What is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and will I need one?

“Vaccine passports,” or vaccine certificates, are documents that show you were vaccinated against COVID-19 or recently tested negative for the virus. They could help you get into places such as stadiums or even countries that are looking to reopen safely.

The certificates are still being developed, and how and whether they’ll be used could vary widely around the world. Experts say they should be free and available on paper, not just on apps, since not everyone has a smartphone.

In the U.S., federal officials say there are no plans to make them broadly mandatory. In some states, Republican governors have issued orders barring businesses or state agencies from asking people to show proof of vaccination.

Objections revolve mostly around privacy and security — how people’s personal information will be stored — and fairness. Critics say the passports will benefit people and countries with more access to vaccines.

Supporters say they could make reopenings faster and easier. Proof of vaccination or a negative test could be a way for businesses and schools to reassure customers, students and parents that steps are being taken to limit transmission of the virus.

International travel bans by countries could also be eased if people are able to show proof they’re vaccinated. Some countries have long had requirements to prove vaccination against yellow fever.

Still, a challenge is creating certification systems that work across vaccine providers and businesses. More than a dozen initiatives are underway to develop a credential that could be stored on a smartphone or printed on paper, using a QR code.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1617326081667.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By DAVID KOENIG, Associated PressWhat is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and will I need one?“Vaccine passports,” or vaccine certificates, are documents that show you were vaccinated against COVID-19 or recently tested negative for the virus. They could help you get into places such as stadiums or even countries that are looking to reopen safely.The certificates are still being developed, and how and whether they’ll be used could vary widely around the world. Experts say they should be free and available on paper, not just on apps, since not everyone has a smartphone.In the U.S., federal officials say there are no plans to make them broadly mandatory. In some states, Republican governors have issued orders barring businesses or state agencies from asking people to show proof of vaccination.Objections revolve mostly around privacy and security — how people’s personal information will be stored — and fairness. Critics say the passports will benefit people and countries with more access to vaccines.Supporters say they could make reopenings faster and easier. Proof of vaccination or a negative test could be a way for businesses and schools to reassure customers, students and parents that steps are being taken to limit transmission of the virus.International travel bans by countries could also be eased if people are able to show proof they’re vaccinated. Some countries have long had requirements to prove vaccination against yellow fever.Still, a challenge is creating certification systems that work across vaccine providers and businesses. More than a dozen initiatives are underway to develop a credential that could be stored on a smartphone or printed on paper, using a QR code.___

What is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and will you need one?

TOPEKA— The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas increased by 429 to a total of 306,290, the state health department reported Monday afternoon.&nbsp;

Total coronavirus deaths were reported at 4955, an increase of 2.

<a href="https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/158/Data">Click here for Data</a> about the COVID-19 vaccine.

<a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">Click here&nbsp;</a>for additional virus numbers from the KDHE.

TOPEKA— The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas increased by 429 to a total of 306,290, the state health department reported Monday afternoon.&nbsp;Total coronavirus deaths were reported at 4955, an increase of 2.<a href="https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/158/Data">Click here for Data</a> about the COVID-19 vaccine.<a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">Click here&nbsp;</a>for additional virus numbers from the KDHE.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618853437938.png" alt="Monday April 19, 2021 KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Monday April 19, 2021 KDHE image</figcaption>
 </figure>

KDHE: Latest coronavirus numbers in Kansas

SALINE COUNTY —A Fort Riley teen was arrested after a brief pursuit on E. Old Highway 40 in Saline County late Friday&nbsp;

On Friday evening, a deputy sheriff was sent to Interstate 70&nbsp; east of Salina for the report of someone in a red Scion driving erratically near Niles Road, according to Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan.

 As the deputy was driving north on N. Niles Road, he passed a southbound red Scion that was drifting out of its lane.

The deputy turned around and followed the Scion, which sped up to 108 mph after it turned west onto E. Old Highway 40, Soldan said. 

The deputy then turned on his vehicle's flashing lights, but the driver later identified as 18-year-old Daniel Scott failed to stop. The vehicle increased its speed to 115 mph while failing to maintain a lane.

The Scion eventually stopped at the intersection of N. Marymount Road and E. Old Highway 40 and Scott got out of the vehicle and surrendered, according to Soldan.&nbsp;

Scott was arrested on requested charges of Flee and elude, Reckless driving, Driving without a valid license, Illegal tag, Speeding and No insurance

According to the sheriff, Scott had just purchased the car and was learning to drive it.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618668401060.jpeg" alt="Scott photo Saline Co." />
 <figcaption>Scott photo Saline Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SALINE COUNTY —A Fort Riley teen was arrested after a brief pursuit on E. Old Highway 40 in Saline County late Friday&nbsp;On Friday evening, a deputy sheriff was sent to Interstate 70&nbsp; east of Salina for the report of someone in a red Scion driving erratically near Niles Road, according to Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan. As the deputy was driving north on N. Niles Road, he passed a southbound red Scion that was drifting out of its lane.The deputy turned around and followed the Scion, which sped up to 108 mph after it turned west onto E. Old Highway 40, Soldan said. The deputy then turned on his vehicle's flashing lights, but the driver later identified as 18-year-old Daniel Scott failed to stop. The vehicle increased its speed to 115 mph while failing to maintain a lane.The Scion eventually stopped at the intersection of N. Marymount Road and E. Old Highway 40 and Scott got out of the vehicle and surrendered, according to Soldan.&nbsp;Scott was arrested on requested charges of Flee and elude, Reckless driving, Driving without a valid license, Illegal tag, Speeding and No insuranceAccording to the sheriff, Scott had just purchased the car and was learning to drive it.

Kan. teen in newly purchased car arrested after 115mph chase

TOPEKA —&nbsp;Former Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer officially launched his campaign in the 2022 race for governor on Monday.&nbsp;

He made the announcement during a news conference in Topeka. Kansas Senator Roger Marshall attended the news conference and announced his support for Colyer's bid to win the GOP nomination to run against Democrat Governor Laura Kelly.

In March, GOP Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced his campaign for governor.

Colyer was governor for a little less than a year after serving seven years as GOP Gov. Sam Brownback’s lieutenant governor.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/9291de4d840f4bb88dde5fa699d87abc">He rose</a>&nbsp;to the higher office in January 2018, when Brownback resigned to become&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/4626e11a24c1415195cc4774b23961de">U.S. ambassador</a>&nbsp;for international religious freedom under President Donald Trump.

Colyer, a reconstructive plastic surgeon and former state legislator from Overland Park, was the architect of much of Brownback’s health policy. They opposed expanding the state’s Medicaid health coverage for the needy, which Kelly has advocated without success in the Legislature.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618844863824.png" alt="During a news conference Monday, former governor Jeff Colyer said his message is clear, "I won’t back down from the fight ahead. We must take back our freedoms and get our state back on track."" />
 <figcaption>During a news conference Monday, former governor Jeff Colyer said his message is clear, "I won’t back down from the fight ahead. We must take back our freedoms and get our state back on track."</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA —&nbsp;Former Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer officially launched his campaign in the 2022 race for governor on Monday.&nbsp;<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FJeffColyerMD%2Fvideos%2F136055878488580%2F&show_text=false&width=560" 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>He made the announcement during a news conference in Topeka. Kansas Senator Roger Marshall attended the news conference and announced his support for Colyer's bid to win the GOP nomination to run against Democrat Governor Laura Kelly.In March, GOP Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced his campaign for governor.Colyer was governor for a little less than a year after serving seven years as GOP Gov. Sam Brownback’s lieutenant governor.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/9291de4d840f4bb88dde5fa699d87abc">He rose</a>&nbsp;to the higher office in January 2018, when Brownback resigned to become&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/4626e11a24c1415195cc4774b23961de">U.S. ambassador</a>&nbsp;for international religious freedom under President Donald Trump.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618844745215.png" alt="Colyer and Senator Roger Marshall ahead of Monday's news conference- image courtesy Colyer campaign" />
 <figcaption>Colyer and Senator Roger Marshall ahead of Monday's news conference- image courtesy Colyer campaign</figcaption>
 </figure>Colyer, a reconstructive plastic surgeon and former state legislator from Overland Park, was the architect of much of Brownback’s health policy. They opposed expanding the state’s Medicaid health coverage for the needy, which Kelly has advocated without success in the Legislature.

🎥 Former Kan. Governor kicks off campaign for 2022 bid

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A boy shot over the weekend at a hotel near a Kansas City theme park has died from his injuries, police said.

The shooting happened around 7 p.m. Saturday inside Hometowne Studios, which sits west of Interstate 435 across from Worlds of Fun, according to a police news release.

The teen was taken to a hospital in critical condition, where he underwent surgery, police said. The teen died of his injuries on Sunday, police said. His name had not been released by Monday morning.

Police said homicide detectives have a person of interest in the case but are still looking for more information on the shooting from the public.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A child was shot and critically hurt Saturday evening in north Kansas City.

Police said officers were called to a hotel near Worlds of Fun shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday. At the Hometowne Studios hotel, they found a boy with a gunshot wound.

The boy was taken to a hospital where he underwent surgery. Police said he remained in critical condition Sunday morning.

Police did not release any details of the shooting, and no arrests were reported immediately Sunday.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A boy shot over the weekend at a hotel near a Kansas City theme park has died from his injuries, police said.The shooting happened around 7 p.m. Saturday inside Hometowne Studios, which sits west of Interstate 435 across from Worlds of Fun, according to a police news release.The teen was taken to a hospital in critical condition, where he underwent surgery, police said. The teen died of his injuries on Sunday, police said. His name had not been released by Monday morning.Police said homicide detectives have a person of interest in the case but are still looking for more information on the shooting from the public.---------KANSAS CITY (AP) — A child was shot and critically hurt Saturday evening in north Kansas City.Police said officers were called to a hotel near Worlds of Fun shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday. At the Hometowne Studios hotel, they found a boy with a gunshot wound.The boy was taken to a hospital where he underwent surgery. Police said he remained in critical condition Sunday morning.Police did not release any details of the shooting, and no arrests were reported immediately Sunday.

Police: Boy shot near Worlds of Fun has died

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s experimental Mars helicopter rose from the dusty red surface into the planet’s thin air on Monday, achieving the first powered flight on another planet.

The triumph was hailed as a Wright Brothers moment. The mini 4-pound copter named Ingenuity, in fact, carried a bit of wing fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer, which made similar history at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

“Altimeter data confirms that Ingenuity has performed its first flight, the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet,” said the helicopter’s chief pilot back on Earth, Havard Grip, his voice breaking as his teammates erupted in cheers.

Flight controllers in California confirmed Ingenuity’s brief hop after receiving data via the Perseverance rover, which stood watch more than 200 feet away. Ingenuity hitched a ride to Mars on Perseverance, clinging to the rover’s belly upon their arrival in an ancient river delta in February.

The $85 million helicopter demo was considered high risk, yet high reward.

“Each world gets only one first flight,” project manager MiMi Aung noted earlier this month. Speaking on a NASA webcast early Monday, she called it the “ultimate dream.”

Aung and her team had to wait more than three excruciating hours before learning whether the pre-programmed flight had succeeded 178 million miles away. Adding to their anxiety: A software error prevented the helicopter from lifting off a week earlier and had engineers scrambling to come up with a fix.

Applause, cheers and laughter erupted in the operations center when success was finally declared. More followed when the first black and white photo from Ingenuity appeared on their screens, showing its shadow as it hovered above the surface of Mars. Next came the stunning color images of the helicopter descending back to the surface, taken by Perseverance, “the best host little Ingenuity could ever hope for,” Aung said in thanking everyone.

NASA had been aiming for a 40-second flight, and while details were initially sparse, the craft hit all its targets: spin-up, takeoff, hover, descent and landing.

To accomplish all that, the helicopter’s twin, counter-rotating rotor blades needed to spin at 2,500 revolutions per minute — five times faster than on Earth. With an atmosphere just 1 percent the thickness of Earth’s, engineers had to build a helicopter light enough — with blades spinning fast enough — to generate this otherworldy lift. At the same time, it had to be sturdy enough to withstand the Martian wind and extreme cold.

More than six years in the making, Ingenuity is a barebones 1.6 feet tall, a spindly four-legged chopper. Its fuselage, containing all the batteries, heaters and sensors, is the size of a tissue box. The carbon-fiber, foam-filled rotors are the biggest pieces: Each pair stretches 4 feet&nbsp; tip to tip.

The helicopter is topped with a solar panel for recharging the batteries, crucial for its survival during the minus-130 degree Fahrenheit (minus-90 degree-Celsius) Martian nights.

NASA chose a flat, relatively rock-free patch for Ingenuity’s airfield, measuring 33 feet by 33 feet It turned out to be less than 100 feet from the original landing site in Jezero Crater. The helicopter was released from the rover onto the airfield on April 3. Flight commands were sent Sunday, after controllers sent up a software correction for the rotor blade spin-up.

The little chopper with a giant job attracted attention from around the world, from the moment it launched with Perseverance last July until now. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger joined in the fun, rooting for Ingenuity over the weekend via Twitter. “Get to the chopper!” he shouted, re-enacting a line from his 1987 sci-fi film “Predator.”

Up to five helicopter flights are planned, each one increasingly ambitious. If successful, the demo could lead the way to a fleet of Martian drones in decades to come, providing aerial views, transporting packages and serving as scouts for astronauts. High-altitude helicopters here on Earth could also benefit — imagine choppers easily navigating the Himalayas.

Ingenuity’s team has until the beginning of May to complete the test flights. That’s because the rover needs to get on with its main mission: collecting rock samples that could hold evidence of past Martian life, for return to Earth a decade from now.

Until then, Perseverance will keep watch over Ingenuity. Flight engineers affectionately call them Percy and Ginny. “Big sister’s watching,” said Malin Space Science Systems’ Elsa Jensen, the rover’s lead camera operator.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618833026464.png" alt="NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took this shot while hovering over the Martian surface on April 19, 2021, during the first instance of powered, controlled flight on another planet. It used its navigation camera, which autonomously tracks the ground during flight-image courtesy NASA" />
 <figcaption>NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took this shot while hovering over the Martian surface on April 19, 2021, during the first instance of powered, controlled flight on another planet. It used its navigation camera, which autonomously tracks the ground during flight-image courtesy NASA</figcaption>
 </figure>CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s experimental Mars helicopter rose from the dusty red surface into the planet’s thin air on Monday, achieving the first powered flight on another planet.The triumph was hailed as a Wright Brothers moment. The mini 4-pound copter named Ingenuity, in fact, carried a bit of wing fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer, which made similar history at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.“Altimeter data confirms that Ingenuity has performed its first flight, the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet,” said the helicopter’s chief pilot back on Earth, Havard Grip, his voice breaking as his teammates erupted in cheers.Flight controllers in California confirmed Ingenuity’s brief hop after receiving data via the Perseverance rover, which stood watch more than 200 feet away. Ingenuity hitched a ride to Mars on Perseverance, clinging to the rover’s belly upon their arrival in an ancient river delta in February.The $85 million helicopter demo was considered high risk, yet high reward.“Each world gets only one first flight,” project manager MiMi Aung noted earlier this month. Speaking on a NASA webcast early Monday, she called it the “ultimate dream.”Aung and her team had to wait more than three excruciating hours before learning whether the pre-programmed flight had succeeded 178 million miles away. Adding to their anxiety: A software error prevented the helicopter from lifting off a week earlier and had engineers scrambling to come up with a fix.Applause, cheers and laughter erupted in the operations center when success was finally declared. More followed when the first black and white photo from Ingenuity appeared on their screens, showing its shadow as it hovered above the surface of Mars. Next came the stunning color images of the helicopter descending back to the surface, taken by Perseverance, “the best host little Ingenuity could ever hope for,” Aung said in thanking everyone.NASA had been aiming for a 40-second flight, and while details were initially sparse, the craft hit all its targets: spin-up, takeoff, hover, descent and landing.To accomplish all that, the helicopter’s twin, counter-rotating rotor blades needed to spin at 2,500 revolutions per minute — five times faster than on Earth. With an atmosphere just 1 percent the thickness of Earth’s, engineers had to build a helicopter light enough — with blades spinning fast enough — to generate this otherworldy lift. At the same time, it had to be sturdy enough to withstand the Martian wind and extreme cold.More than six years in the making, Ingenuity is a barebones 1.6 feet tall, a spindly four-legged chopper. Its fuselage, containing all the batteries, heaters and sensors, is the size of a tissue box. The carbon-fiber, foam-filled rotors are the biggest pieces: Each pair stretches 4 feet&nbsp; tip to tip.The helicopter is topped with a solar panel for recharging the batteries, crucial for its survival during the minus-130 degree Fahrenheit (minus-90 degree-Celsius) Martian nights.NASA chose a flat, relatively rock-free patch for Ingenuity’s airfield, measuring 33 feet by 33 feet It turned out to be less than 100 feet from the original landing site in Jezero Crater. The helicopter was released from the rover onto the airfield on April 3. Flight commands were sent Sunday, after controllers sent up a software correction for the rotor blade spin-up.The little chopper with a giant job attracted attention from around the world, from the moment it launched with Perseverance last July until now. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger joined in the fun, rooting for Ingenuity over the weekend via Twitter. “Get to the chopper!” he shouted, re-enacting a line from his 1987 sci-fi film “Predator.”Up to five helicopter flights are planned, each one increasingly ambitious. If successful, the demo could lead the way to a fleet of Martian drones in decades to come, providing aerial views, transporting packages and serving as scouts for astronauts. High-altitude helicopters here on Earth could also benefit — imagine choppers easily navigating the Himalayas.Ingenuity’s team has until the beginning of May to complete the test flights. That’s because the rover needs to get on with its main mission: collecting rock samples that could hold evidence of past Martian life, for return to Earth a decade from now.Until then, Perseverance will keep watch over Ingenuity. Flight engineers affectionately call them Percy and Ginny. “Big sister’s watching,” said Malin Space Science Systems’ Elsa Jensen, the rover’s lead camera operator.

NASA's Mars helicopter takes flight, 1st on another planet

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing swift blowback from allies and aid groups, the White House said President Joe Biden plans to lift his predecessor’s historically low cap on refugees by next month, after initially moving only to expand the eligibility criteria for resettlements.

In an emergency determination signed by Biden earlier Friday, he stated the admission of up to 15,000 refugees set by former President Donald Trump this year “remains justified by humanitarian concerns and is otherwise in the national interest.” But if the cap is reached before the end of the current budget year and the emergency refugee situation persists, then a presidential determination may be issued to raise the ceiling.

That set off a deluge of criticism from top allies on Capitol Hill such as the second-ranking Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, who called that initial limit “unacceptable.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said later that Biden is expected to increase the refugee cap by May 15, though she didn’t say by how much.

Biden has been consulting with his advisers to determine what number of refugees could realistically be admitted to the United States between now and Oct. 1, the end of the fiscal year, Psaki said. “Given the decimated refugee admissions program we inherited,” she said it’s now “unlikely” Biden will be able to boost that number to 62,500, as he had proposed in his plan to Congress two months ago.

But Biden, she said, was urged by advisers to “take immediate action to reverse the Trump policy that banned refugees from many key regions, to enable flights from those regions to begin within days; today’s order did that.”

The new allocations provide more slots for refugees from Africa, the Middle East and Central America and lift Trump’s restrictions on resettlements from Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

Critics from both sides of the political spectrum had accused the president of bowing to political pressure that has been mounting over the record pace of unaccompanied migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Stephen Miller, a key architect of Trump’s immigration policies, tweeted that keeping Trump’s cap “reflects Team Biden’s awareness that the border flood will cause record midterm losses.”

The White House indicated the border situation was partly why Biden had not acted before now, even though migrants at the border do not go through the same vetting process as refugees.

“It is a factor,” said Psaki, noting that the Office of Refugee Resettlement “has personnel working on both issues and so we have to ensure that there is capacity and ability to manage both.”

Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he didn’t buy that.

“This cruel policy is no more acceptable now than it was during the Trump Administration,” Blumenthal said. “To be clear: the asylum process at the southern border and the refugee process are completely separate immigration systems. Conflating the two constitutes caving to the politics of fear.”

Since the fiscal year began last Oct. 1, just over 2,000 refugees have been resettled in the U.S.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken notified Congress on Feb. 12 of a plan to raise the ceiling on admissions to 62,500, but no presidential determination followed. The law does not require congressional approval and past presidents have issued such presidential determinations that set the cap on refugee admissions shortly after the notification to Congress.

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Biden in a letter Friday that his inaction “undermines your declared purpose to reverse your predecessor’s refugee policies.”

Menendez said it also makes it unlikely that the program can hit its target next budget year of 125,000, which Biden has pledged to do.

Refugee resettlement agencies said it was important that admissions go higher even if it’s not possible to meet the target to send a message that America will be a leader again in offering safe haven to the world’s oppressed.

Some 35,000 refugees have been cleared to go to the United States, and 100,000 remain in the pipeline and their lives remain in limbo, said David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee.

“This leadership is sorely needed,” he said.

Under Biden’s new allocation, 7,000 slots are reserved for refugees from Africa, 1,000 from East Asia, 1,500 from Europe and Central Asia, 3,000 from Latin America and the Caribbean and 1,500 from the Near East and South Asia. A reserve of about 1,000 slots can be used as needed.

The State Department, which coordinates flights with resettlement agencies, booked 715 refugees to come to the United States with the anticipation that Biden would have acted by March, but those flights were canceled since the refugees were not eligible under Trump’s rules, according to resettlement agencies.

Most of the refugees are from Africa and fleeing armed conflict or political persecution. Trump limited most spots to people fleeing religious persecution, Iraqis who have assisted U.S. forces there, and people from Central America’s Northern Triangle.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618396418186.png" alt="Children housed at the U.S. Mexican border this month-photo courtesy&nbsp; Congressman Tracey Mann" />
 <figcaption>Children housed at the U.S. Mexican border this month-photo courtesy&nbsp; Congressman Tracey Mann</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing swift blowback from allies and aid groups, the White House said President Joe Biden plans to lift his predecessor’s historically low cap on refugees by next month, after initially moving only to expand the eligibility criteria for resettlements.In an emergency determination signed by Biden earlier Friday, he stated the admission of up to 15,000 refugees set by former President Donald Trump this year “remains justified by humanitarian concerns and is otherwise in the national interest.” But if the cap is reached before the end of the current budget year and the emergency refugee situation persists, then a presidential determination may be issued to raise the ceiling.That set off a deluge of criticism from top allies on Capitol Hill such as the second-ranking Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, who called that initial limit “unacceptable.”White House press secretary Jen Psaki said later that Biden is expected to increase the refugee cap by May 15, though she didn’t say by how much.Biden has been consulting with his advisers to determine what number of refugees could realistically be admitted to the United States between now and Oct. 1, the end of the fiscal year, Psaki said. “Given the decimated refugee admissions program we inherited,” she said it’s now “unlikely” Biden will be able to boost that number to 62,500, as he had proposed in his plan to Congress two months ago.But Biden, she said, was urged by advisers to “take immediate action to reverse the Trump policy that banned refugees from many key regions, to enable flights from those regions to begin within days; today’s order did that.”The new allocations provide more slots for refugees from Africa, the Middle East and Central America and lift Trump’s restrictions on resettlements from Somalia, Syria and Yemen.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618396445966.png" alt="Immigrant children housed at the U.S. Border-photo Congressman Tracey Mann" />
 <figcaption>Immigrant children housed at the U.S. Border-photo Congressman Tracey Mann</figcaption>
 </figure>Critics from both sides of the political spectrum had accused the president of bowing to political pressure that has been mounting over the record pace of unaccompanied migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Stephen Miller, a key architect of Trump’s immigration policies, tweeted that keeping Trump’s cap “reflects Team Biden’s awareness that the border flood will cause record midterm losses.”The White House indicated the border situation was partly why Biden had not acted before now, even though migrants at the border do not go through the same vetting process as refugees.“It is a factor,” said Psaki, noting that the Office of Refugee Resettlement “has personnel working on both issues and so we have to ensure that there is capacity and ability to manage both.”Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he didn’t buy that.“This cruel policy is no more acceptable now than it was during the Trump Administration,” Blumenthal said. “To be clear: the asylum process at the southern border and the refugee process are completely separate immigration systems. Conflating the two constitutes caving to the politics of fear.”Since the fiscal year began last Oct. 1, just over 2,000 refugees have been resettled in the U.S.Secretary of State Antony Blinken notified Congress on Feb. 12 of a plan to raise the ceiling on admissions to 62,500, but no presidential determination followed. The law does not require congressional approval and past presidents have issued such presidential determinations that set the cap on refugee admissions shortly after the notification to Congress.New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Biden in a letter Friday that his inaction “undermines your declared purpose to reverse your predecessor’s refugee policies.”Menendez said it also makes it unlikely that the program can hit its target next budget year of 125,000, which Biden has pledged to do.Refugee resettlement agencies said it was important that admissions go higher even if it’s not possible to meet the target to send a message that America will be a leader again in offering safe haven to the world’s oppressed.Some 35,000 refugees have been cleared to go to the United States, and 100,000 remain in the pipeline and their lives remain in limbo, said David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee.“This leadership is sorely needed,” he said.Under Biden’s new allocation, 7,000 slots are reserved for refugees from Africa, 1,000 from East Asia, 1,500 from Europe and Central Asia, 3,000 from Latin America and the Caribbean and 1,500 from the Near East and South Asia. A reserve of about 1,000 slots can be used as needed.The State Department, which coordinates flights with resettlement agencies, booked 715 refugees to come to the United States with the anticipation that Biden would have acted by March, but those flights were canceled since the refugees were not eligible under Trump’s rules, according to resettlement agencies.Most of the refugees are from Africa and fleeing armed conflict or political persecution. Trump limited most spots to people fleeing religious persecution, Iraqis who have assisted U.S. forces there, and people from Central America’s Northern Triangle._____

President Biden will lift cap on number of refugees

KANSAS CITY&nbsp; (AP) — One person has died and two others have been hospitalized following a shooting early Monday in Kansas City, police said.

The shooting happened just before 1 a.m. Monday, when officers were called to 67th and Paseo for a shooting, according to a news release from Kansas City police. Officers on the way to the scene were notified that a vehicle carrying three shooting victims had arrived at a Kansas City hospital, and officers also were sent to the hospital.

Police said one of the victims died at the hospital and another has life-threatening injuries. The third victim is expected to recover.

Homicide detectives were sent to canvas the area of the shooting for witnesses, while crime scene investigators processed the area for evidence, police said. No arrests had been reported hours after the shooting.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618838501344.png" alt="Police investigators on the scene of the fatal shooting photo courtesy KCTV" />
 <figcaption>Police investigators on the scene of the fatal shooting photo courtesy KCTV</figcaption>
 </figure>----------KANSAS CITY&nbsp; (AP) — One person has died and two others have been hospitalized following a shooting early Monday in Kansas City, police said.The shooting happened just before 1 a.m. Monday, when officers were called to 67th and Paseo for a shooting, according to a news release from Kansas City police. Officers on the way to the scene were notified that a vehicle carrying three shooting victims had arrived at a Kansas City hospital, and officers also were sent to the hospital.Police said one of the victims died at the hospital and another has life-threatening injuries. The third victim is expected to recover.Homicide detectives were sent to canvas the area of the shooting for witnesses, while crime scene investigators processed the area for evidence, police said. No arrests had been reported hours after the shooting.

Police: 1 dead, 2 hurt In Kansas City shooting

OSAGE COUNTY, Kan. – Law enforcement authorities conducting an investigation of the online solicitation of a child by an adult have made an arrest.

On April 15, Osage County Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigation Unit (CIU) took a Missouri man into custody who had made plans to meet with someone he believed to be a minor, according to Sheriff Chris Wells.

Deputies transported David E. Fresia, 49, of Lees Summit, MO,&nbsp; to the Osage County Jail Facility on requested charges of aggravated human trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation of a child, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of psilocybin with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia, and no drug tax stamp.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618575652035.png" alt="Fresia photo Osage County" />
 <figcaption>Fresia photo Osage County</figcaption>
 </figure>OSAGE COUNTY, Kan. – Law enforcement authorities conducting an investigation of the online solicitation of a child by an adult have made an arrest.On April 15, Osage County Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigation Unit (CIU) took a Missouri man into custody who had made plans to meet with someone he believed to be a minor, according to Sheriff Chris Wells.Deputies transported David E. Fresia, 49, of Lees Summit, MO,&nbsp; to the Osage County Jail Facility on requested charges of aggravated human trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation of a child, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of psilocybin with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia, and no drug tax stamp.

Sheriff: Suspect attempted to meet minor for sex

KANSAS CITY(AP) — A second person has been charged in the killing of an Independence, Missouri woman whose body was found in a duffle bag last year north of Kansas City in rural Buchanan County.

Marcus Brooks, who was arrested in February, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 21-year-old Ariel Starcher. Prosecutors have also charged Taylor Stoughton, 22, with second-degree murder in the case.

A Missouri Transportation Department worker found the bag with Starcher’s body inside it on Feb. 18, 2020 alongside a road in Faucett, about 45 miles north of Kansas City. Stoughton told investigators that she and Brooks strangled Starcher on Feb. 5, 2020, at a Kansas City hotel, according to an arrest affidavit.

Brooks is being held without bond. Online court records don't list an attorney who could comment for him.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1613958668136.jpeg" alt="Brooks photo Buchanan County" />
 <figcaption>Brooks photo Buchanan County</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY(AP) — A second person has been charged in the killing of an Independence, Missouri woman whose body was found in a duffle bag last year north of Kansas City in rural Buchanan County.Marcus Brooks, who was arrested in February, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 21-year-old Ariel Starcher. Prosecutors have also charged Taylor Stoughton, 22, with second-degree murder in the case.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1614374160505.jpeg" alt="Soughton photo Buchanan Co." />
 <figcaption>Soughton photo Buchanan Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>A Missouri Transportation Department worker found the bag with Starcher’s body inside it on Feb. 18, 2020 alongside a road in Faucett, about 45 miles north of Kansas City. Stoughton told investigators that she and Brooks strangled Starcher on Feb. 5, 2020, at a Kansas City hotel, according to an arrest affidavit.Brooks is being held without bond. Online court records don't list an attorney who could comment for him.

2nd person charged in case of body found in duffel bag

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Missouri chiropractor and his company are facing a federal complaint over their claims that zinc and vitamin D products were more effective than vaccines in treating or preventing COVID-19.

The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday it had filed a complaint seeking to block further sales by Eric Anthony Nepute and his company, Quickwork LLC, which does business as Wellness Warrior.

It is the first action brought by the FTC under a new COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act, which makes it illegal “to engage in a deceptive act or practice that is associated with ‘the treatment, cure, prevention, mitigation, or diagnosis of COVID-19,’” the agency said.

A call to Nepute’s business seeking comment on Friday was not immediately returned.

Nepute continues to make the false claims despite earlier warnings to stop, said the commission. He and his company could face civil penalties, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch&nbsp;<a href="https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/coronavirus/creve-coeur-chiropractor-scammed-consumers-with-false-covid-cure-claims-ftc-says/article_d6b3cc12-c8a9-5634-83d2-7b20fb65e046.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1" target="_blank">reported</a>.

The claims made by Nepute and his company exploit fears caused the pandemic and pose a “significant risk to public health and safety,” the commission said.

Nepute promoted his bogus health claims in video monologues on social media that have been viewed millions of times, the FTC said. Other videos by Nepute claim masks can be harmful and coronavirus death statistics have been inflated.

When Facebook shut down his page in February, Nepute created a new page and website and reposted his videos, according to the complaint.

In April 2020, the Missouri State Board of Chiropractic Examiners sued Nepute in St. Louis County Circuit Court, saying he was falsely claiming to be a doctor and was promoting tonic water and zinc as a preventative or cure for COVID-19. The board dismissed the suit two weeks later.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Missouri chiropractor and his company are facing a federal complaint over their claims that zinc and vitamin D products were more effective than vaccines in treating or preventing COVID-19.The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday it had filed a complaint seeking to block further sales by Eric Anthony Nepute and his company, Quickwork LLC, which does business as Wellness Warrior.It is the first action brought by the FTC under a new COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act, which makes it illegal “to engage in a deceptive act or practice that is associated with ‘the treatment, cure, prevention, mitigation, or diagnosis of COVID-19,’” the agency said.A call to Nepute’s business seeking comment on Friday was not immediately returned.Nepute continues to make the false claims despite earlier warnings to stop, said the commission. He and his company could face civil penalties, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch&nbsp;<a href="https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/coronavirus/creve-coeur-chiropractor-scammed-consumers-with-false-covid-cure-claims-ftc-says/article_d6b3cc12-c8a9-5634-83d2-7b20fb65e046.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1" target="_blank">reported</a>.The claims made by Nepute and his company exploit fears caused the pandemic and pose a “significant risk to public health and safety,” the commission said.Nepute promoted his bogus health claims in video monologues on social media that have been viewed millions of times, the FTC said. Other videos by Nepute claim masks can be harmful and coronavirus death statistics have been inflated.When Facebook shut down his page in February, Nepute created a new page and website and reposted his videos, according to the complaint.In April 2020, the Missouri State Board of Chiropractic Examiners sued Nepute in St. Louis County Circuit Court, saying he was falsely claiming to be a doctor and was promoting tonic water and zinc as a preventative or cure for COVID-19. The board dismissed the suit two weeks later.

Chiropractor accused of false COVID-19 cure claims

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs tight end Fred Arbanas, a key member of their first two Super Bowl teams in the 1960s and ’70s who later had a long career in county politics, has died. He was 82.

The Jackson County Democratic Party in Missouri, for which Arbanas was a major player for more than four decades, announced his death in a brief statement Saturday. No cause was given.

Arbanas, a member of the Chiefs’ Hall of Fame, was a six-time all-AFL selection and was picked to the All-Time AFL Team by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a member of the Dallas Texans team that won the 1962 AFL title and, after the club moved to Kansas City, helped the rechristened Chiefs reach the Super Bowl in 1967 and 1970.

After his playing career, Arbanas served more than 40 years in the Jackson County Legislature. He was so influential in working with the local parks system that a golf course was renamed in his honor in 1999.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618773521712.png" alt="Fred Arbanas-photo courtesy Jackson Co. Democrats" />
 <figcaption>Fred Arbanas-photo courtesy Jackson Co. Democrats</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs tight end Fred Arbanas, a key member of their first two Super Bowl teams in the 1960s and ’70s who later had a long career in county politics, has died. He was 82.The Jackson County Democratic Party in Missouri, for which Arbanas was a major player for more than four decades, announced his death in a brief statement Saturday. No cause was given.Arbanas, a member of the Chiefs’ Hall of Fame, was a six-time all-AFL selection and was picked to the All-Time AFL Team by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a member of the Dallas Texans team that won the 1962 AFL title and, after the club moved to Kansas City, helped the rechristened Chiefs reach the Super Bowl in 1967 and 1970.After his playing career, Arbanas served more than 40 years in the Jackson County Legislature. He was so influential in working with the local parks system that a golf course was renamed in his honor in 1999.

Chiefs great Arbanas, longtime local politician, dies at 82

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The federal agency which oversees Haskell Indian Nations University plans to send a team to the Lawrence campus following a faculty no-confidence vote in its president. 

The Bureau of Indian Education said in a message to university employees that an “impartial administrative review team” would arrive Monday to gather information on student and staff concerns. 

The Faculty Senate unanimously declared earlier this month that it had no confidence in Haskell President Ronald Graham, alleging he has shown disdain for the free speech rights of students and faculty and a disregard for academic freedom. Graham did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/3/1617226828106.png" alt="Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. Google Maps" />
 <figcaption>Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. Google Maps</figcaption>
 </figure>LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The federal agency which oversees Haskell Indian Nations University plans to send a team to the Lawrence campus following a faculty no-confidence vote in its president. The Bureau of Indian Education said in a message to university employees that an “impartial administrative review team” would arrive Monday to gather information on student and staff concerns. The Faculty Senate unanimously declared earlier this month that it had no confidence in Haskell President Ronald Graham, alleging he has shown disdain for the free speech rights of students and faculty and a disregard for academic freedom. Graham did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Federal agency to begin review at university in Kansas

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A bill signed into law by Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly will make it a misdemeanor to trespass near oil and gas pipelines.

The bill Kelly signed last week gained bipartisan support in the state Senate, but drew criticism from some House Democrats, including two Native American legislators who said the bill targets Native American protestors like those who opposed the Dakota Access oil pipeline, the subject of months of sometimes-violent protests in 2016 and 2017.

The new law goes into effect on July 1. The legislation makes it a misdemeanor to trespass near oil and gas, rubber manufacturing and wastewater treatment facilities. It would also make it a felony to trespass with the intent to damage them. It is already a felony in Kansas to damage oil and gas pipelines.

In addition to pipelines, the bill also defines railroad tracks as a critical infrastructure and makes it a felony to trespass to obstruct them. First time offenders found guilty could face up to two years of probation.

The bill says lawmakers intend to protect the right to peaceably assemble. Proponents say that damaging the facilities outlined in the bill could harm Kansans.

“Governor Kelly signed this bill because it will enforce the law by protecting critical infrastructure facilities – such as water treatment plants or gas processing plants – while still protecting Kansans’ right to peacefully protest,” said Kelly spokesperson Lauren Fitzgerald in a statement.

The bill was introduced at the request of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers association, which cites an incident in Florida, where a hacker in February gained entry to the system controlling a water treatment plant and tried to taint the water supply with sodium hydroxide, a caustic chemical.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A bill signed into law by Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly will make it a misdemeanor to trespass near oil and gas pipelines.The bill Kelly signed last week gained bipartisan support in the state Senate, but drew criticism from some House Democrats, including two Native American legislators who said the bill targets Native American protestors like those who opposed the Dakota Access oil pipeline, the subject of months of sometimes-violent protests in 2016 and 2017.The new law goes into effect on July 1. The legislation makes it a misdemeanor to trespass near oil and gas, rubber manufacturing and wastewater treatment facilities. It would also make it a felony to trespass with the intent to damage them. It is already a felony in Kansas to damage oil and gas pipelines.In addition to pipelines, the bill also defines railroad tracks as a critical infrastructure and makes it a felony to trespass to obstruct them. First time offenders found guilty could face up to two years of probation.The bill says lawmakers intend to protect the right to peaceably assemble. Proponents say that damaging the facilities outlined in the bill could harm Kansans.“Governor Kelly signed this bill because it will enforce the law by protecting critical infrastructure facilities – such as water treatment plants or gas processing plants – while still protecting Kansans’ right to peacefully protest,” said Kelly spokesperson Lauren Fitzgerald in a statement.The bill was introduced at the request of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers association, which cites an incident in Florida, where a hacker in February gained entry to the system controlling a water treatment plant and tried to taint the water supply with sodium hydroxide, a caustic chemical.__

New Kansas law to make it a crime to trespass at pipelines

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a murder warrant has been issued for a teenage boy suspected in a shooting at a Nebraska mall that left one man dead and a woman injured.

Omaha police said Sunday that 16-year-old Makhi Woolridge-Jones is wanted on a charge of first-degree murder in the shooting Saturday at the Westroads Mall in Omaha.

Eighteen-year-old Brandon Woolridge-Jones has been arrested on a charge of being an accessory to the shooting. Police haven't described the relationship between the two.

Police have not released the name of a third man they consider a person of interest in the shooting.

Police say 21-year-old Trequez Swift was shot and died at an Omaha hospital.

OMAHA —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatl shooting in Omaha. Just after noon Saturday, police responded to the Westroads Mall, 10000 California Street after report of a shooting, according to a media release.

Initial reports were shots fired near JcPenney on the 1st floor. Upon arrival officers found an adult male victim suffering from apparent gunshot injuries.

The adult male was transported by ambulance to CHI Bergan Mercy Hospital in critical condition where he later succumbed to his injuries and died.&nbsp;

An adult female later walked into Immanuel Hospital with non-life-threatening gunshot injures. The woman said she was shot during the incident at Westroads.&nbsp;

The investigation indicates this was an isolated incident and not a random attack. The suspects fled the scene immediately after the shooting. Law Enforcement from multiple agencies arrived to assist with securing the scene and searching the entire mall as a precaution.&nbsp;

Police have not released names of the victims.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to contact Omaha Crime Stoppers at (402) 444-STOP, at&nbsp;<a href="http://police.cityofomaha.org/index.php?option=com_acymailing&amp;ctrl=url&amp;subid=&amp;urlid=3458&amp;mailid=2575">www.omahacrimestoppers.org</a>&nbsp;or on the P3 Tips mobile app.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618761232877.png" alt="Makhi-Woolridge-Jones photo Omaha police" />
 <figcaption>Makhi-Woolridge-Jones photo Omaha police</figcaption>
 </figure>OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a murder warrant has been issued for a teenage boy suspected in a shooting at a Nebraska mall that left one man dead and a woman injured.Omaha police said Sunday that 16-year-old Makhi Woolridge-Jones is wanted on a charge of first-degree murder in the shooting Saturday at the Westroads Mall in Omaha.Eighteen-year-old Brandon Woolridge-Jones has been arrested on a charge of being an accessory to the shooting. Police haven't described the relationship between the two.Police have not released the name of a third man they consider a person of interest in the shooting.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618751394959.png" alt="Police need help identifying these individuals of interest from Saturday’s shooting at the Westroads Mall in Omaha-photo Omaha Police.&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Police need help identifying these individuals of interest from Saturday’s shooting at the Westroads Mall in Omaha-photo Omaha Police.&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>Police say 21-year-old Trequez Swift was shot and died at an Omaha hospital.-----------OMAHA —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatl shooting in Omaha. Just after noon Saturday, police responded to the Westroads Mall, 10000 California Street after report of a shooting, according to a media release.Initial reports were shots fired near JcPenney on the 1st floor. Upon arrival officers found an adult male victim suffering from apparent gunshot injuries.The adult male was transported by ambulance to CHI Bergan Mercy Hospital in critical condition where he later succumbed to his injuries and died.&nbsp;An adult female later walked into Immanuel Hospital with non-life-threatening gunshot injures. The woman said she was shot during the incident at Westroads.&nbsp;The investigation indicates this was an isolated incident and not a random attack. The suspects fled the scene immediately after the shooting. Law Enforcement from multiple agencies arrived to assist with securing the scene and searching the entire mall as a precaution.&nbsp;Police have not released names of the victims.The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to contact Omaha Crime Stoppers at (402) 444-STOP, at&nbsp;<a href="http://police.cityofomaha.org/index.php?option=com_acymailing&amp;ctrl=url&amp;subid=&amp;urlid=3458&amp;mailid=2575">www.omahacrimestoppers.org</a>&nbsp;or on the P3 Tips mobile app.

Update: 1 dead, 1 wounded after shooting at mall in Nebraska

WASHINGTON (AP) — The global death toll from the coronavirus topped a staggering 3 million people Saturday amid repeated setbacks in the worldwide vaccination campaign and a deepening crisis in places such as Brazil, India and France.

The number of lives lost, <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html">as compiled by Johns Hopkins University</a>, is about equal to the population of Kyiv, Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; or metropolitan Lisbon, Portugal. It is bigger than Chicago (2.7 million) and equivalent to Philadelphia and Dallas combined.

And the true number is believed to be significantly higher because of possible government concealment and the many cases overlooked in the early stages of the outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019.

When the world back in January passed the bleak threshold of 2 million deaths, immunization drives had just started in Europe and the United States. Today, they are underway in more than 190 countries, though progress in bringing the virus under control varies widely.

While the campaigns in the U.S. and Britain have hit their stride and people and businesses there are beginning to contemplate life after the pandemic, other places, mostly poorer countries but some rich ones as well, are lagging behind in putting shots in arms and have imposed new lockdowns and other restrictions as virus cases soar.

Worldwide, deaths are on the rise again, running at around 12,000 per day on average, and new cases are climbing too, eclipsing 700,000 a day.

“This is not the situation we want to be in 16 months into a pandemic, where we have proven control measures,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, one of the World Health Organization’s leaders on COVID-19.

In Brazil, where deaths are running at about 3,000 per day, accounting for one-quarter of the lives lost worldwide in recent weeks, the crisis has been likened to a “raging inferno” by one WHO official. A more contagious variant of the virus has been rampaging across the country.

As cases surge, hospitals are running out of critical sedatives. As a result, there have been reports of some doctors diluting what supplies remain and even tying patients to their beds while breathing tubes are pushed down their throats.

The slow vaccine rollout has crushed Brazilians’ pride in their own history of carrying out huge immunization campaigns that were the envy of the developing world.

Taking cues from President Jair Bolsonaro, who has likened the virus to little more than a flu, his Health Ministry for months bet big on a single vaccine, ignoring other producers. When bottlenecks emerged, it was too late to get large quantities in time.

Watching so many patients suffer and die alone at her Rio de Janeiro hospital impelled nurse Lidiane Melo to take desperate measures.

In the early days of the pandemic, as sufferers were calling out for comfort that she was too busy to provide, Melo filled two rubber gloves with warm water, knotted them shut, and sandwiched them around a patient’s hand to simulate a loving touch.

Some have christened the practice the “hand of God,” and it is now the searing image of a nation roiled by a medical emergency with no end in sight.

“Patients can’t receive visitors. Sadly, there’s no way. So it’s a way to provide psychological support, to be there together with the patient holding their hand,” Melo said. She added: “And this year it’s worse, the seriousness of patients is 1,000 times greater.”

This situation is similarly dire in India, where cases spiked in February after weeks of steady decline, taking authorities by surprise. In a surge driven by variants of the virus, India saw over 180,000 new infections in one 24-hour span during the past week, bringing the total number of cases to over 13.9 million.

Problems that India had overcome last year are coming back to haunt health officials. Only 178 ventilators were free Wednesday afternoon in New Delhi, a city of 29 million, where 13,000 new infections were reported the previous day.

The challenges facing India reverberate beyond its borders since the country is the biggest supplier of shots to COVAX, the U.N.-sponsored program to distribute vaccines to poorer parts of the world. Last month, India said it would suspend vaccine exports until the virus’s spread inside the country slows.

The WHO recently described the supply situation as precarious. Up to 60 countries might not receive any more shots until June, by one estimate. To date, COVAX has delivered about 40 million doses to more than 100 countries, enough to cover barely 0.25% of the world’s population.

Globally, about 87% of the 700 million doses dispensed have been given out in rich countries. While 1 in 4 people in wealthy nations have received a vaccine, in poor countries the figure is 1 in more than 500.

In recent days, the U.S. and some European countries put the use of Johnson &amp; Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine on hold while authorities investigate extremely rare but dangerous blood clots. AstraZeneca’s vaccine has likewise been hit with delays and restrictions because of a clotting scare.

Another concern: Poorer countries are relying on vaccines made by China and Russia, which some scientists believe provide less protection than those made by Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca.

Last week, the director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged the country’s vaccines offer low protection and said officials are considering mixing them with other shots to improve their effectiveness.

In the U.S., where over 560,000 lives have been lost, accounting for more than 1 in 6 of the world’s COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations and deaths have dropped, businesses are reopening, and life is beginning to return to something approaching normalcy in several states. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits tumbled last week to 576,000, a post-COVID-19 low.

But progress has been patchy, and new hot spots — most notably Michigan — have flared up in recent weeks. Still, deaths in the U.S. are down to about 700 per day on average, plummeting from a mid-January peak of about 3,400.

In Europe, countries are feeling the brunt of a more contagious variant that first ravaged Britain and has pushed the continent’s COVID-19-related death toll beyond 1 million.

Close to 6,000 gravely ill patients are being treated in French critical care units, numbers not seen since the first wave a year ago.

Dr. Marc Leone, head of intensive care at the North Hospital in Marseille, said exhausted front-line staff members who were feted as heroes at the start of the pandemic now feel alone and are clinging to hope that renewed school closings and other restrictions will help curb the virus in the coming weeks.

“There’s exhaustion, more bad tempers. You have to tread carefully because there are a lot of conflicts,” he said. “We’ll give everything we have to get through these 15 days as best we can.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618692413792.png" alt="John Hopkins -Number of Daily Deaths" />
 <figcaption>John Hopkins -Number of Daily Deaths</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The global death toll from the coronavirus topped a staggering 3 million people Saturday amid repeated setbacks in the worldwide vaccination campaign and a deepening crisis in places such as Brazil, India and France.The number of lives lost, <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html">as compiled by Johns Hopkins University</a>, is about equal to the population of Kyiv, Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; or metropolitan Lisbon, Portugal. It is bigger than Chicago (2.7 million) and equivalent to Philadelphia and Dallas combined.And the true number is believed to be significantly higher because of possible government concealment and the many cases overlooked in the early stages of the outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019.When the world back in January passed the bleak threshold of 2 million deaths, immunization drives had just started in Europe and the United States. Today, they are underway in more than 190 countries, though progress in bringing the virus under control varies widely.While the campaigns in the U.S. and Britain have hit their stride and people and businesses there are beginning to contemplate life after the pandemic, other places, mostly poorer countries but some rich ones as well, are lagging behind in putting shots in arms and have imposed new lockdowns and other restrictions as virus cases soar.Worldwide, deaths are on the rise again, running at around 12,000 per day on average, and new cases are climbing too, eclipsing 700,000 a day.“This is not the situation we want to be in 16 months into a pandemic, where we have proven control measures,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, one of the World Health Organization’s leaders on COVID-19.In Brazil, where deaths are running at about 3,000 per day, accounting for one-quarter of the lives lost worldwide in recent weeks, the crisis has been likened to a “raging inferno” by one WHO official. A more contagious variant of the virus has been rampaging across the country.As cases surge, hospitals are running out of critical sedatives. As a result, there have been reports of some doctors diluting what supplies remain and even tying patients to their beds while breathing tubes are pushed down their throats.The slow vaccine rollout has crushed Brazilians’ pride in their own history of carrying out huge immunization campaigns that were the envy of the developing world.Taking cues from President Jair Bolsonaro, who has likened the virus to little more than a flu, his Health Ministry for months bet big on a single vaccine, ignoring other producers. When bottlenecks emerged, it was too late to get large quantities in time.Watching so many patients suffer and die alone at her Rio de Janeiro hospital impelled nurse Lidiane Melo to take desperate measures.In the early days of the pandemic, as sufferers were calling out for comfort that she was too busy to provide, Melo filled two rubber gloves with warm water, knotted them shut, and sandwiched them around a patient’s hand to simulate a loving touch.Some have christened the practice the “hand of God,” and it is now the searing image of a nation roiled by a medical emergency with no end in sight.“Patients can’t receive visitors. Sadly, there’s no way. So it’s a way to provide psychological support, to be there together with the patient holding their hand,” Melo said. She added: “And this year it’s worse, the seriousness of patients is 1,000 times greater.”This situation is similarly dire in India, where cases spiked in February after weeks of steady decline, taking authorities by surprise. In a surge driven by variants of the virus, India saw over 180,000 new infections in one 24-hour span during the past week, bringing the total number of cases to over 13.9 million.Problems that India had overcome last year are coming back to haunt health officials. Only 178 ventilators were free Wednesday afternoon in New Delhi, a city of 29 million, where 13,000 new infections were reported the previous day.The challenges facing India reverberate beyond its borders since the country is the biggest supplier of shots to COVAX, the U.N.-sponsored program to distribute vaccines to poorer parts of the world. Last month, India said it would suspend vaccine exports until the virus’s spread inside the country slows.The WHO recently described the supply situation as precarious. Up to 60 countries might not receive any more shots until June, by one estimate. To date, COVAX has delivered about 40 million doses to more than 100 countries, enough to cover barely 0.25% of the world’s population.Globally, about 87% of the 700 million doses dispensed have been given out in rich countries. While 1 in 4 people in wealthy nations have received a vaccine, in poor countries the figure is 1 in more than 500.In recent days, the U.S. and some European countries put the use of Johnson &amp; Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine on hold while authorities investigate extremely rare but dangerous blood clots. AstraZeneca’s vaccine has likewise been hit with delays and restrictions because of a clotting scare.Another concern: Poorer countries are relying on vaccines made by China and Russia, which some scientists believe provide less protection than those made by Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca.Last week, the director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged the country’s vaccines offer low protection and said officials are considering mixing them with other shots to improve their effectiveness.In the U.S., where over 560,000 lives have been lost, accounting for more than 1 in 6 of the world’s COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations and deaths have dropped, businesses are reopening, and life is beginning to return to something approaching normalcy in several states. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits tumbled last week to 576,000, a post-COVID-19 low.But progress has been patchy, and new hot spots — most notably Michigan — have flared up in recent weeks. Still, deaths in the U.S. are down to about 700 per day on average, plummeting from a mid-January peak of about 3,400.In Europe, countries are feeling the brunt of a more contagious variant that first ravaged Britain and has pushed the continent’s COVID-19-related death toll beyond 1 million.Close to 6,000 gravely ill patients are being treated in French critical care units, numbers not seen since the first wave a year ago.Dr. Marc Leone, head of intensive care at the North Hospital in Marseille, said exhausted front-line staff members who were feted as heroes at the start of the pandemic now feel alone and are clinging to hope that renewed school closings and other restrictions will help curb the virus in the coming weeks.“There’s exhaustion, more bad tempers. You have to tread carefully because there are a lot of conflicts,” he said. “We’ll give everything we have to get through these 15 days as best we can.”

Global COVID deaths on the rise again, top 3 million

SALINE COUNTY —The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Salina Police Department announced a reward today for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the theft of firearms from Ace Hardware Home Center, a federal firearms licensee located in Salina.

ATF and the Police Department are offering a reward of up to $5,000.

In the early morning hours of April 14, an unknown suspect burglarized the business located at 321 S. Broadway Boulevard, stealing several firearms. Salina Police and agents from ATF’s Kansas City Field Division are investigating the incident.&nbsp;

Anyone with information about this crime should contact ATF at 1-800-ATFGUNS (800-283-4867), email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:ATFTips@atf.gov">ATFTips@atf.gov</a>, or contact ATF through its website at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.atf.gov/contact/atftips">www.atf.gov/contact/atftips</a>. Tips may also be submitted by texting ATFKC to 63975. All calls and tips will be kept confidential.

ATF is the federal agency with jurisdiction over violations of federal firearms laws. ATF works closely with the members of the firearms industry to curb the criminal acquisition and misuse of firearms. More information about ATF and its programs can be found at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.atf.gov/">www.atf.gov</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618610529213.png" alt="Surveillance photos courtesy Salina Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives" />
 <figcaption>Surveillance photos courtesy Salina Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives</figcaption>
 </figure>SALINE COUNTY —The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Salina Police Department announced a reward today for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the theft of firearms from Ace Hardware Home Center, a federal firearms licensee located in Salina.ATF and the Police Department are offering a reward of up to $5,000.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618610601669.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>In the early morning hours of April 14, an unknown suspect burglarized the business located at 321 S. Broadway Boulevard, stealing several firearms. Salina Police and agents from ATF’s Kansas City Field Division are investigating the incident.&nbsp;Anyone with information about this crime should contact ATF at 1-800-ATFGUNS (800-283-4867), email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:ATFTips@atf.gov">ATFTips@atf.gov</a>, or contact ATF through its website at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.atf.gov/contact/atftips">www.atf.gov/contact/atftips</a>. Tips may also be submitted by texting ATFKC to 63975. All calls and tips will be kept confidential.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618610641660.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>ATF is the federal agency with jurisdiction over violations of federal firearms laws. ATF works closely with the members of the firearms industry to curb the criminal acquisition and misuse of firearms. More information about ATF and its programs can be found at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.atf.gov/">www.atf.gov</a>.

ATF: Reward offered for information in Kansas gun theft

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A woman has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for fatally hitting her boyfriend with her car during an argument in 2018.

Tesia Akins, 33, was sentenced This week for the death of 35-year-old Jerome Robertson.

Police have said Akins and Robertson were arguing Feb. 11, 2018, before Akins ran him down on Natural Bridge Road near St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Robertson’s body was later found in a ditch along the road.

A jury found Akins guilty in January 2020 of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the case. Akins’ sentencing was postponed several times because of the coronavirus pandemic.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618511558311.png" alt="Akins photo St. Louis Co." />
 <figcaption>Akins photo St. Louis Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A woman has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for fatally hitting her boyfriend with her car during an argument in 2018.Tesia Akins, 33, was sentenced This week for the death of 35-year-old Jerome Robertson.Police have said Akins and Robertson were arguing Feb. 11, 2018, before Akins ran him down on Natural Bridge Road near St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Robertson’s body was later found in a ditch along the road.A jury found Akins guilty in January 2020 of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the case. Akins’ sentencing was postponed several times because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Woman sentenced for killing boyfriend with her car

ATCHISON, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas district has decided to ditch its “Redmen” and “Braves” mascots after public opinion shifted. 

The Atchison school board approved the change unanimously this past week. 

It was a reversal from 2018 when the board voted to keep the “Redmen” mascot for the district’s high school and the “Braves” mascot for the middle school. Board member Carrie Sowers said she changed her vote because the community “spoke loud and clear." 

Sowers said the board heard considerable support in 2018 for keeping Native American-themed mascots. But this time, all nine people who addressed the matter at a public input session asked the board to do away with the mascots.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618698354961.png" alt="Photo courtesy Atchison High School" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Atchison High School</figcaption>
 </figure>ATCHISON, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas district has decided to ditch its “Redmen” and “Braves” mascots after public opinion shifted. The Atchison school board approved the change unanimously this past week. It was a reversal from 2018 when the board voted to keep the “Redmen” mascot for the district’s high school and the “Braves” mascot for the middle school. Board member Carrie Sowers said she changed her vote because the community “spoke loud and clear." Sowers said the board heard considerable support in 2018 for keeping Native American-themed mascots. But this time, all nine people who addressed the matter at a public input session asked the board to do away with the mascots.

Another Kan. school ditches Native American mascot

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A man has been charged with fatally beating his girlfriend who apparently had been dead for a few days before her body was found inside her Kansas City, Missouri, apartment.

Thirty-five-year-old Anthony Jones, of Kansas City, Kansas, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Michelle Long, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced Friday.

Police found her bruised and bloody body on a bedroom floor around 10 a.m. Thursday after a tipster reported that she had possibly been killed few days earlier.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618676511582.png" alt="Jones photo Jackson County" />
 <figcaption>Jones photo Jackson County</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) — A man has been charged with fatally beating his girlfriend who apparently had been dead for a few days before her body was found inside her Kansas City, Missouri, apartment.Thirty-five-year-old Anthony Jones, of Kansas City, Kansas, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Michelle Long, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced Friday.Police found her bruised and bloody body on a bedroom floor around 10 a.m. Thursday after a tipster reported that she had possibly been killed few days earlier.Clumps of the 35-year-old woman’s hair had been shaved off, according to court documents. Investigators also found a bloody fingerprint that was later identified as Jones’.A neighbor told investigators loud noises were heard coming from the apartment on Tuesday night that resembled things being thrown around inside. And detectives later found Long’s car near Jones’ mother’s residence, court documents state.Jones surrendered to authorities but told detectives he had ended his relationship with Long months earlier and denied being involved in her death.