WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration is beginning to make $3 billion in economic development grants available to communities — a tenfold increase in the program paid for by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/house-vote-coronavirus-relief-package-33f4902ca9a2aed4e76274af6bb2ea5c">this year’s COVID-19 relief bill</a>.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said her agency on Thursday will begin accepting applications for the competitive grants, which officials hope will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and help struggling cities and towns make long-term investments to drive development for years to come. Applications for the grants are available at the website for Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration.

“This is about real help for communities across the country as they rebuild,” Raimondo said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press. “It’s about longer-term investments to help communities build themselves back from the bottom up in the ways that work best for them.”

The grants will be targeted at supporting local infrastructure, job training programs and developing new industries. Recipients will be selected on the basis of the anticipated return on investment to taxpayers, which Raimondo said at Thursday’s White House briefing would involve job creation and racial and gender equity goals. She estimated that 300,000 jobs would be created by the grants in the near term.

“Our number one investment priority is equity,” Raimondo said. “In order to qualify to get the money, you’ll have to prove to us that you’ll have an equity lens.”

The administration hopes that the competitive nature of the program will also coax private businesses and philanthropies to focus on rehabilitating their communities by making their own development commitments. There will be $1 billion available for 20 to 30 regions to spend on projects that would rebuild their economies, as well as $750 million in grants targeted for travel, tourism and outdoor recreation.

Fully 10% of the total will be earmarked for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/environment-and-nature-business-government-and-politics-joe-biden-climate-change-4384bc4e6c09fee9185ef089e65537e3">coal communities</a>, which have struggled for decades amid the nation’s shift away from fossil fuels and are set to bear the economic brunt of the Biden administration’s even more aggressive efforts to move toward clean energy technologies.

“We know that it will enable these communities to recover, diversify their economies and grow,” Raimondo said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1627036493350.png" alt="According to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the grants will be targeted at supporting local infrastructure, job training programs and developing new industries." />
 <figcaption>According to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the grants will be targeted at supporting local infrastructure, job training programs and developing new industries.</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration is beginning to make $3 billion in economic development grants available to communities — a tenfold increase in the program paid for by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/house-vote-coronavirus-relief-package-33f4902ca9a2aed4e76274af6bb2ea5c">this year’s COVID-19 relief bill</a>.Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said her agency on Thursday will begin accepting applications for the competitive grants, which officials hope will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and help struggling cities and towns make long-term investments to drive development for years to come. Applications for the grants are available at the website for Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration.“This is about real help for communities across the country as they rebuild,” Raimondo said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press. “It’s about longer-term investments to help communities build themselves back from the bottom up in the ways that work best for them.”The grants will be targeted at supporting local infrastructure, job training programs and developing new industries. Recipients will be selected on the basis of the anticipated return on investment to taxpayers, which Raimondo said at Thursday’s White House briefing would involve job creation and racial and gender equity goals. She estimated that 300,000 jobs would be created by the grants in the near term.“Our number one investment priority is equity,” Raimondo said. “In order to qualify to get the money, you’ll have to prove to us that you’ll have an equity lens.”The administration hopes that the competitive nature of the program will also coax private businesses and philanthropies to focus on rehabilitating their communities by making their own development commitments. There will be $1 billion available for 20 to 30 regions to spend on projects that would rebuild their economies, as well as $750 million in grants targeted for travel, tourism and outdoor recreation.Fully 10% of the total will be earmarked for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/environment-and-nature-business-government-and-politics-joe-biden-climate-change-4384bc4e6c09fee9185ef089e65537e3">coal communities</a>, which have struggled for decades amid the nation’s shift away from fossil fuels and are set to bear the economic brunt of the Biden administration’s even more aggressive efforts to move toward clean energy technologies.“We know that it will enable these communities to recover, diversify their economies and grow,” Raimondo said.

Biden Admin: $3B in community grants from COVID bill available 

CHEROKEE COUNTY—A Kansas man died in an accident just after 4p.m. Thursday in Cherokee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1997 motorcycle driven by Theodore G. Lane III, 20, Galena, was southbound on State Line Road and 21st Street in Galena.

The vehicle left the roadway, struck a telephone pole and the driver was ejected from the motorcycle.

Lane was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to Frontier Forensics by Derfelt Funeral Home. He was wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

CHEROKEE COUNTY—A Kansas man died in an accident just after 4p.m. Thursday in Cherokee County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1997 motorcycle driven by Theodore G. Lane III, 20, Galena, was southbound on State Line Road and 21st Street in Galena.The vehicle left the roadway, struck a telephone pole and the driver was ejected from the motorcycle.Lane was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to Frontier Forensics by Derfelt Funeral Home. He was wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

Kan. man dies after motorcycle strikes a telephone pole

BEIJING (AP) — China cannot accept the World Health Organization’s plan for the second phase of a study into the origins of COVID-19, a senior Chinese health official said Thursday.

Zeng Yixin, the vice minister of the National Health Commission, said he was “rather taken aback” that the plan includes further investigation of the theory that the virus might have leaked from a Chinese lab.

He dismissed the lab leak idea as a rumor that runs counter to common sense and science.

“It is impossible for us to accept such an origin-tracing plan,” he said at a news conference called to address the COVID-19 origins issue.

The search for where the virus came from has become a diplomatic issue that has fueled China’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-joe-biden-pandemics-health-coronavirus-pandemic-c0bd15235531b31fc506ed578afbf62e">deteriorating relations with the U.S.</a>&nbsp;and many American allies. The U.S. and others say that China has not been transparent about what happened in the early days of the pandemic. China accuses critics of seeking to blame it for the pandemic and politicizing an issue that should be left to scientists.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-world-news-health-science-coronavirus-pandemic-c0c594f9060f676c0ea48c2d1c69daec">acknowledged last week&nbsp;</a>that there had been a “premature push” after the first phase of the study to rule out the theory that the virus might have escaped from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan, the city where the disease was first detected in late 2019.

Most experts don’t think a lab leak is the likely cause. The question is whether the possibility is so remote that it should be dropped, or whether it merits further study.

The first phase was conducted earlier this year by an international team of scientists who came to Wuhan to work with their Chinese counterparts. The team was accused of bowing to demands from the Chinese side after it&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/who-virus-unlikley-leaked-china-lab-7a739e01f0713ebcc031d7ca81c51345">initially indicated</a>&nbsp;that further study wasn’t necessary.

Zeng said the Wuhan lab has no virus that can directly infect humans and noted that the WHO team concluded that a lab leak was highly unlikely. He added that speculation that staff and graduate students at the lab had been infected and might have started the spread of the virus in the city was untrue.

Yuan Zhiming, the director of the biosafety lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, said they had not stored or studied the new coronavirus before the outbreak. “I want to emphasize that .... the Wuhan Institute of Virology has never designed, made or leaked the novel coronavirus,” he said.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/who-report-animals-source-covid-19-coronavirus-8a839c179c330c56fa46a763b7286a7f">WHO team concluded&nbsp;</a>that the virus most likely jumped from animals to humans, probably from bats to an intermediate animal. The experts visited markets in Wuhan that had sold live animals, and recommended further study of the farms that supplied the market.

“In the next step, I think animal tracing should still be the priority direction. It is the most valuable field for our efforts,” Liang Wannian, who headed the Chinese side, said at Thursday’s news conference.

Tedros said last week that he hoped for better cooperation and access to data from China. “We are asking China to be transparent, open and cooperate, especially on the information, raw data that we asked for in the early days of the pandemic,” he said.

His words were echoed at the same virtual news conference by Germany’s health minister, Jens Spahn, who called on China to intensify cooperation in the search for the origin of the virus.

Zeng said China has always supported “scientific virus tracing” and wants to see the study extended to other countries and regions. “However, we are opposed to politicizing the tracing work,” he said.

China has frequently sought to deflect accusations that the pandemic originated in Wuhan and was allowed to spread by early bureaucratic missteps and an attempted coverup.

Government spokespersons have called for an investigation into whether the virus might have been produced in a U.S. military laboratory, a theory not widely shared in the scientific community.

China has largely ended local transmission of COVID through lockdowns and mask-wearing requirements, and has now administered more than 1.4 billion doses of Chinese vaccines. Just 12 new domestically spread cases were reported Thursday and China’s death toll from the virus has remained unchanged for months at 4,636.

BEIJING (AP) — China cannot accept the World Health Organization’s plan for the second phase of a study into the origins of COVID-19, a senior Chinese health official said Thursday.Zeng Yixin, the vice minister of the National Health Commission, said he was “rather taken aback” that the plan includes further investigation of the theory that the virus might have leaked from a Chinese lab.He dismissed the lab leak idea as a rumor that runs counter to common sense and science.“It is impossible for us to accept such an origin-tracing plan,” he said at a news conference called to address the COVID-19 origins issue.The search for where the virus came from has become a diplomatic issue that has fueled China’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-joe-biden-pandemics-health-coronavirus-pandemic-c0bd15235531b31fc506ed578afbf62e">deteriorating relations with the U.S.</a>&nbsp;and many American allies. The U.S. and others say that China has not been transparent about what happened in the early days of the pandemic. China accuses critics of seeking to blame it for the pandemic and politicizing an issue that should be left to scientists.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-world-news-health-science-coronavirus-pandemic-c0c594f9060f676c0ea48c2d1c69daec">acknowledged last week&nbsp;</a>that there had been a “premature push” after the first phase of the study to rule out the theory that the virus might have escaped from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan, the city where the disease was first detected in late 2019.Most experts don’t think a lab leak is the likely cause. The question is whether the possibility is so remote that it should be dropped, or whether it merits further study.The first phase was conducted earlier this year by an international team of scientists who came to Wuhan to work with their Chinese counterparts. The team was accused of bowing to demands from the Chinese side after it&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/who-virus-unlikley-leaked-china-lab-7a739e01f0713ebcc031d7ca81c51345">initially indicated</a>&nbsp;that further study wasn’t necessary.Zeng said the Wuhan lab has no virus that can directly infect humans and noted that the WHO team concluded that a lab leak was highly unlikely. He added that speculation that staff and graduate students at the lab had been infected and might have started the spread of the virus in the city was untrue.Yuan Zhiming, the director of the biosafety lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, said they had not stored or studied the new coronavirus before the outbreak. “I want to emphasize that .... the Wuhan Institute of Virology has never designed, made or leaked the novel coronavirus,” he said.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/who-report-animals-source-covid-19-coronavirus-8a839c179c330c56fa46a763b7286a7f">WHO team concluded&nbsp;</a>that the virus most likely jumped from animals to humans, probably from bats to an intermediate animal. The experts visited markets in Wuhan that had sold live animals, and recommended further study of the farms that supplied the market.“In the next step, I think animal tracing should still be the priority direction. It is the most valuable field for our efforts,” Liang Wannian, who headed the Chinese side, said at Thursday’s news conference.Tedros said last week that he hoped for better cooperation and access to data from China. “We are asking China to be transparent, open and cooperate, especially on the information, raw data that we asked for in the early days of the pandemic,” he said.His words were echoed at the same virtual news conference by Germany’s health minister, Jens Spahn, who called on China to intensify cooperation in the search for the origin of the virus.Zeng said China has always supported “scientific virus tracing” and wants to see the study extended to other countries and regions. “However, we are opposed to politicizing the tracing work,” he said.China has frequently sought to deflect accusations that the pandemic originated in Wuhan and was allowed to spread by early bureaucratic missteps and an attempted coverup.Government spokespersons have called for an investigation into whether the virus might have been produced in a U.S. military laboratory, a theory not widely shared in the scientific community.China has largely ended local transmission of COVID through lockdowns and mask-wearing requirements, and has now administered more than 1.4 billion doses of Chinese vaccines. Just 12 new domestically spread cases were reported Thursday and China’s death toll from the virus has remained unchanged for months at 4,636.

China rejects plan for 2nd phase of COVID-19 origins probe

SALINE COUNTY —A Kansas man avoided injury after a small plane accident just after noon Thursday in Saline County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1968 Beech Fixed Wing Multi-Engine Aircraft piloted by Joseph P&nbsp;Pinkley, 62, DeSoto,&nbsp; was landing at Salina Regional Airport on a southbound runway.

The right side landing gear failed causing aircraft to strike the ground on the right side. The aircraft then left the runway&nbsp; spun around coming to rest facing north.

Pinkley was not injured. The accident remains under investigation.

SALINE COUNTY —A Kansas man avoided injury after a small plane accident just after noon Thursday in Saline County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1968 Beech Fixed Wing Multi-Engine Aircraft piloted by Joseph P&nbsp;Pinkley, 62, DeSoto,&nbsp; was landing at Salina Regional Airport on a southbound runway.The right side landing gear failed causing aircraft to strike the ground on the right side. The aircraft then left the runway&nbsp; spun around coming to rest facing north.Pinkley was not injured. The accident remains under investigation.

Pilot avoids injury after small plane mishap at Kan. airport 

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspect on drug charges.

On Wednesay, members of the Topeka Police Department Narcotics Unit and the Shawnee County Drug Task Force served a search warrant in the 1000 block SW Polk Avenue in Topeka in related to an ongoing investigation. 

While conducting the search warrant, the officers located methamphetamine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and firearms.

As a result, Jennifer Christie, 35 years of age, and Wren Graves, 48 years of age, both of Topeka, were transported to the Shawnee County Department of Corrections. 

Christie is being held on requested charges of Possession of methamphetamine with the intent of distribution within 1000 feet of a school, Possession of marijuana with the intent of distribution within 1000 feet of a school, Possession of drug paraphernalia with the intent of distribution within 1000 feet of a school, Taxation; Drugs; No drug tax stamp for marijuana or control substance. Graves remains jailed on requested charges for Possession of methamphetamine and Possession of drug paraphernalia 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1626955707737.png" alt="Christie photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Christie photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspect on drug charges.On Wednesay, members of the Topeka Police Department Narcotics Unit and the Shawnee County Drug Task Force served a search warrant in the 1000 block SW Polk Avenue in Topeka in related to an ongoing investigation. While conducting the search warrant, the officers located methamphetamine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and firearms.As a result, Jennifer Christie, 35 years of age, and Wren Graves, 48 years of age, both of Topeka, were transported to the Shawnee County Department of Corrections. <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1626955755273.png" alt="Graves photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Graves photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Christie is being held on requested charges of Possession of methamphetamine with the intent of distribution within 1000 feet of a school, Possession of marijuana with the intent of distribution within 1000 feet of a school, Possession of drug paraphernalia with the intent of distribution within 1000 feet of a school, Taxation; Drugs; No drug tax stamp for marijuana or control substance. Graves remains jailed on requested charges for Possession of methamphetamine and Possession of drug paraphernalia

Drug task force finds meth at Kan. home near a school

New York (AP) - NFL teams have been warned they could forfeit a game due to a COVID-19 outbreak among non-vaccinated players, and players on both teams wouldn’t get paid that week.

“As we learned last year, we can play a full season if we maintain a firm commitment to adhering to our health and safety protocols and to making needed adjustments in response to changing conditions,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said Thursday in a memo sent to clubs that was obtained by The Associated Press.

Goodell says the league doesn’t anticipate adding a 19th week to accommodate games that can’t be rescheduled within 18-week regular season.

However, forfeits are among the consequences.

“If a game can’t be rescheduled and is canceled due to a COVID outbreak among non-vaccinated players on one of the competing teams, the team with the outbreak will forfeit and will be deemed to have played 16 games for purposes of draft, waiver priority, etc,” Goodell says in the memo.

For purposes of playoff seeding, the forfeiting team will be credited with a loss and the other team will be credited with a win.

The league says more than half its teams have COVID-19 vaccination rates greater than 80% of their players, and more than 75% of players are in the process of being vaccinated.

Nearly all clubs have vaccinated 100% of their Tier 1 and 2 staffs. Teams have appropriate protocols set up for staffers who have not been vaccinated, consistent with the guidance given last April.

— If a vaccinated person tests positive and is asymptomatic, he or she will be isolated and contact tracing will promptly occur. The positive individual will be permitted to return to duty after two negative tests at least 24 hours apart, and will thereafter be tested every two weeks or as directed by the medical staffs. Vaccinated individuals will not be subject to quarantine as a result of close contact with an infected person.

— If an unvaccinated person tests positive, the protocols from 2020 will remain in effect. The person will be isolated for a period of 10 days and will then be permitted to return to duty if asymptomatic. Unvaccinated individuals will continue to be subject to a five-day quarantine period if they have close contact with an infected individual.

— Anyone who had a previous COVID-19 infection will be considered fully vaccinated 14 days after they have had at least one dose of an approved vaccine.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/1/1578051322956.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>New York (AP) - NFL teams have been warned they could forfeit a game due to a COVID-19 outbreak among non-vaccinated players, and players on both teams wouldn’t get paid that week.“As we learned last year, we can play a full season if we maintain a firm commitment to adhering to our health and safety protocols and to making needed adjustments in response to changing conditions,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said Thursday in a memo sent to clubs that was obtained by The Associated Press.Goodell says the league doesn’t anticipate adding a 19th week to accommodate games that can’t be rescheduled within 18-week regular season.However, forfeits are among the consequences.“If a game can’t be rescheduled and is canceled due to a COVID outbreak among non-vaccinated players on one of the competing teams, the team with the outbreak will forfeit and will be deemed to have played 16 games for purposes of draft, waiver priority, etc,” Goodell says in the memo.For purposes of playoff seeding, the forfeiting team will be credited with a loss and the other team will be credited with a win.The league says more than half its teams have COVID-19 vaccination rates greater than 80% of their players, and more than 75% of players are in the process of being vaccinated.Nearly all clubs have vaccinated 100% of their Tier 1 and 2 staffs. Teams have appropriate protocols set up for staffers who have not been vaccinated, consistent with the guidance given last April.Among the other key points in the memo:— If a vaccinated person tests positive and is asymptomatic, he or she will be isolated and contact tracing will promptly occur. The positive individual will be permitted to return to duty after two negative tests at least 24 hours apart, and will thereafter be tested every two weeks or as directed by the medical staffs. Vaccinated individuals will not be subject to quarantine as a result of close contact with an infected person.— If an unvaccinated person tests positive, the protocols from 2020 will remain in effect. The person will be isolated for a period of 10 days and will then be permitted to return to duty if asymptomatic. Unvaccinated individuals will continue to be subject to a five-day quarantine period if they have close contact with an infected individual.— Anyone who had a previous COVID-19 infection will be considered fully vaccinated 14 days after they have had at least one dose of an approved vaccine.

NFL warning teams with strict COVID vaccination rules

ELLSWORTH, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a natural gas pipeline has exploded in a rural western Kansas cattle pasture, igniting a large plume of fire seen by motorists on nearby Interstate 70 in Ellsworth County. 

No one was injured in Thursday’s explosion about 15 miles northeast of the city of Ellsworth. Emergency manager Keith Haberer says pipeline owner Northern Natural Gas shut off gas to the pipeline to put out the flames.  A grass fire ignited by the explosion also was brought under control.

ELLSWORTH COUNTY—Emergency responders are working a gas line explosion near 23rd Road and Avenue C in Ellsworth County, according to the Ellsworth County Sheriff's office.

They asked the public to avoid the area. Authorities provided few additional details. There are no reports of injury and no threat to the public.

Check the Post for additional information as it becomes available.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1626983763322.png" alt="Approximate location of the gas pipeline explosion -Google map" />
 <figcaption>Approximate location of the gas pipeline explosion -Google map</figcaption>
 </figure>ELLSWORTH, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a natural gas pipeline has exploded in a rural western Kansas cattle pasture, igniting a large plume of fire seen by motorists on nearby Interstate 70 in Ellsworth County. <div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">View from the KICT radar and satellite at 115 pm CDT, picking up the intense heat of the pipeline explosion in northern Ellsworth county. Satellite temperature of 127 degrees celsius. (correction to time of earlier tweet). <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/kswx?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#kswx</a> <a href="https://t.co/cuOfjyA75h">pic.twitter.com/cuOfjyA75h</a>&mdash; NWS Wichita (@NWSWichita) <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSWichita/status/1418300887982743552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>No one was injured in Thursday’s explosion about 15 miles northeast of the city of Ellsworth. Emergency manager Keith Haberer says pipeline owner Northern Natural Gas shut off gas to the pipeline to put out the flames. A grass fire ignited by the explosion also was brought under control.--------ELLSWORTH COUNTY—Emergency responders are working a gas line explosion near 23rd Road and Avenue C in Ellsworth County, according to the Ellsworth County Sheriff's office.They asked the public to avoid the area. Authorities provided few additional details. There are no reports of injury and no threat to the public.Check the Post for additional information as it becomes available.

Update: Gas pipeline explodes in Ellsworth County

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. highway safety regulators have opened an investigation into about a half-million semis with brakes that can catch fire.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted on its website this week that it has 11 complaints about brakes made by Haldex Commercial Vehicle Systems, including seven fires. No injuries were reported. Haldex has its U.S. headquarters in Kansas City.

The complaints say problems occurred mostly on Kenworth and Peterbilt semis. The agency is investigating brakes from the 2015 through 2020 model years.

NHTSA says the investigation covers certain Haldex Gold Seal brake chambers, which convert compressed air into a mechanical force that stops the trucks. It says a spring can fracture, puncturing a diaphragm and causing air loss. That can make the brakes drag without warning to the driver and eventually cause fires.

The fires caused extensive damage to the trucks and in some cases the cargo, the agency says. NHTSA says it has learned that multiple truck fleets were having issues with the brake chambers. It says Haldex has replaced brake chambers on some vehicles in the fleets.

NHTSA says it will determine how often the problem happens and what models it affects. An investigation can lead to a recall.

Messages were left seeking comment from Haldex.

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. highway safety regulators have opened an investigation into about a half-million semis with brakes that can catch fire.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted on its website this week that it has 11 complaints about brakes made by Haldex Commercial Vehicle Systems, including seven fires. No injuries were reported. Haldex has its U.S. headquarters in Kansas City.The complaints say problems occurred mostly on Kenworth and Peterbilt semis. The agency is investigating brakes from the 2015 through 2020 model years.NHTSA says the investigation covers certain Haldex Gold Seal brake chambers, which convert compressed air into a mechanical force that stops the trucks. It says a spring can fracture, puncturing a diaphragm and causing air loss. That can make the brakes drag without warning to the driver and eventually cause fires.The fires caused extensive damage to the trucks and in some cases the cargo, the agency says. NHTSA says it has learned that multiple truck fleets were having issues with the brake chambers. It says Haldex has replaced brake chambers on some vehicles in the fleets.NHTSA says it will determine how often the problem happens and what models it affects. An investigation can lead to a recall.Messages were left seeking comment from Haldex.

US probes overheating brakes that cause fires in 500K semis

BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — A judge is considering whether Kansas’ Republican secretary of state ran afoul of the state’s open records law by ordering the removal of an election database function that generates a statewide report showing which provisional ballots were not counted — a decision civil rights advocates say will have far-reaching implications for government transparency.

Shawnee County District Judge Teresa Watson heard arguments last week in a lawsuit filed by voting rights activist Davis Hammet, who is the president of Loud Light, a nonprofit that strives to increase voter turnout. The group helps voters fix any issues that led them to cast provisional ballots so that their votes are counted.

Voters are given provisional ballots if they don’t appear to be registered, if they fail to present the required identification or if they are trying to vote at the wrong polling place.

“We know there are deficiencies... where they aren’t counting votes that they should be counting and I think on some level there may be a resistance from the secretary of state to provide that data because it means we can highlight these deficiencies,” Hammet said in a phone interview Wednesday. “We can prove how there are votes that should have been counted that are not being counted.”

That information can raise public awareness about problems in the elections system, leading to changes in state law. He noted the political outcry over the hundreds of discarded mail-in ballots statewide in the 2018 primary led to legislation a year later that requires election officials to notify voters before their mail-in ballots are thrown out because of problems with signatures.

Hammet won a lawsuit last year against Secretary of State Scott Schwab that forced him to turn over to him the names of voters who cast provisional ballots in the 2018 general election, including whether their votes were counted.

Schwab complied with the court’s order for the 2018 data, then instructed the outside firm that manages the database the end the secretary of state’s access to the statewide provisional ballot detail report. The state’s 105 counties can still run those reports, but only for their own local data.

When Hammet tried to get the same information for the 2020 primary election, the secretary of state’s office informed him that it no longer had the ability to provide the statewide report. Court filings show he was told the technology firm that manages the database could manually pull the data for $522, but could not guarantee he would get it in time for the general election.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas again sued Schwab on behalf of Hammet.

“The Kansas Open Records Act exists for a reason: to provide members of the public some measure of transparency and accountability of government agencies,” Sharon Brett, legal director for the ACLU of Kansas, said in a written statement. “What Secretary Schwab did here was first to deny that right of access, and then when he lost that battle, he took affirmative steps to make access exceedingly difficult. Secretary Schwab’s actions run counter to the very purpose of having an open records law in the first place.”

Schwab’s office declined Wednesday to comment on the ongoing litigation. But in court documents, his attorneys argue that the provisional ballot detail report serves “no functional purpose” to the secretary of state’s office and that no statute requires his office to maintain it or collect information about individual provisional ballots,

They also contend Schwab has “no obligation to maintain this database function in perpetuity” and noted his office offered to contact the database vendor so they could write a script to manually pull the information Hammet sought if he paid for the cost. They also noted Hammet could obtain the data he wanted from county election officials.

“Government is supposed to be by the people, for the people,” Brett said. “A ruling against our client in this case would mean that government in Kansas is for the people, but only when the government feels like it and has nothing it wants to hide.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1586715324051.jpeg" alt="Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab - Credit Stephen Koranda / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab - Credit Stephen Koranda / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — A judge is considering whether Kansas’ Republican secretary of state ran afoul of the state’s open records law by ordering the removal of an election database function that generates a statewide report showing which provisional ballots were not counted — a decision civil rights advocates say will have far-reaching implications for government transparency.Shawnee County District Judge Teresa Watson heard arguments last week in a lawsuit filed by voting rights activist Davis Hammet, who is the president of Loud Light, a nonprofit that strives to increase voter turnout. The group helps voters fix any issues that led them to cast provisional ballots so that their votes are counted.Voters are given provisional ballots if they don’t appear to be registered, if they fail to present the required identification or if they are trying to vote at the wrong polling place.“We know there are deficiencies... where they aren’t counting votes that they should be counting and I think on some level there may be a resistance from the secretary of state to provide that data because it means we can highlight these deficiencies,” Hammet said in a phone interview Wednesday. “We can prove how there are votes that should have been counted that are not being counted.”That information can raise public awareness about problems in the elections system, leading to changes in state law. He noted the political outcry over the hundreds of discarded mail-in ballots statewide in the 2018 primary led to legislation a year later that requires election officials to notify voters before their mail-in ballots are thrown out because of problems with signatures.Hammet won a lawsuit last year against Secretary of State Scott Schwab that forced him to turn over to him the names of voters who cast provisional ballots in the 2018 general election, including whether their votes were counted.Schwab complied with the court’s order for the 2018 data, then instructed the outside firm that manages the database the end the secretary of state’s access to the statewide provisional ballot detail report. The state’s 105 counties can still run those reports, but only for their own local data.When Hammet tried to get the same information for the 2020 primary election, the secretary of state’s office informed him that it no longer had the ability to provide the statewide report. Court filings show he was told the technology firm that manages the database could manually pull the data for $522, but could not guarantee he would get it in time for the general election.The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas again sued Schwab on behalf of Hammet.“The Kansas Open Records Act exists for a reason: to provide members of the public some measure of transparency and accountability of government agencies,” Sharon Brett, legal director for the ACLU of Kansas, said in a written statement. “What Secretary Schwab did here was first to deny that right of access, and then when he lost that battle, he took affirmative steps to make access exceedingly difficult. Secretary Schwab’s actions run counter to the very purpose of having an open records law in the first place.”Schwab’s office declined Wednesday to comment on the ongoing litigation. But in court documents, his attorneys argue that the provisional ballot detail report serves “no functional purpose” to the secretary of state’s office and that no statute requires his office to maintain it or collect information about individual provisional ballots,They also contend Schwab has “no obligation to maintain this database function in perpetuity” and noted his office offered to contact the database vendor so they could write a script to manually pull the information Hammet sought if he paid for the cost. They also noted Hammet could obtain the data he wanted from county election officials.“Government is supposed to be by the people, for the people,” Brett said. “A ruling against our client in this case would mean that government in Kansas is for the people, but only when the government feels like it and has nothing it wants to hide.”

Lawsuit: Kansas altered software to hide election records

By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY Salina Post

SALINA —Police are looking for the person who shot a teenage boy with a pellet or BB gun Tuesday evening.

Just after 7p.m. Tuesday, a 15-year-old Salina boy told police that he was walking in the 900 block of W. Republic Avenue when a black SUV pulled up and someone inside fired multiple rounds from a pellet or BB gun at the boy, according to Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester.

The boy said he wasn't sure of how many rounds were fired, but three struck him in the right waist area, right leg, and left ankle hard enough to break the skin, Forrester said.

The only description of the vehicle that the boy was able to give was that it was a black SUV with taillights that went all the way to the roof of the vehicle. The boy reported the incident Wednesday night, Forrester said. Police are trying to obtain video surveillance from the area, he said.

By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY Salina PostSALINA —Police are looking for the person who shot a teenage boy with a pellet or BB gun Tuesday evening.Just after 7p.m. Tuesday, a 15-year-old Salina boy told police that he was walking in the 900 block of W. Republic Avenue when a black SUV pulled up and someone inside fired multiple rounds from a pellet or BB gun at the boy, according to Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester.The boy said he wasn't sure of how many rounds were fired, but three struck him in the right waist area, right leg, and left ankle hard enough to break the skin, Forrester said.The only description of the vehicle that the boy was able to give was that it was a black SUV with taillights that went all the way to the roof of the vehicle. The boy reported the incident Wednesday night, Forrester said. Police are trying to obtain video surveillance from the area, he said.

Police: Kan. teen injured in drive-by pellet gun shooting 

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. life expectancy fell by a year and a half in 2020, the largest one-year decline since World War II, public health officials said Wednesday. The decrease for both Black Americans and Hispanic Americans was even worse: three years.

The drop <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/vsrr015-508.pdf">spelled out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention </a>is due mainly to the COVID-19 pandemic, which health officials said is responsible for close to 74% of the overall life expectancy decline. More than 3.3 million Americans died last year, far more than any other year in U.S. history, with COVID-19 accounting for about 11% of those deaths.

Black life expectancy has not fallen so much in one year since the mid-1930s, during the Great Depression. Health officials have not tracked Hispanic life expectancy for nearly as long, but the 2020 decline was the largest recorded one-year drop.

The abrupt fall is “basically catastrophic,” said Mark Hayward, a University of Texas sociology professor who studies changes in U.S. mortality.

Killers other than COVID-19 played a role. Drug overdoses pushed life expectancy down, particularly for whites. And rising homicides were a small but significant reason for the decline for Black Americans, said Elizabeth Arias, the report’s lead author.

Other problems affected Black and Hispanic people, including lack of access to quality health care, more crowded living conditions, and a greater share of the population in lower-paying jobs that required them to keep working when the pandemic was at its worst, experts said.

Life expectancy is an estimate of the average number of years a baby born in a given year might expect to live. It’s an important statistical snapshot of a country’s health that can be influenced both by sustained trends such as obesity as well as more temporary threats like pandemics or war that might not endanger those newborns in their lifetimes.

For decades, U.S. life expectancy was on the upswing. But that trend stalled in 2015, for several years, before hitting 78 years, 10 months in 2019. Last year, the CDC said, it dropped to about 77 years, 4 months.

—Hispanic Americans have longer life expectancy than white or Black Americans, but had the largest decline in 2020. The three-year drop was the largest since the CDC started tracking Hispanic life expectancy 15 years ago.

—Black life expectancy dropped nearly three years, to 71 years, 10 months. It has not been that low since 2000.

—White life expectancy fell by roughly 14 months to about 77 years, 7 months. That was the lowest the lowest life expectancy for that population since 2002.

—COVID-19′s role varied by race and ethnicity. The coronavirus was responsible for 90% of the decline in life expectancy among Hispanics, 68% among white people and 59% among Black Americans.

—Life expectancy fell nearly two years for men, but about one year for women, widening a longstanding gap. The CDC estimated life expectancy of 74 years, 6 months for boys vs. 80 years, 2 months for girls.

More than 80% of last year’s COVID deaths were people 65 and older, CDC data shows. That actually diminished the pandemic’s toll on life expectancy at birth, which is swayed more by deaths of younger adults and children than those among seniors.

That’s why last year’s decline was just half as much as the three-year drop between 1942 and 1943, when young soldiers were dying in World War II. And it was just a fraction of the drop between 1917 and 1918, when World War I and a Spanish flu pandemic devastated younger generations.

Life expectancy bounced back after those drops, and experts believe it will this time, too. But some said it could take years.

Too many people have already died from COVID-19 this year, while variants of the coronavirus are spreading among unvaccinated Americans — many of them younger adults, some experts said.

“We can’t. In 2021, we can’t get back to pre-pandemic” life expectancy, said Noreen Goldman, a Princeton University researcher.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. life expectancy fell by a year and a half in 2020, the largest one-year decline since World War II, public health officials said Wednesday. The decrease for both Black Americans and Hispanic Americans was even worse: three years.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">U.S. life expectancy declined by 1.5 years from 2019 to 2020 – the lowest level since 2003, according to new provisional data. Among the causes of death that contributed to the decline, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19</a> contributed 73.8%. See more from <a href="https://twitter.com/NCHStats?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NCHStats</a>.<a href="https://t.co/pmiYVtmY4f">https://t.co/pmiYVtmY4f</a> <a href="https://t.co/BQFayQ174p">pic.twitter.com/BQFayQ174p</a>&mdash; CDC (@CDCgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/CDCgov/status/1417874526310965248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The drop <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/vsrr015-508.pdf">spelled out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention </a>is due mainly to the COVID-19 pandemic, which health officials said is responsible for close to 74% of the overall life expectancy decline. More than 3.3 million Americans died last year, far more than any other year in U.S. history, with COVID-19 accounting for about 11% of those deaths.Black life expectancy has not fallen so much in one year since the mid-1930s, during the Great Depression. Health officials have not tracked Hispanic life expectancy for nearly as long, but the 2020 decline was the largest recorded one-year drop.The abrupt fall is “basically catastrophic,” said Mark Hayward, a University of Texas sociology professor who studies changes in U.S. mortality.Killers other than COVID-19 played a role. Drug overdoses pushed life expectancy down, particularly for whites. And rising homicides were a small but significant reason for the decline for Black Americans, said Elizabeth Arias, the report’s lead author.Other problems affected Black and Hispanic people, including lack of access to quality health care, more crowded living conditions, and a greater share of the population in lower-paying jobs that required them to keep working when the pandemic was at its worst, experts said.Life expectancy is an estimate of the average number of years a baby born in a given year might expect to live. It’s an important statistical snapshot of a country’s health that can be influenced both by sustained trends such as obesity as well as more temporary threats like pandemics or war that might not endanger those newborns in their lifetimes.For decades, U.S. life expectancy was on the upswing. But that trend stalled in 2015, for several years, before hitting 78 years, 10 months in 2019. Last year, the CDC said, it dropped to about 77 years, 4 months.Other findings in the new CDC report:—Hispanic Americans have longer life expectancy than white or Black Americans, but had the largest decline in 2020. The three-year drop was the largest since the CDC started tracking Hispanic life expectancy 15 years ago.—Black life expectancy dropped nearly three years, to 71 years, 10 months. It has not been that low since 2000.—White life expectancy fell by roughly 14 months to about 77 years, 7 months. That was the lowest the lowest life expectancy for that population since 2002.—COVID-19′s role varied by race and ethnicity. The coronavirus was responsible for 90% of the decline in life expectancy among Hispanics, 68% among white people and 59% among Black Americans.—Life expectancy fell nearly two years for men, but about one year for women, widening a longstanding gap. The CDC estimated life expectancy of 74 years, 6 months for boys vs. 80 years, 2 months for girls.More than 80% of last year’s COVID deaths were people 65 and older, CDC data shows. That actually diminished the pandemic’s toll on life expectancy at birth, which is swayed more by deaths of younger adults and children than those among seniors.That’s why last year’s decline was just half as much as the three-year drop between 1942 and 1943, when young soldiers were dying in World War II. And it was just a fraction of the drop between 1917 and 1918, when World War I and a Spanish flu pandemic devastated younger generations.Life expectancy bounced back after those drops, and experts believe it will this time, too. But some said it could take years.Too many people have already died from COVID-19 this year, while variants of the coronavirus are spreading among unvaccinated Americans — many of them younger adults, some experts said.“We can’t. In 2021, we can’t get back to pre-pandemic” life expectancy, said Noreen Goldman, a Princeton University researcher.

Why US life expectancy saw biggest drop in 70 years

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Sheriff’s officials are investigating the cause of death of three adults found dead inside a suburban Kansas City home.

The bodies of two women and one man were found Wednesday afternoon inside a Glenaire home, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office reported. Deputies found the bodies after a neighbor called police to say the residents of the home had not been seen for some time, officials said.

Investigators have not said how the three died, but that foul play is not suspected. All three were related, authorities said, but officials did not immediately give their names.

Autopsies have been ordered, officials said.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Sheriff’s officials are investigating the cause of death of three adults found dead inside a suburban Kansas City home.The bodies of two women and one man were found Wednesday afternoon inside a Glenaire home, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office reported. Deputies found the bodies after a neighbor called police to say the residents of the home had not been seen for some time, officials said.Investigators have not said how the three died, but that foul play is not suspected. All three were related, authorities said, but officials did not immediately give their names.Autopsies have been ordered, officials said.

Police: 3 bodies found in suburban Kansas City home

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Families and advocates for the elderly in Kansas argue that with most nursing home residents vaccinated against COVID-19, some facilities’ visiting rules need to be relaxed, though the delta variant’s spread is making operators nervous.

A state official who investigates complaints against nursing homes and the elder-care focused Kansas Advocates for Better Care are calling on the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services to crack down on homes that aren’t open enough. They’re concerned that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-government-and-politics-coronavirus-pandemic-f15f7ec30eb50ab778f3f4a0b8d855b0">the delta variant</a>&nbsp;will prompt new lockdowns.

The aging department says it is working to ensure that residents and families have a voice in visitation policies, though some industry officials still see a need to proceed with caution.

The debate shows how operators feel they’re still facing tough choices after nursing homes were COVID-19 hot spots early on during the pandemic. It also shows how residents’ and families’ anguish and anger still linger.

“We hear about the threat of the COVID and the death from COVID, and its real,” Camille Russell, the state’s long-term care ombudsman, said Tuesday. “What we don’t understand is the pain and suffering and neglect and deaths that happen when there are not other people in the building.”

Clusters of COVID-19 cases in nursing homes accounted for fewer than 5% of the 324,000 cases reported by Kansas as of Monday but for nearly 39% of the state’s 5,200 reported deaths — more than 2,000 of them.

More than 90% of those cases and deaths happened before May 4, but they’re still happening, with nine active clusters as of last week. Meanwhile, confirmed delta variant cases grew by 84% during the 10-day period that ended Monday.

“It’s not time to fling the doors open with no guidance,” said Debra Zehr, CEO of LeadingAge Kansas, which represents nonprofit aging-services providers.

Limits on visitors, including lockdowns early in the pandemic, were aimed at preventing people from bringing COVID-19 into nursing homes, where elderly residents were particularly vulnerable to severe complications.

“Our families — our base — have basically been very, very supportive for the most part,” said Elizabeth Howarth, administrator of the Homestead Health Center in southwestern Wichita.

State and industry officials said homes’ current visitation policies are driven by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kdads.ks.gov/docs/default-source/covid-19/ach-data/visitation/long-term-care-visitation-guidance-update-5-7-21.pdf?sfvrsn=32790eee_4" target="_blank">guidance</a>&nbsp;from federal and state regulators and health officials. The guidance calls for restricting visitors when more than 10% of a county’s COVID-19 tests are positive and fewer than 70% of a home’s residents are vaccinated.

The state said its overall positivity rate was 8.1% on Friday, but the figure has been as high as 11.2% this month. The federal government says more than 84% of Kansas nursing home residents have been fully vaccinated, while the rate for staff is 55%.

Homestead Health in Wichita does not limit how many times family members can visit residents each week. But it requires appointments, keeps visits to 45 minutes and allows two adult visitors per resident.

Those policies took effect in March, when about 90% of the residents had been vaccinated. Howarth said most family members didn’t want to visit without being vaccinated themselves.

And, she added, “That pandemic train is still coming down the track.”

The aging department says it had received 40 calls about homes’ visitation rules on a telephone hotline this year through July 13, without any citations. Deputy Secretary Scott Brunner said the agency told homes in December that they must discuss with all residents what they want and what’s possible with visitors.

As for getting more aggressive about cracking down on homes that restrict visitors, he said, “We have to weigh more than just one consideration at a time.”

Russell said the long-term care ombudsman’s office took up 40 complaints from May 10 through July 10 and received hundreds of calls.

“Some facilities have perhaps gotten comfortable with being in charge of when residents can receive visitors,” said Margaret Farley, executive director of Kansas Advocates for Better. Care. “COVID is still lingering as a good excuse.”

In Ness City, Tatum Lee’s frustration with rules at the local county-run nursing home where her grandfather lives pushed her to seek a Kansas House seat last year. Once in office, Lee, a Republican, sponsored&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/documents/hb2327_00_0000.pdf" target="_blank">a bill that sought to</a>&nbsp;prevent county-run homes from restricting visits. It didn’t pass.

She’s still frustrated that visits with “my papa” are limited to an hour. Lee said family members monitor conditions and care at homes.

She said that last year, she had to ask workers at the local home when she saw them out in the community to give her grandfather hugs for her. Lee said she and others worry that homes will shut out visitors again if the area sees another wave of cases.

Lee also said families monitor their relatives’ care and, “It matters to the health of these residents.”

Ken Kennedy, a retired educator, said his mother’s isolation early in the pandemic at the Prairie Sunset Home in Pretty Prairie, west of Wichita, was “the worst part of it all.” In the fall, the home began putting up a tent in its courtyard for in-person visits, allowing him and other family members to see his mother regularly before she died in December.

The home’s administrator, Aaron Kelley, said residents thrived once restrictions were lifted. Prairie Sunset posts regulators’ guidance for visits on its website, but Kelley said he’s not having employees police them strictly, adding that, “Somebody’s going to hug somebody.”

“We’ve got to get back to humanity,” Kelley said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603391671069.png" alt="In October 2020, the Garden Valley Healthcare Center reported Ninety-eight residents and 44 employees had tested positive for COVID-19 -Google image" />
 <figcaption>In October 2020, the Garden Valley Healthcare Center reported Ninety-eight residents and 44 employees had tested positive for COVID-19 -Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN HANNATOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Families and advocates for the elderly in Kansas argue that with most nursing home residents vaccinated against COVID-19, some facilities’ visiting rules need to be relaxed, though the delta variant’s spread is making operators nervous.A state official who investigates complaints against nursing homes and the elder-care focused Kansas Advocates for Better Care are calling on the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services to crack down on homes that aren’t open enough. They’re concerned that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-government-and-politics-coronavirus-pandemic-f15f7ec30eb50ab778f3f4a0b8d855b0">the delta variant</a>&nbsp;will prompt new lockdowns.The aging department says it is working to ensure that residents and families have a voice in visitation policies, though some industry officials still see a need to proceed with caution.The debate shows how operators feel they’re still facing tough choices after nursing homes were COVID-19 hot spots early on during the pandemic. It also shows how residents’ and families’ anguish and anger still linger.“We hear about the threat of the COVID and the death from COVID, and its real,” Camille Russell, the state’s long-term care ombudsman, said Tuesday. “What we don’t understand is the pain and suffering and neglect and deaths that happen when there are not other people in the building.”Clusters of COVID-19 cases in nursing homes accounted for fewer than 5% of the 324,000 cases reported by Kansas as of Monday but for nearly 39% of the state’s 5,200 reported deaths — more than 2,000 of them.More than 90% of those cases and deaths happened before May 4, but they’re still happening, with nine active clusters as of last week. Meanwhile, confirmed delta variant cases grew by 84% during the 10-day period that ended Monday.“It’s not time to fling the doors open with no guidance,” said Debra Zehr, CEO of LeadingAge Kansas, which represents nonprofit aging-services providers.Limits on visitors, including lockdowns early in the pandemic, were aimed at preventing people from bringing COVID-19 into nursing homes, where elderly residents were particularly vulnerable to severe complications.“Our families — our base — have basically been very, very supportive for the most part,” said Elizabeth Howarth, administrator of the Homestead Health Center in southwestern Wichita.State and industry officials said homes’ current visitation policies are driven by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kdads.ks.gov/docs/default-source/covid-19/ach-data/visitation/long-term-care-visitation-guidance-update-5-7-21.pdf?sfvrsn=32790eee_4" target="_blank">guidance</a>&nbsp;from federal and state regulators and health officials. The guidance calls for restricting visitors when more than 10% of a county’s COVID-19 tests are positive and fewer than 70% of a home’s residents are vaccinated.The state said its overall positivity rate was 8.1% on Friday, but the figure has been as high as 11.2% this month. The federal government says more than 84% of Kansas nursing home residents have been fully vaccinated, while the rate for staff is 55%.Homestead Health in Wichita does not limit how many times family members can visit residents each week. But it requires appointments, keeps visits to 45 minutes and allows two adult visitors per resident.Those policies took effect in March, when about 90% of the residents had been vaccinated. Howarth said most family members didn’t want to visit without being vaccinated themselves.And, she added, “That pandemic train is still coming down the track.”The aging department says it had received 40 calls about homes’ visitation rules on a telephone hotline this year through July 13, without any citations. Deputy Secretary Scott Brunner said the agency told homes in December that they must discuss with all residents what they want and what’s possible with visitors.As for getting more aggressive about cracking down on homes that restrict visitors, he said, “We have to weigh more than just one consideration at a time.”Russell said the long-term care ombudsman’s office took up 40 complaints from May 10 through July 10 and received hundreds of calls.“Some facilities have perhaps gotten comfortable with being in charge of when residents can receive visitors,” said Margaret Farley, executive director of Kansas Advocates for Better. Care. “COVID is still lingering as a good excuse.”In Ness City, Tatum Lee’s frustration with rules at the local county-run nursing home where her grandfather lives pushed her to seek a Kansas House seat last year. Once in office, Lee, a Republican, sponsored&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/documents/hb2327_00_0000.pdf" target="_blank">a bill that sought to</a>&nbsp;prevent county-run homes from restricting visits. It didn’t pass.She’s still frustrated that visits with “my papa” are limited to an hour. Lee said family members monitor conditions and care at homes.She said that last year, she had to ask workers at the local home when she saw them out in the community to give her grandfather hugs for her. Lee said she and others worry that homes will shut out visitors again if the area sees another wave of cases.Lee also said families monitor their relatives’ care and, “It matters to the health of these residents.”Ken Kennedy, a retired educator, said his mother’s isolation early in the pandemic at the Prairie Sunset Home in Pretty Prairie, west of Wichita, was “the worst part of it all.” In the fall, the home began putting up a tent in its courtyard for in-person visits, allowing him and other family members to see his mother regularly before she died in December.The home’s administrator, Aaron Kelley, said residents thrived once restrictions were lifted. Prairie Sunset posts regulators’ guidance for visits on its website, but Kelley said he’s not having employees police them strictly, adding that, “Somebody’s going to hug somebody.”“We’ve got to get back to humanity,” Kelley said.

Kansas debate heats up over nursing homes' visitor rules

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A major Kansas health system is declining to admit patients from other hospitals because it has too few open beds with the faster-spreading delta variant wiping out recent months of progress for the state in containing COVID-19.

Dr. Steve Stites, the chief medical officer for the University of Kansas Health System, said Wednesday that the bed space problem at its main hospital in Kansas City, Kansas, is now worse than it was last fall, when the average number of new cases per day was climbing toward pandemic highs. He said the hospital had open beds then because people were wearing masks and social distancing, and doctors weren’t seeing other infections.

Kansas is seeing its highest averages for new COVID-19 cases since late February, as confirmed cases of the fast-spreading delta variant surge, data shows. Stites said the University of Kansas Health System is turning down between one and six patient transfers per day, and the problem will get worse as new cases keep climbing.

“We are full as a hospital, and because we are full, we cannot take transfers,” Stites said during a daily webcast. “The rest of our hospital is running full steam.”

Stites’ comments came a day after the health system announced that thousands of employees will receive bonuses of $1,250 after battling the coronavirus pandemic. A spokesperson called the bonuses “a special thank-you gift."

Top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature on June 15 ended a state of emergency for the pandemic over Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s objections. The following week, the average number of new cases per day dropped below 100 for the first time in a year.

But new cases have been rising over the past four weeks. State Department of Health and Environment data showed that Kansas had an average of 495 new cases per day during the seven-day period that ended Wednesday, which was more than double the average for the seven-day period that ended July 7, two weeks earlier.

Confirmed delta variant cases tripled during that two-week period, from 358 on July 7 to 1,104 as of Wednesday. Confirming which variant sickened someone requires genetic testing of the patient’s nasal swab or saliva sample, and 7.8% of the samples from positive COVID-19 results have undergone such testing this month.

Kelly so far has remained focused on increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday that about 1.26 million Kansas residents, or 43.2% of the state’s 2.9 million residents, have been fully vaccinated. That lagged behind the national rate of 48.8% and far behind the state with the highest rate, Vermont, where 67.1% of people had been inoculated as of Wednesday. Vaccinations in Kansas peaked in early April.

Asked Tuesday at the Statehouse whether there is a point at which she’d consider declaring another state of emergency, the governor said, “There is no red line.”

“We’re focused on doing what we can to get people vaccinated and make the delta variant irrelevant to them,” she said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1584374089535.png" alt="“We are full as a hospital, and because we are full, we cannot take transfers,” Steve Stites, MD, Chief Medical Officer said during a daily webcast" />
 <figcaption>“We are full as a hospital, and because we are full, we cannot take transfers,” Steve Stites, MD, Chief Medical Officer said during a daily webcast</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A major Kansas health system is declining to admit patients from other hospitals because it has too few open beds with the faster-spreading delta variant wiping out recent months of progress for the state in containing COVID-19.Dr. Steve Stites, the chief medical officer for the University of Kansas Health System, said Wednesday that the bed space problem at its main hospital in Kansas City, Kansas, is now worse than it was last fall, when the average number of new cases per day was climbing toward pandemic highs. He said the hospital had open beds then because people were wearing masks and social distancing, and doctors weren’t seeing other infections.Kansas is seeing its highest averages for new COVID-19 cases since late February, as confirmed cases of the fast-spreading delta variant surge, data shows. Stites said the University of Kansas Health System is turning down between one and six patient transfers per day, and the problem will get worse as new cases keep climbing.“We are full as a hospital, and because we are full, we cannot take transfers,” Stites said during a daily webcast. “The rest of our hospital is running full steam.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1626887354242.png" alt="Wednesday July 21, 2021 KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Wednesday July 21, 2021 KDHE image</figcaption>
 </figure>Stites’ comments came a day after the health system announced that thousands of employees will receive bonuses of $1,250 after battling the coronavirus pandemic. A spokesperson called the bonuses “a special thank-you gift."Top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature on June 15 ended a state of emergency for the pandemic over Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s objections. The following week, the average number of new cases per day dropped below 100 for the first time in a year.But new cases have been rising over the past four weeks. State Department of Health and Environment data showed that Kansas had an average of 495 new cases per day during the seven-day period that ended Wednesday, which was more than double the average for the seven-day period that ended July 7, two weeks earlier.Confirmed delta variant cases tripled during that two-week period, from 358 on July 7 to 1,104 as of Wednesday. Confirming which variant sickened someone requires genetic testing of the patient’s nasal swab or saliva sample, and 7.8% of the samples from positive COVID-19 results have undergone such testing this month.Kelly so far has remained focused on increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates.The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday that about 1.26 million Kansas residents, or 43.2% of the state’s 2.9 million residents, have been fully vaccinated. That lagged behind the national rate of 48.8% and far behind the state with the highest rate, Vermont, where 67.1% of people had been inoculated as of Wednesday. Vaccinations in Kansas peaked in early April.Asked Tuesday at the Statehouse whether there is a point at which she’d consider declaring another state of emergency, the governor said, “There is no red line.”“We’re focused on doing what we can to get people vaccinated and make the delta variant irrelevant to them,” she said.___

COVID: Kan. health system declining to take patient transfers

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 34-year-old Kansas man has been convicted in the deaths of a woman and her cousin in Topeka. 

Richard Showalter, of Greenleaf in Washington County, was convicted Tuesday for his role in the beating and stabbing deaths of 28-year-old Lisa Sportsman and her 17-year-old cousin, Jesse Polinskey in July 2018. 

Showalter was the third man convicted in the case. Lisa Sportsman was the estranged wife of 43-year-old Bradley Sportsman, of Hollenberg, who pleaded guilty in October to two counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to almost 46 years in prison.

The third suspect, 22-year-old Matthew Hutto, of Clay Center, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1574611652984.png" alt="Richard Showalter photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Richard Showalter photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 34-year-old Kansas man has been convicted in the deaths of a woman and her cousin in Topeka. Richard Showalter, of Greenleaf in Washington County, was convicted Tuesday for his role in the beating and stabbing deaths of 28-year-old Lisa Sportsman and her 17-year-old cousin, Jesse Polinskey in July 2018. <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1574350781439.png" alt="Sportsman photo Shawnee County" />
 <figcaption>Sportsman photo Shawnee County</figcaption>
 </figure>Showalter was the third man convicted in the case. Lisa Sportsman was the estranged wife of 43-year-old Bradley Sportsman, of Hollenberg, who pleaded guilty in October to two counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to almost 46 years in prison.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1625951183808.png" alt="Matthew Hutto photo KDOC" />
 <figcaption>Matthew Hutto photo KDOC</figcaption>
 </figure>The third suspect, 22-year-old Matthew Hutto, of Clay Center, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.

Man convicted in murder of Kan. woman, her teen cousin

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans rejected an effort Wednesday to begin debate on the big&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-senate-infrastructure-deal-731487d7540cdf7e48c27124c43cc2d1">infrastructure deal</a>&nbsp;that a bipartisan group of senators brokered with President Joe Biden, but pressure was mounting as supporters insisted they just needed more time before another vote possibly next week.

“Our farmers and ranchers should not be forced to shoulder the Democrats’ trillion dollar spending spree to expand social programs,”&nbsp;said Sen. Moran. “Our tax code should work for American families, not against them, and especially for family farms and ranches that often lack the cash flows to make ends meet.”

Senator Roger Marshall said, "We’ve still not seen full details of this plan or how it will be paid for. With Democrats on an unprecedented spending spree and our economy feeling the pinch of inflation, I could not vote to advance this legislation when I’ve still not even seen the bill text.”&nbsp;

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had scheduled the procedural vote to nudge along negotiations that have dragged for weeks. But Republicans mounted a filibuster, saying the bipartisan group still had a few unresolved issues and needed to review the final details. They sought a delay until Monday.

“We have made significant progress and are close to a final agreement,” the bipartisan group of senators, 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats, said in a joint statement after the vote. The senators said they were optimistic they could finish up “in the coming days.”

The nearly $1 trillion measure over five years includes about $579 billion in new spending on roads, broadband and other public works projects — a first phase of Biden’s infrastructure agenda, to be followed by a much broader $3.5 trillion measure from Democrats next month.

Biden’s top priority is at a critical juncture, posing a test of his ability to forge bipartisan cooperation in Washington and make investments the White House views as crucial to the nation’s ability to pull out of the COVID-19 crisis and spur economic growth.

The president&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-health-government-and-politics-ohio-coronavirus-pandemic-e9e474eca353b3a188f9b05d3ec0ebef">traveled to Ohio later Wednesday to promote his economic policies,&nbsp;</a>and was calling his infrastructure agenda a “blue-collar blueprint for building an American economy back.” He has said that Americans overwhelmingly support his plan.

In a CNN town hall, Biden also talked up the benefits of the bipartisan framework, saying, “It’s a good thing and I think we’re going to get it done.” He also made passing reference to the dangerously outdated Brent Spence Bridge across the Ohio River, saying they’ll “fix that damn bridge of yours.”

At another point, Biden was asked by a union electrician if it was possible to bring Congress together to pass an infrastructure bill that would help the region replace the bridge.

“The answer is, absolutely, positively, yes,” the president said.

The party-line vote blocked the bill from advancing, 51-49, and fell far short of the 60 votes required under Senate rules. Schumer switched his vote to “no” at the end, a procedural step that would allow him to move to quickly reconsider.

The bipartisan group has labored for days with Biden aides to strike a deal, which would be a first phase of the president’s eventual $4 trillion-plus package of domestic outlays — not just for roads and bridges, but foundations of everyday life including child care, family tax breaks, education and an expansion of Medicare for seniors.

The next steps are uncertain, but the bipartisan group insists it is close to a deal and expects to finish soon.

“We’re voting no today because we’re not ready, but we’re saying we do want to take up this bill as soon as we are,” said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a leader of the effort. “I think that’ll be Monday.”

At least 11 Republicans signed on to a letter to Schumer saying they would vote yes to proceed on Monday, if certain details about the package are ready.

Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana was among the Republicans who signed the letter and said he was “cautiously optimistic” they can reach a bipartisan deal.

Restless Democrats, who are facing a crowded calendar while trying to deliver on Biden’s priorities, nevertheless said they are willing to wait if a deal is within reach.

“I’m willing to give it another chance next week,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “But we need to fish or cut bait.”

The senators in the bipartisan group were joined for a private lunch ahead of the vote by the two leaders of the House’s Problem Solvers Caucus, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., a bipartisan group generally supportive of the effort.

Schumer said senators are in the fourth week of negotiations after reaching agreement on a broad framework for infrastructure spending with the White House. He said Wednesday’s vote was no different from other times when the Senate sought to get the ball rolling on debate and “not a deadline to have every final detail worked out.”

But Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky encouraged Republicans to vote against it, called the vote a “stunt” that would fail, but he emphasized senators were “still negotiating in good faith across the aisle.”

“Around here, we typically write the bills before we vote on them,” he said.

Biden has been in touch with both Democrats and Republicans for several days, and White House press secretary Jen Psaki traveling with the president Wednesday on Air Force One, said the administration was “encouraged.”

While Biden proposes paying for his proposals with a tax hike on corporations and wealthy Americans who earn more than $400,000 a year, the bipartisan group has been working almost around the clock to figure out a compromise to pay for its package, having dashed ideas for boosting the federal gas tax or strengthening the IRS to go after tax scofflaws.

Instead, senators in the bipartisan group are considering rolling back a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-medication-prescription-drug-costs-medicare-prescription-drugs-e171198402445755b920842ded293b59">Trump-era rule on pharmaceutical rebates&nbsp;</a>that could bring in $170 billion, some of which could be used for infrastructure. They are also targeting unspent COVID-19 relief aid to health care providers and extending multiyear, modest reductions in a wide array of federal benefit programs, according to two people familiar with the talks who described the details on condition of anonymity.

Senators are also still haggling over public transit funds. Typically, spending from the federal Highway Trust Fund has followed the formula of 80% for highways and 20% for transit. Some Republicans are concerned that the ratio would change to 82%-18% under the bipartisan bill, said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans rejected an effort Wednesday to begin debate on the big&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-senate-infrastructure-deal-731487d7540cdf7e48c27124c43cc2d1">infrastructure deal</a>&nbsp;that a bipartisan group of senators brokered with President Joe Biden, but pressure was mounting as supporters insisted they just needed more time before another vote possibly next week.<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YE4eU85d5IY" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>“Our farmers and ranchers should not be forced to shoulder the Democrats’ trillion dollar spending spree to expand social programs,”&nbsp;said Sen. Moran. “Our tax code should work for American families, not against them, and especially for family farms and ranches that often lack the cash flows to make ends meet.”Senator Roger Marshall said, "We’ve still not seen full details of this plan or how it will be paid for. With Democrats on an unprecedented spending spree and our economy feeling the pinch of inflation, I could not vote to advance this legislation when I’ve still not even seen the bill text.”&nbsp;Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had scheduled the procedural vote to nudge along negotiations that have dragged for weeks. But Republicans mounted a filibuster, saying the bipartisan group still had a few unresolved issues and needed to review the final details. They sought a delay until Monday.“We have made significant progress and are close to a final agreement,” the bipartisan group of senators, 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats, said in a joint statement after the vote. The senators said they were optimistic they could finish up “in the coming days.”The nearly $1 trillion measure over five years includes about $579 billion in new spending on roads, broadband and other public works projects — a first phase of Biden’s infrastructure agenda, to be followed by a much broader $3.5 trillion measure from Democrats next month.Biden’s top priority is at a critical juncture, posing a test of his ability to forge bipartisan cooperation in Washington and make investments the White House views as crucial to the nation’s ability to pull out of the COVID-19 crisis and spur economic growth.The president&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-health-government-and-politics-ohio-coronavirus-pandemic-e9e474eca353b3a188f9b05d3ec0ebef">traveled to Ohio later Wednesday to promote his economic policies,&nbsp;</a>and was calling his infrastructure agenda a “blue-collar blueprint for building an American economy back.” He has said that Americans overwhelmingly support his plan.In a CNN town hall, Biden also talked up the benefits of the bipartisan framework, saying, “It’s a good thing and I think we’re going to get it done.” He also made passing reference to the dangerously outdated Brent Spence Bridge across the Ohio River, saying they’ll “fix that damn bridge of yours.”At another point, Biden was asked by a union electrician if it was possible to bring Congress together to pass an infrastructure bill that would help the region replace the bridge.“The answer is, absolutely, positively, yes,” the president said.The party-line vote blocked the bill from advancing, 51-49, and fell far short of the 60 votes required under Senate rules. Schumer switched his vote to “no” at the end, a procedural step that would allow him to move to quickly reconsider.The bipartisan group has labored for days with Biden aides to strike a deal, which would be a first phase of the president’s eventual $4 trillion-plus package of domestic outlays — not just for roads and bridges, but foundations of everyday life including child care, family tax breaks, education and an expansion of Medicare for seniors.The next steps are uncertain, but the bipartisan group insists it is close to a deal and expects to finish soon.“We’re voting no today because we’re not ready, but we’re saying we do want to take up this bill as soon as we are,” said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a leader of the effort. “I think that’ll be Monday.”At least 11 Republicans signed on to a letter to Schumer saying they would vote yes to proceed on Monday, if certain details about the package are ready.Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana was among the Republicans who signed the letter and said he was “cautiously optimistic” they can reach a bipartisan deal.Restless Democrats, who are facing a crowded calendar while trying to deliver on Biden’s priorities, nevertheless said they are willing to wait if a deal is within reach.“I’m willing to give it another chance next week,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “But we need to fish or cut bait.”The senators in the bipartisan group were joined for a private lunch ahead of the vote by the two leaders of the House’s Problem Solvers Caucus, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., a bipartisan group generally supportive of the effort.Schumer said senators are in the fourth week of negotiations after reaching agreement on a broad framework for infrastructure spending with the White House. He said Wednesday’s vote was no different from other times when the Senate sought to get the ball rolling on debate and “not a deadline to have every final detail worked out.”But Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky encouraged Republicans to vote against it, called the vote a “stunt” that would fail, but he emphasized senators were “still negotiating in good faith across the aisle.”“Around here, we typically write the bills before we vote on them,” he said.Biden has been in touch with both Democrats and Republicans for several days, and White House press secretary Jen Psaki traveling with the president Wednesday on Air Force One, said the administration was “encouraged.”While Biden proposes paying for his proposals with a tax hike on corporations and wealthy Americans who earn more than $400,000 a year, the bipartisan group has been working almost around the clock to figure out a compromise to pay for its package, having dashed ideas for boosting the federal gas tax or strengthening the IRS to go after tax scofflaws.Instead, senators in the bipartisan group are considering rolling back a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-medication-prescription-drug-costs-medicare-prescription-drugs-e171198402445755b920842ded293b59">Trump-era rule on pharmaceutical rebates&nbsp;</a>that could bring in $170 billion, some of which could be used for infrastructure. They are also targeting unspent COVID-19 relief aid to health care providers and extending multiyear, modest reductions in a wide array of federal benefit programs, according to two people familiar with the talks who described the details on condition of anonymity.Senators are also still haggling over public transit funds. Typically, spending from the federal Highway Trust Fund has followed the formula of 80% for highways and 20% for transit. Some Republicans are concerned that the ratio would change to 82%-18% under the bipartisan bill, said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah.“Big numbers are involved,” Romney said.But Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said: “There’s not a lot of sentiment for public transit on their side. They don’t really believe in the word ‘public.’”Ten Republicans would have been needed in the evenly split Senate to join all 50 Democrats in reaching the 60-vote threshold required to advance the bill past a filibuster to formal consideration.Many Republicans are wary of moving ahead with the first, relatively slim package, fearing it will pave the way for the broader $3.5 trillion effort Democrats are preparing to pass on their own under special budget rules that only require 51 votes. Vice President Kamala Harris can break a tie.Democrats hope to show progress on that bill before lawmakers leave Washington for their recess in August.Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been working to keep restless House Democrats in line as they grow impatient with the sluggish Senate pace.Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, sent a letter with 30 Democrats on the panel warning that the Senate proposal was inadequate and that House lawmakers want a seat at the negotiating table for any final product.___