbsp; Authorities released no additional details on Saturday.

Police: 10-year-old Kan. boy dies after accidental fall

By BECCY TANNER <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/the-range/2022-03-25/an-out-of-this-world-exhibit-lands-in-a-small-kansas-museum">Kansas News Service</a>

GENESEO — In the Rice County town of Geneseo, population 200, there 
is a sign at the entrance of the city museum beckoning visitors. All 
kinds of visitors.

Welcome
 to Geneseo, where a movement is underway to name the town the UFO 
Capital of Kansas and perhaps even host a special global event on July 2
 — World UFO day.

Evidence of otherworldly visitors is in a new permanent exhibit at the Geneseo City Museum.

When
 it comes to viewing the exhibit, think of a mix of Orson Welles' "War 
of the Worlds" radio broadcast of 1938, and episodes of "Lost in Space" 
and "My Favorite Martian" from the 1960s.

The UFO collection was originally gathered by Elmer Janzen, a Geneseo chiropractor.

The
 museum first opened in the 1960s and, when Janzen died in 1977, he 
donated his house and collection to the city of Geneseo. In recent 
years, the museum board's focus has been to help tell the unique stories
 of Janzen, along with the history of northern Rice County — including 
railroad history and early pioneer families.

"We call him 
Doc Janzen, and he was very interested in everything Geneseo," said Jim 
Gray, president of the Geneseo City Museum board and one of the people 
responsible for the museum's space alien exhibit. "He collected all 
kinds of early histories.

"But he was also a minister, and he had a belief the future could be seen in the scriptures."

And somehow, Gray said, Janzen believed beings from outer space were Christian.

"So, he was very much involved with this idea of alien visitation to our planet," Gray said.

"The
 whole thing begins for these guys with the atomic explosions in Japan, 
and they claimed that we were being visited by these alien beings to 
warn us that we were messing with the polarity of the earth by exploding
 these atomic weapons — and we were not only threatening our planet but 
the entire solar system."

So, Janzen had friends from the 1940s through the '70s, Gray said.

There
 was John Dean from Nickerson, who drew multiple illustrations of 
spaceships — both inside and out. Janzen collected spring water from 
Buck Nelson's farm in Missouri — that the space aliens liked to drink — 
and the hair of a dog from Venus … because just like humans, space 
aliens like to travel with their pets.

Photos of the dog, however, look suspiciously like a Pomeranian.

"When
 it comes to the flying saucer collection, I know no collection like 
this one … OK, so Roswell is like the cream of the crop," Gray said 
wryly.

"And I have been there, and it is a wonderful 
collection and story to tell — but it's not this story, and I don't 
think this story is told anywhere in the country in the way that we can 
tell it."

In fact, the exhibit and museum may be the only one of its kind in Kansas, Gray said.

Janzen had many interests beyond visitors from outer space. He became knowledgeable on Braille and magnetic tape recordings.

Part
 of his collection includes the letter Janzen received from Hellen 
Keller, the American author and educator who was both blind and deaf.

But the outer space aliens aspect is so intriguing.

"This
 is classic Americana of a specific time period," Gray said. "They 
(Janzen and other believers) did not think that these were little green 
men. They describe them as looking just like us. And they were living 
amongst us and actually influencing our direction.

"They early on believed that there was this simple kind of 
Christian-type movement — that these alien beings were also 
Christianized — and then there were different branches that not all were
 interested in our welfare.

They began developing ways of identifying whether these were good beings or not."

Gray,
 whose family has lived in the Geneseo area for five generations, said 
he remembers as a child when Dean, Janzen's friend from Nickerson, came 
to Geneseo and made a presentation about spaceships.

"They 
did a PTA program here at Geneseo … and, of course, most the community 
was somewhat embarrassed by the whole thing," Gray said. "A lot of folks
 just thought of him (Janzen) as a crackpot, and they didn't want other 
folks to know about this guy's stuff.

"But he represented a culture that was widespread across the country."

And now, it may be the one thing that draws tourism visitors to Geneseo.

"They
 (believers of UFOs) understood that there were people visiting our 
planet from Venus, from Saturn and from far off planet they called 
Coriander," Gray said. "That's certainly some wild stuff.

"I've
 always said that the thing about being a Kansan is that when you grew 
up seeing the vast horizon, you get a sense that all things are 
possible. You get a sense of the openness of the prairie that you can't 
get if you are living in the eastern part of the country.

"A
 strong value amongst Kansans is that we are neighborly — whether it is 
our neighbors down the road or space aliens. They are just another 
neighbor and somebody to say howdy to."

The
 Geneseo City Museum is located at 907 Silver Ave. in Geneseo. It is 
open the second Saturday of each month from 2 to 5 p.m. or by special 
appointment by contacting Jim Gray at 785-531-2058.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1648221335894.png" alt="Beccy Tanner / KMUW" />
 <figcaption>Beccy Tanner / KMUW</figcaption>
 </figure>By BECCY TANNER <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/the-range/2022-03-25/an-out-of-this-world-exhibit-lands-in-a-small-kansas-museum">Kansas News Service</a>GENESEO — In the Rice County town of Geneseo, population 200, there 
is a sign at the entrance of the city museum beckoning visitors. All 
kinds of visitors."Space Ships Welcome."Welcome
 to Geneseo, where a movement is underway to name the town the UFO 
Capital of Kansas and perhaps even host a special global event on July 2
 — World UFO day.Evidence of otherworldly visitors is in a new permanent exhibit at the Geneseo City Museum.When
 it comes to viewing the exhibit, think of a mix of Orson Welles' "War 
of the Worlds" radio broadcast of 1938, and episodes of "Lost in Space" 
and "My Favorite Martian" from the 1960s.The UFO collection was originally gathered by Elmer Janzen, a Geneseo chiropractor.The
 museum first opened in the 1960s and, when Janzen died in 1977, he 
donated his house and collection to the city of Geneseo. In recent 
years, the museum board's focus has been to help tell the unique stories
 of Janzen, along with the history of northern Rice County — including 
railroad history and early pioneer families."We call him 
Doc Janzen, and he was very interested in everything Geneseo," said Jim 
Gray, president of the Geneseo City Museum board and one of the people 
responsible for the museum's space alien exhibit. "He collected all 
kinds of early histories."But he was also a minister, and he had a belief the future could be seen in the scriptures."And somehow, Gray said, Janzen believed beings from outer space were Christian."So, he was very much involved with this idea of alien visitation to our planet," Gray said."The
 whole thing begins for these guys with the atomic explosions in Japan, 
and they claimed that we were being visited by these alien beings to 
warn us that we were messing with the polarity of the earth by exploding
 these atomic weapons — and we were not only threatening our planet but 
the entire solar system."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1648221397537.png" alt="Beccy Tanner / KMUW" />
 <figcaption>Beccy Tanner / KMUW</figcaption>
 </figure>So, Janzen had friends from the 1940s through the '70s, Gray said.There
 was John Dean from Nickerson, who drew multiple illustrations of 
spaceships — both inside and out. Janzen collected spring water from 
Buck Nelson's farm in Missouri — that the space aliens liked to drink — 
and the hair of a dog from Venus … because just like humans, space 
aliens like to travel with their pets.Photos of the dog, however, look suspiciously like a Pomeranian."When
 it comes to the flying saucer collection, I know no collection like 
this one … OK, so Roswell is like the cream of the crop," Gray said 
wryly."And I have been there, and it is a wonderful 
collection and story to tell — but it's not this story, and I don't 
think this story is told anywhere in the country in the way that we can 
tell it."In fact, the exhibit and museum may be the only one of its kind in Kansas, Gray said.Janzen had many interests beyond visitors from outer space. He became knowledgeable on Braille and magnetic tape recordings.Part
 of his collection includes the letter Janzen received from Hellen 
Keller, the American author and educator who was both blind and deaf.But the outer space aliens aspect is so intriguing."This
 is classic Americana of a specific time period," Gray said. "They 
(Janzen and other believers) did not think that these were little green 
men. They describe them as looking just like us. And they were living 
amongst us and actually influencing our direction.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1648221440309.png" alt="Beccy Tanner / KMUW" />
 <figcaption>Beccy Tanner / KMUW</figcaption>
 </figure>"They early on believed that there was this simple kind of 
Christian-type movement — that these alien beings were also 
Christianized — and then there were different branches that not all were
 interested in our welfare.They began developing ways of identifying whether these were good beings or not."Gray,
 whose family has lived in the Geneseo area for five generations, said 
he remembers as a child when Dean, Janzen's friend from Nickerson, came 
to Geneseo and made a presentation about spaceships."They 
did a PTA program here at Geneseo … and, of course, most the community 
was somewhat embarrassed by the whole thing," Gray said. "A lot of folks
 just thought of him (Janzen) as a crackpot, and they didn't want other 
folks to know about this guy's stuff."But he represented a culture that was widespread across the country."And now, it may be the one thing that draws tourism visitors to Geneseo."They
 (believers of UFOs) understood that there were people visiting our 
planet from Venus, from Saturn and from far off planet they called 
Coriander," Gray said. "That's certainly some wild stuff."I've
 always said that the thing about being a Kansan is that when you grew 
up seeing the vast horizon, you get a sense that all things are 
possible. You get a sense of the openness of the prairie that you can't 
get if you are living in the eastern part of the country."A
 strong value amongst Kansans is that we are neighborly — whether it is 
our neighbors down the road or space aliens. They are just another 
neighbor and somebody to say howdy to."The
 Geneseo City Museum is located at 907 Silver Ave. in Geneseo. It is 
open the second Saturday of each month from 2 to 5 p.m. or by special 
appointment by contacting Jim Gray at 785-531-2058.

An out-of-this-world exhibit lands in a small Kansas museum

RZESZOW, Poland (AP) — Just 60 miles from Ukraine, President Joe Biden saluted Poland on Friday for welcoming more than 2 million refugees who have fled Russia’s invasion. Then he met with humanitarian experts on the ground about what will be needed to mitigate the growing suffering.

Biden said he had hoped to get even closer to the border but was prevented because of security concerns. Still, he said he wanted to visit Poland to underscore that the assistance it is providing is of “enormous consequence” as Europe experiences the biggest refugee crisis since World War II.

“It’s not stopping,” Biden said of the devastation in Ukraine. “It’s like something out of a science fiction movie.”

Biden also visited with some of the thousands of U.S. troops who have been sent near Poland’s border to assist with the humanitarian emergency and to bolster the U.S. military presence on the eastern flank of NATO. More than 3.5 million Ukrainians have fled the country since the Feb. 24 invasion, including about 2.2 million to Poland, according to the United Nations.

Within a few days, the number of refugees displaced from Ukraine since last month will exceed the number of Syrians routed from their homes over years of conflict after a 2011 uprising turned into a full-scale war, said Samantha Power, the U.S. Agency for International Development administrator.

The American military commitment in Poland was apparent as soon as Air Force One touched down, rolling past Patriot missile batteries. More hardware, including heavy trucks and other equipment painted with dark green and brown camouflage, was present at the airport. A nearby convention center serves as a base for the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.

Polish President Andrzej Duda joined Biden for a briefing with humanitarian experts.

Duda, through an interpreter, thanked Biden for his support. He said the Poles see the Ukrainians they are receiving as their “guests.”

“This is the name we want to apply to them,” Duda said. “We do not want to call them refugees. They are our guests, our brothers, our neighbors from Ukraine, who today are in a very difficult situation.”

Biden’s first stop was with 82nd Airborne troops, at a barber shop and dining facility where he invited himself to sit down and share some pizza. The Americans are serving alongside Polish troops.

With the troops, he shared an anecdote about visiting his late son, Beau Biden, while he was deployed in Baghdad and going by his mother’s maiden name so as not to draw attention to himself. The president jokingly razzed one service member about his standard-issue short haircut and seriously praised the troops, too.

“You are the finest fighting force in the world and that’s not hyperbole,. Biden said.

He later addressed a group of soldiers in more formal remarks, telling them the nation “owes you big.” He also borrowed the words of the late Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to underscore their place in a fragile moment for the U.S. and its European allies.

“The secretary of state used to have an expression. She said, ‘We are the essential nation,’” Biden told the troops. “I don’t want to sound philosophical here, but you are in midst of a fight between democracy and an an oligarch.”

Biden will be in Warsaw on Saturday for further talks with Duda and others. The Polish leader had planned to welcome him at the airport on Friday, but his plane was delayed by a technical problem.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden was looking to hear directly from the American troops and humanitarian experts about the situation on the ground and “what further steps need to be taken to make sure that we’re investing” U.S. dollars in the right place.

Biden, who spent Thursday lobbying U.S. allies to stay united against Russia, speculated that what he sees in Poland “will reinforce my commitment to have the United States make sure we are a major piece of dealing with the relocation of all those folks, as well as humanitarian assistance needed both inside Ukraine and outside Ukraine.”

Speaking in Brussels after meetings with other world leaders, Biden said he had visited many war zones and refugee camps during his political career and “it’s devastating” to see young children without parents or men and women with blank looks on their faces wondering, “My God, where am I? What’s going to happen to me?”

He said Poland, Romania and Germany shouldn’t be left on their own to deal with the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

“This is an international responsibility,” Biden said shortly after he announced $1 billion in additional assistance to help Ukrainian refugees. He also announced that the United States would take in up to 100,000 of those refugees. The White House has said most Ukrainian refugees eventually want to return home.

Biden said the United States is obligated to be “engaged and do all we can to ease the suffering and pain of innocent women and children and men” who make it across the border.

He said, “I plan on attempting to see those folks ... I hope I get to see a lot of people.”

Some refugees interviewed Friday at the train station in Przemysl, Poland, said they hoped to eventually return to Ukraine. They also weren’t very hopeful about Biden’s visit.

“For sure I do not have any expectations” about Biden, said a tearful Ira Satula, 32, from Kremenchug. Satula was grateful for all the support and Poland’s warm reception.

“But home is home, and I hope we’ll be there soon,” Satula said.

Olga Antonovna, 68, from Chernigov, said “it’s really 50-50” that Biden will help enough.

“I think that we needed help a long time ago, long before,” she said.

Sullivan said Biden will give a speech Saturday on “the stakes of this moment, the urgency of the challenge that lies ahead, what the conflict in Ukraine means for the world.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1648290495540.png" alt="President Biden also visited with some of the thousands of U.S. troops who have been sent near Poland’s border-White House photo" />
 <figcaption>President Biden also visited with some of the thousands of U.S. troops who have been sent near Poland’s border-White House photo</figcaption>
 </figure>RZESZOW, Poland (AP) — Just 60 miles from Ukraine, President Joe Biden saluted Poland on Friday for welcoming more than 2 million refugees who have fled Russia’s invasion. Then he met with humanitarian experts on the ground about what will be needed to mitigate the growing suffering.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">My message to the 82nd Airborne Division on the ground in Poland: Every single one of you stepped up. Thank you. <a href="https://t.co/9Z9NeiWllQ">pic.twitter.com/9Z9NeiWllQ</a>&mdash; Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1507487532015144963?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Biden said he had hoped to get even closer to the border but was prevented because of security concerns. Still, he said he wanted to visit Poland to underscore that the assistance it is providing is of “enormous consequence” as Europe experiences the biggest refugee crisis since World War II.“It’s not stopping,” Biden said of the devastation in Ukraine. “It’s like something out of a science fiction movie.”Biden also visited with some of the thousands of U.S. troops who have been sent near Poland’s border to assist with the humanitarian emergency and to bolster the U.S. military presence on the eastern flank of NATO. More than 3.5 million Ukrainians have fled the country since the Feb. 24 invasion, including about 2.2 million to Poland, according to the United Nations.Within a few days, the number of refugees displaced from Ukraine since last month will exceed the number of Syrians routed from their homes over years of conflict after a 2011 uprising turned into a full-scale war, said Samantha Power, the U.S. Agency for International Development administrator.The American military commitment in Poland was apparent as soon as Air Force One touched down, rolling past Patriot missile batteries. More hardware, including heavy trucks and other equipment painted with dark green and brown camouflage, was present at the airport. A nearby convention center serves as a base for the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.Polish President Andrzej Duda joined Biden for a briefing with humanitarian experts.Duda, through an interpreter, thanked Biden for his support. He said the Poles see the Ukrainians they are receiving as their “guests.”“This is the name we want to apply to them,” Duda said. “We do not want to call them refugees. They are our guests, our brothers, our neighbors from Ukraine, who today are in a very difficult situation.”Biden’s first stop was with 82nd Airborne troops, at a barber shop and dining facility where he invited himself to sit down and share some pizza. The Americans are serving alongside Polish troops.With the troops, he shared an anecdote about visiting his late son, Beau Biden, while he was deployed in Baghdad and going by his mother’s maiden name so as not to draw attention to himself. The president jokingly razzed one service member about his standard-issue short haircut and seriously praised the troops, too.“You are the finest fighting force in the world and that’s not hyperbole,. Biden said.ADVERTISEMENTHe later addressed a group of soldiers in more formal remarks, telling them the nation “owes you big.” He also borrowed the words of the late Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to underscore their place in a fragile moment for the U.S. and its European allies.“The secretary of state used to have an expression. She said, ‘We are the essential nation,’” Biden told the troops. “I don’t want to sound philosophical here, but you are in midst of a fight between democracy and an an oligarch.”Biden will be in Warsaw on Saturday for further talks with Duda and others. The Polish leader had planned to welcome him at the airport on Friday, but his plane was delayed by a technical problem.White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden was looking to hear directly from the American troops and humanitarian experts about the situation on the ground and “what further steps need to be taken to make sure that we’re investing” U.S. dollars in the right place.Biden, who spent Thursday lobbying U.S. allies to stay united against Russia, speculated that what he sees in Poland “will reinforce my commitment to have the United States make sure we are a major piece of dealing with the relocation of all those folks, as well as humanitarian assistance needed both inside Ukraine and outside Ukraine.”Speaking in Brussels after meetings with other world leaders, Biden said he had visited many war zones and refugee camps during his political career and “it’s devastating” to see young children without parents or men and women with blank looks on their faces wondering, “My God, where am I? What’s going to happen to me?”He said Poland, Romania and Germany shouldn’t be left on their own to deal with the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.“This is an international responsibility,” Biden said shortly after he announced $1 billion in additional assistance to help Ukrainian refugees. He also announced that the United States would take in up to 100,000 of those refugees. The White House has said most Ukrainian refugees eventually want to return home.Biden said the United States is obligated to be “engaged and do all we can to ease the suffering and pain of innocent women and children and men” who make it across the border.He said, “I plan on attempting to see those folks ... I hope I get to see a lot of people.”Some refugees interviewed Friday at the train station in Przemysl, Poland, said they hoped to eventually return to Ukraine. They also weren’t very hopeful about Biden’s visit.“For sure I do not have any expectations” about Biden, said a tearful Ira Satula, 32, from Kremenchug. Satula was grateful for all the support and Poland’s warm reception.“But home is home, and I hope we’ll be there soon,” Satula said.Olga Antonovna, 68, from Chernigov, said “it’s really 50-50” that Biden will help enough.“I think that we needed help a long time ago, long before,” she said.Sullivan said Biden will give a speech Saturday on “the stakes of this moment, the urgency of the challenge that lies ahead, what the conflict in Ukraine means for the world.”___

🎥Biden visits U.S. troops, sees refugee crisis near Ukraine border

By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY Salina Post

Members of the Saline County Sheriff's Mounted Patrol and Rescue Squad are among those assisting the Nebraska State Patrol in the search for a woman who went missing last June.

Commander Bill Cooke told Salina Post that five members of the mounted patrol are in Nebraska helping with the search.

Linda Dillard was last seen on June 16, 2021, in the rural Table Rock, Neb., area. As part of the investigation, NSP and assisting agencies have conducted multiple searches in the area where Dillard was last seen. Investigators believe Dillard may have been the victim of a crime, which led to her disappearance, according to information from the Nebraska State Patrol.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1648235986587.jpeg" alt="Some of the members of the Saline County Sheriff's Mounted Patrol and Rescue Squad. Recent file photo courtesy&nbsp;Saline County Sheriff's Mounted Patrol and Rescue Squad" />
 <figcaption>Some of the members of the Saline County Sheriff's Mounted Patrol and Rescue Squad. Recent file photo courtesy&nbsp;Saline County Sheriff's Mounted Patrol and Rescue Squad</figcaption>
 </figure>By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY Salina PostMembers of the Saline County Sheriff's Mounted Patrol and Rescue Squad are among those assisting the Nebraska State Patrol in the search for a woman who went missing last June.Commander Bill Cooke told Salina Post that five members of the mounted patrol are in Nebraska helping with the search.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1625684792207.png" alt="Linda Dillard. Photo Nebraska State Patrol" />
 <figcaption>Linda Dillard. Photo Nebraska State Patrol</figcaption>
 </figure>Linda Dillard was last seen on June 16, 2021, in the rural Table Rock, Neb., area. As part of the investigation, NSP and assisting agencies have conducted multiple searches in the area where Dillard was last seen. Investigators believe Dillard may have been the victim of a crime, which led to her disappearance, according to information from the Nebraska State Patrol.Cooke said his unit was contacted by the Nebraska State Patrol to assist with the search since part of the area being searched is somewhat rugged terrain not compatable with motorized vehicles, but easily accessible by horses.The mounted patrol members left Wednesday and plan to remain in Nebraska through Saturday, if need be, to assist with the search, Cooke said.&nbsp;The Sedgwick County Emergency Management’s K9 Search and Rescue Team also deployed to Nebraska Wednesday to assist.