<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1732643926027.jpeg" alt="Photo Courtesy Kansas Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy Kansas Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure><div>Kansas Athletics
 
LAWRENCE, Kan. &mdash;&nbsp;FNBO (First National Bank of Omaha), Kansas Athletics, and Learfield&apos;s Jayhawk Sports Properties have announced an expansion of their longstanding partnership, bringing FNBO front and center to Jayhawk basketball fans. FNBO will debut its logo on the court at Allen Fieldhouse this Saturday, November 30, when Kansas men&apos;s basketball takes on Furman. The FNBO logo will be displayed in two locations on the playing surface for all men&apos;s and women&apos;s basketball games throughout this multi-year partnership renewal. &nbsp; &quot;We are entering a new era of intercollegiate athletics that requires innovative and aligned partnerships in order to fuel the brightest future possible,&quot; Kansas Director of Athletics Travis Goff said. &quot;FNBO was founded more than 165 years ago and has long been a leader in its industry, and we share many of the same values with their culture and leadership. We are extraordinarily proud to recognize their investment and impact on Kansas Athletics by displaying the FNBO logo on James Naismith Court at Allen Fieldhouse. Their commitment to our student-athletes and programs will profoundly impact the future of Kansas Athletics and we are elated to showcase our partnership with FNBO in such a prominent fashion.&quot; In addition to its on-court presence, FNBO has extended its partnership to support the KU Cares program, reinforcing its dedication to the local Jayhawk community. As part of this enhanced collaboration, FNBO will provide complimentary tickets to military families and youth from underserved communities, ensuring these groups have the opportunity to experience the excitement of KU athletics across all sports. &nbsp;&quot;We are thrilled to announce our expanded partnership with Kansas Athletics. This weekend, KU fans and FNBO customers alike will see FNBO&apos;s logo on the court at Allen Fieldhouse,&quot; said David Cota, Executive Vice President at FNBO. &quot;Our longstanding relationship with Kansas Athletics is a source of great pride for our organization. Our Jayhawk customers have great passion, energy and enthusiasm for KU Athletics, and we&apos;re excited to be on the court, joining them in cheering on the Jayhawks.&quot;&nbsp; &nbsp; FNBO will gain extensive visibility through its logo&apos;s placement on court, television broadcasts, and digital platforms. Kansas also features FNBO branding on television-viewable signage, venue LED screens, and through in-game highlights featured digitally on the official athletics website kuathletics.com, and other fan engagement platforms. &nbsp; &quot;FNBO has been a tremendous partner to Kansas Athletics for more than 20 years, and this expanded partnership is a great opportunity to do even more together,&quot; said Marc Tuttle, Vice President and General Manager, Jayhawk Sports Properties. &quot;By working closely with Kansas Athletics, we&apos;ve identified emerging sponsorship opportunities like the on-court logo that drive incremental revenue, strengthen the competitive edge for Jayhawk Athletics, and increase brand visibility for our partners.&quot; &nbsp; Jayhawk Sports Properties, the locally based team of Learfield &ndash; the media and technology company powering college sports &ndash; is the exclusive multimedia rights holder for Kansas Athletics and oversees all sponsorships, in-venue signage, and advertising on behalf of the Jayhawks. &nbsp; About FNBO FNBO (First National Bank of Omaha), a subsidiary of First National of Nebraska, Inc. (FNNI), is one of the largest privately held banks in the US and has been in business for more than 165 years. FNNI and its affiliates have over $31 billion in assets and 4,500 employees. Primary banking offices are located in Nebraska, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming, providing personal and business banking, mortgage, payment solutions, wealth management and more. As the great big, small bank founded in 1857, FNBO has maintained its commitment to customers and helping build strong communities. Learn more at&nbsp;<a href="file:///C%3A/Users/jason.kramer/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/32UIPZLK/FNBO.com">FNBO.com</a>&nbsp;and connect on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/fnbo/">Facebook</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/fnbo">X</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/fnbo/">Instagram</a>. Member FDIC. &nbsp; About Learfield Learfield is the media and technology company powering college athletics. Through its digital and physical platforms, Learfield owns and leverages a deep data set and relationships in the industry to drive revenue, growth, brand awareness, and fan engagement for brands, sports, and entertainment properties. With ties to over 1,200 collegiate institutions and over 12,000 local and national brand partners, Learfield&apos;s presence in college sports and live events delivers influence and maximizes reach to target audiences. With solutions for a 365-day, 24/7 fan experience, Learfield enables schools and brands to connect with fans through licensed merchandise, game ticketing, donor identification for athletic programs, exclusive custom content, innovative marketing initiatives, NIL solutions, and advanced digital platforms. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield Directors&apos; Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.</div>

🏀 Kansas Athletics and FNBO strengthen partnership with on-court branding at Allen Fieldhouse

WICHITA, Kan. — The Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame announced their latest class of inductees Monday.

Kansas’ first state baseball championship was won in 1867 by Leavenworth with the team awarded a silver baseball that today is in the Kansas State Historical Society’s vault in Topeka.&nbsp; By 1933 the sport had grown to become true a statewide event with a 32-team state tournament in Wichita.&nbsp;&nbsp;

During this depression era, the promotional genius of Hap Dumont became apparent as there were 40 teams wanting the 32 slots.&nbsp; Dumont’s staged a playoff that started three days before the state tournament.&nbsp; Mixed in was another playoff for the Wichita city championship in which Wichita Waterworks beat the Wichita Stockyards team two games to none to enter the state tournament.

About a third of the players in the state tournament were former professionals like Max Thomas, who had pitched five seasons with the Kansas City Blues and would return to the high minors to finish a 19-year minor league career.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Pitching for Waterworks, Thomas stuck out 15 in his start against the Stockyards then won four more games in the tournament, five victories within 14 days.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The toughest competition for the Water team was the all-black Arkansas City Beavers, whose lineup was sprinkled with active Kansas City Monarchs.

Waterworks won the state championship in five games, winning $1,799 (equal to $41,000 today) as its prize.&nbsp; With city and state companionships in a two-week stretch, Wichita Waterworks is among the best amateur teams in Kansas’ history.

“Willie the Knuck” Ramsdell was born in tiny Williamsburg but schooled in Chanute.&nbsp; His full name was Jess Willard Ramsdell after the state’s legendary boxing champion.

Out of high school, Ramsdell pitched for the state’s Ban Johnson champion before starting his professional career in 1938.&nbsp; He then would spend four seasons in Class D in the West Texas-New Mexico League where the air was so thin, he would recall, that his curve wouldn’t break.&nbsp; When his manager suggested he take up the knuckleball, his career took off.&nbsp;&nbsp;

After six years in the minors, Ramsdell was still in Class C when World War II shut down most of minor league baseball.&nbsp; He then came to Wichita and pitched three summers for Cessna and Coleman while working defense jobs.&nbsp; After the War he returned to organized baseball and was an All-Star in the Texas League.

At age 31, Ramsdell finally made the majors, with Brooklyn.&nbsp; Over the next five years he would pitch for the Dodgers, Cincinnati and the Chicago Cubs, compiling a record of 24-39 but with an earned run average of 3.83.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In 1951 he lost a league-leading 17 games with Cincinnati, but in five of those the powerless Reds were shut out.&nbsp; He ended his career back in high minors including Hollywood, where he appeared in the movie “Kill the Umpire” with William Bendix.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Ramsdell returned to Kansas as player-manager for the Iola Owls but quit after three weeks when his team had compiled a 2-17 record.&nbsp; He died at age 53 in Wichita and is buried in Kiowa.&nbsp; A charter member of the Sandlot Baseball Hall of Fame, he spent his post-baseball career raising cattle.

Together with his brother Bob (Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2008), Don Carlile was the driving force in making the Liberal BeeJays one of the top summer programs in the nation.

From 1955 until 1991, he held positions ranging from Chairman of the Board to General Manager of the BeeJays. His primary contribution throughout those years was working with college coaches and major league scouts to get top talent to come to Liberal.

In 1984, he received the Jack Carlile Director of the Year Award, which was named after his father. Don was an active member of the American Baseball Coaches Association for over 30 years, attending their annual meetings on a regular basis. The National Baseball Congress awarded him the first Raymond “Hap” Dumont Award for an individual in the summer of 1985.&nbsp;

In 1993, Don formed the Topeka Capitals with the assistance of Jim Callaway, then President of Southwestern Bell and a former Bee Jay.&nbsp; Carlile was the director and president of the Jayhawk league for many years.

Don was very active in the Kansas Democratic Party. In 1961, he was President of the Kansas Young Democrat Party and was also treasurer of the party for many years.&nbsp;

During his active years in Kansas politics, he worked in the successful gubernatorial campaigns for George Docking, Robert Docking, Joan Finney and Kathleen Sebelius. Governor Robert Docking appointed Don to the Water Resources Board in 1969, where he served as a director and ultimately became chairman until 1978.&nbsp;

Don was an entrepreneur and owned several businesses in Liberal. In 1991, he moved to Topeka when Governor Finney appointed him as Director of Transportation of the Kansas Corporation Commission where he served for seven years.

Don continuously championed the needs of Western Kansas’ agriculture, highways, and oil and gas industries through his various associations with national, state and local political representatives. In addition, Don made the acquaintances of four US Presidents and was active in the campaigns of Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter.

Carlile died in 2010 in Topeka at the age of 82.

A longtime administrator at Great Bend High School, Randy Wetzel worked as an NCAA Division I baseball umpire for 35 years. &nbsp; Wetzel umpired Missouri Valley Conference and Big 12 baseball. He officiated basketball in the KCAC and Jayhawk Conferences and football in the MIAA, RMAC, KCAC and Jayhawk Conferences.

Wetzel umpired the 2011 College World Series, during which he met former President George W. Bush who threw the ceremonial first pitch.

Wetzel attended Great Bend High School, Barton Community College and received degrees from St. Mary of the Plains College and Kansas State University.&nbsp; Upon graduation, Wetzel coached basketball at Ell-Saline High School in Brookville, winning a state championship in his three years. &nbsp; He then spent three years at Russell High School, followed by three years as an assistant coach for the Seward County Community College men’s basketball team. Wetzel then served as an assistant for the University of Texas-Pan American (now University of Texas Rio Grande Valley).

When he returned to Great Bend is when he got into officiating.&nbsp; Wetzel worked more than 120 Big 8/Big 12 tournament games before retiring in 2014. &nbsp; In 2018, he was elected to the Kansas Collegiate Officials Hall of Fame.&nbsp; He retired from education in 2021.

One of the most successful high school coaches in Kansas history, Dennis Hurla’s Bishop Ward team won ten state championships, including six in a row from 2003-08.&nbsp; During that time, the Cyclones won a state record 45 consecutive games.

Over a 20-year career, Hurla won 352 games, nine league titles and made 17 state appearances.&nbsp; He was named the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches 4A coach of the year in 2005 and 2007.&nbsp; The American Baseball Coaches Association named him regional coach of the year in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Hurla retired from Bishop Ward in 2016.&nbsp; The field there is now named Dennis Hurla Diamond.&nbsp; He is currently an assistant baseball coach at Kansas Christian College in Overland Park where his son Tony is the head coach.

Steve Jeltz was born in France to a military family who moved to Lawrence.&nbsp; He became a standout baseball player at Lawrence High School and the University of Kansas.

In three seasons at KU, Jeltz set the Jayhawks’ career stolen base record with 65.&nbsp; In 1980, Philadelphia drafted him in the ninth round.&nbsp; He made his debut with the Phillies in 1983 and was their regular shortstop from 1986-89.

On June 8, 1989, Jeltz hit two of his five career home runs in a game against Pittsburgh, despite not starting the game. A switch-hitter, Jeltz hit one homer from the right side of the plate and one from the left side.

In 1990, Jeltz played his last MLB season with Kansas City.

After retiring as a player, he became a bail bondsman and bounty hunter before entering the construction business.&nbsp; Jeltz is active in youth baseball and assisting military veterans.

Born in Fort Scott, Shane Dennis was a standout athlete at Uniontown High School, which did not field a baseball team.&nbsp; He was all-state in both football and basketball.&nbsp; He once scored 52 points and had 17 rebounds in a single game and set a 1A state record by scoring 90 points in the 1990 1A tournament, including 33 points in the championship game.

During the summer, Dennis pitched for an American Legion team in Fort Scott, winning 28 games over three years and striking out 418 hitters in 222 innings.

Dennis came to Wichita State in 1991 and became a midweek starter, posting a 5-1 record with a 2.66 earned run average as a freshman for a Shocker team that went to the College World Series final.

As a sophomore, Dennis won 13.&nbsp; He struggled as a junior but bounced back to go 9-2 as a senior with a 1.35 ERA.&nbsp; He was named Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year and first team All-American by the American Baseball coaches Association and by Collegiate Baseball.&nbsp; Dennis’s career marks for ERA, starts, strikeouts and innings pitched are ranked in the WSU top ten.

Following his senior season, Dennis was drafted in the seventh round by San Diego and pitched four seasons in the Padres organization.&nbsp; In 1996, he was the Padres minor league pitcher of the year.

In 1997, Dennis pitched the first of two seasons for the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japan Pacific League.&nbsp; He returned to the Padres organization to play his final season for Triple-A Las Vegas in 1999.

While at Wichita State, Dennis majored in radio/television journalism and served as color commentator on Shocker women’s basketball broadcasts.&nbsp; In 2001, he returned to Wichita as play-by-play voice for the Double-A Wichita Wranglers before going back to Wichita State as director of baseball operations for 12 years.

Dennis is now part of the WSU baseball broadcast team and hosts a daily sports show, The Shane Dennis Show, on a Wichita radio station.

Dennis’s father, Don, pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox and was inducted into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Neil Allen was born in Kansas City and was drafted by the New York Mets out of Bishop Ward High School in the eleventh round of the&nbsp;1976 Major League Baseball draft.&nbsp; Allen made his debut with the Mets in 1979.&nbsp; He became their closer and saved 67 games over the next four years.

In 1983, Allen was traded to St. Louis for Keith Hernandez.&nbsp; The Cardinals used him as a starter that season and he went 10-6 with a 3.70 earned run average.&nbsp; In 1984, Allen returned to the bullpen and was sent to the Yankees in midseason.

Following the 1985 season, Allen was traded to the&nbsp;Chicago White Sox, who converted him back to a starter.&nbsp; The following season, Allen was 7-2 with a 3.82 ERA.&nbsp; In 1987, he returned to the Yankees and finished his major league career with Cleveland in 1989.

Over 11 major league seasons, Allen won 58 games and saved 75 with an ERA of 3.88.

Post retirement, Allen began a career as a pitching coach.&nbsp; After a brief stint in an independent league, he worked in the Toronto, Yankees and Tampa Bay organizations.&nbsp; He was bullpen coach with the Yankees in 2005 and Minnesota’s pitching coach from 2014-17.&nbsp; During that time, Allen coached Twins’ All-Star closer Glenn Perkins and up-and-coming star Jose Berrios.

The reception and banquet will be held at noon Saturday, Feb. 1, at LaVela, located at 6147 E. 13th St. N., and the cost is $30 per person.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1732624922585.jpeg" alt="Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame" />
 <figcaption>Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame</figcaption>
 </figure>WICHITA, Kan. — The Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame announced their latest class of inductees Monday.They include:1933 Wichita Waterworks Kansas’ first state baseball championship was won in 1867 by Leavenworth with the team awarded a silver baseball that today is in the Kansas State Historical Society’s vault in Topeka.&nbsp; By 1933 the sport had grown to become true a statewide event with a 32-team state tournament in Wichita.&nbsp;&nbsp;During this depression era, the promotional genius of Hap Dumont became apparent as there were 40 teams wanting the 32 slots.&nbsp; Dumont’s staged a playoff that started three days before the state tournament.&nbsp; Mixed in was another playoff for the Wichita city championship in which Wichita Waterworks beat the Wichita Stockyards team two games to none to enter the state tournament.About a third of the players in the state tournament were former professionals like Max Thomas, who had pitched five seasons with the Kansas City Blues and would return to the high minors to finish a 19-year minor league career.&nbsp;&nbsp;Pitching for Waterworks, Thomas stuck out 15 in his start against the Stockyards then won four more games in the tournament, five victories within 14 days.&nbsp;&nbsp;The toughest competition for the Water team was the all-black Arkansas City Beavers, whose lineup was sprinkled with active Kansas City Monarchs.Waterworks won the state championship in five games, winning $1,799 (equal to $41,000 today) as its prize.&nbsp; With city and state companionships in a two-week stretch, Wichita Waterworks is among the best amateur teams in Kansas’ history.Willie Ramsdell“Willie the Knuck” Ramsdell was born in tiny Williamsburg but schooled in Chanute.&nbsp; His full name was Jess Willard Ramsdell after the state’s legendary boxing champion.Out of high school, Ramsdell pitched for the state’s Ban Johnson champion before starting his professional career in 1938.&nbsp; He then would spend four seasons in Class D in the West Texas-New Mexico League where the air was so thin, he would recall, that his curve wouldn’t break.&nbsp; When his manager suggested he take up the knuckleball, his career took off.&nbsp;&nbsp;After six years in the minors, Ramsdell was still in Class C when World War II shut down most of minor league baseball.&nbsp; He then came to Wichita and pitched three summers for Cessna and Coleman while working defense jobs.&nbsp; After the War he returned to organized baseball and was an All-Star in the Texas League.At age 31, Ramsdell finally made the majors, with Brooklyn.&nbsp; Over the next five years he would pitch for the Dodgers, Cincinnati and the Chicago Cubs, compiling a record of 24-39 but with an earned run average of 3.83.&nbsp;&nbsp;In 1951 he lost a league-leading 17 games with Cincinnati, but in five of those the powerless Reds were shut out.&nbsp; He ended his career back in high minors including Hollywood, where he appeared in the movie “Kill the Umpire” with William Bendix.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ramsdell returned to Kansas as player-manager for the Iola Owls but quit after three weeks when his team had compiled a 2-17 record.&nbsp; He died at age 53 in Wichita and is buried in Kiowa.&nbsp; A charter member of the Sandlot Baseball Hall of Fame, he spent his post-baseball career raising cattle.Don CarlileTogether with his brother Bob (Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2008), Don Carlile was the driving force in making the Liberal BeeJays one of the top summer programs in the nation.From 1955 until 1991, he held positions ranging from Chairman of the Board to General Manager of the BeeJays. His primary contribution throughout those years was working with college coaches and major league scouts to get top talent to come to Liberal.In 1984, he received the Jack Carlile Director of the Year Award, which was named after his father. Don was an active member of the American Baseball Coaches Association for over 30 years, attending their annual meetings on a regular basis. The National Baseball Congress awarded him the first Raymond “Hap” Dumont Award for an individual in the summer of 1985.&nbsp;In 1993, Don formed the Topeka Capitals with the assistance of Jim Callaway, then President of Southwestern Bell and a former Bee Jay.&nbsp; Carlile was the director and president of the Jayhawk league for many years.Don was very active in the Kansas Democratic Party. In 1961, he was President of the Kansas Young Democrat Party and was also treasurer of the party for many years.&nbsp;During his active years in Kansas politics, he worked in the successful gubernatorial campaigns for George Docking, Robert Docking, Joan Finney and Kathleen Sebelius. Governor Robert Docking appointed Don to the Water Resources Board in 1969, where he served as a director and ultimately became chairman until 1978.&nbsp;Don was an entrepreneur and owned several businesses in Liberal. In 1991, he moved to Topeka when Governor Finney appointed him as Director of Transportation of the Kansas Corporation Commission where he served for seven years.Don continuously championed the needs of Western Kansas’ agriculture, highways, and oil and gas industries through his various associations with national, state and local political representatives. In addition, Don made the acquaintances of four US Presidents and was active in the campaigns of Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter.Carlile died in 2010 in Topeka at the age of 82.Randy WetzelA longtime administrator at Great Bend High School, Randy Wetzel worked as an NCAA Division I baseball umpire for 35 years. &nbsp; Wetzel umpired Missouri Valley Conference and Big 12 baseball. He officiated basketball in the KCAC and Jayhawk Conferences and football in the MIAA, RMAC, KCAC and Jayhawk Conferences.Wetzel umpired the 2011 College World Series, during which he met former President George W. Bush who threw the ceremonial first pitch.Wetzel attended Great Bend High School, Barton Community College and received degrees from St. Mary of the Plains College and Kansas State University.&nbsp; Upon graduation, Wetzel coached basketball at Ell-Saline High School in Brookville, winning a state championship in his three years. &nbsp; He then spent three years at Russell High School, followed by three years as an assistant coach for the Seward County Community College men’s basketball team. Wetzel then served as an assistant for the University of Texas-Pan American (now University of Texas Rio Grande Valley).When he returned to Great Bend is when he got into officiating.&nbsp; Wetzel worked more than 120 Big 8/Big 12 tournament games before retiring in 2014. &nbsp; In 2018, he was elected to the Kansas Collegiate Officials Hall of Fame.&nbsp; He retired from education in 2021.Dennis HurlaOne of the most successful high school coaches in Kansas history, Dennis Hurla’s Bishop Ward team won ten state championships, including six in a row from 2003-08.&nbsp; During that time, the Cyclones won a state record 45 consecutive games.Over a 20-year career, Hurla won 352 games, nine league titles and made 17 state appearances.&nbsp; He was named the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches 4A coach of the year in 2005 and 2007.&nbsp; The American Baseball Coaches Association named him regional coach of the year in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.Hurla retired from Bishop Ward in 2016.&nbsp; The field there is now named Dennis Hurla Diamond.&nbsp; He is currently an assistant baseball coach at Kansas Christian College in Overland Park where his son Tony is the head coach.Steve JeltzSteve Jeltz was born in France to a military family who moved to Lawrence.&nbsp; He became a standout baseball player at Lawrence High School and the University of Kansas.In three seasons at KU, Jeltz set the Jayhawks’ career stolen base record with 65.&nbsp; In 1980, Philadelphia drafted him in the ninth round.&nbsp; He made his debut with the Phillies in 1983 and was their regular shortstop from 1986-89.On June 8, 1989, Jeltz hit two of his five career home runs in a game against Pittsburgh, despite not starting the game. A switch-hitter, Jeltz hit one homer from the right side of the plate and one from the left side.In 1990, Jeltz played his last MLB season with Kansas City.After retiring as a player, he became a bail bondsman and bounty hunter before entering the construction business.&nbsp; Jeltz is active in youth baseball and assisting military veterans.Shane DennisBorn in Fort Scott, Shane Dennis was a standout athlete at Uniontown High School, which did not field a baseball team.&nbsp; He was all-state in both football and basketball.&nbsp; He once scored 52 points and had 17 rebounds in a single game and set a 1A state record by scoring 90 points in the 1990 1A tournament, including 33 points in the championship game.During the summer, Dennis pitched for an American Legion team in Fort Scott, winning 28 games over three years and striking out 418 hitters in 222 innings.Dennis came to Wichita State in 1991 and became a midweek starter, posting a 5-1 record with a 2.66 earned run average as a freshman for a Shocker team that went to the College World Series final.As a sophomore, Dennis won 13.&nbsp; He struggled as a junior but bounced back to go 9-2 as a senior with a 1.35 ERA.&nbsp; He was named Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year and first team All-American by the American Baseball coaches Association and by Collegiate Baseball.&nbsp; Dennis’s career marks for ERA, starts, strikeouts and innings pitched are ranked in the WSU top ten.Following his senior season, Dennis was drafted in the seventh round by San Diego and pitched four seasons in the Padres organization.&nbsp; In 1996, he was the Padres minor league pitcher of the year.In 1997, Dennis pitched the first of two seasons for the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japan Pacific League.&nbsp; He returned to the Padres organization to play his final season for Triple-A Las Vegas in 1999.While at Wichita State, Dennis majored in radio/television journalism and served as color commentator on Shocker women’s basketball broadcasts.&nbsp; In 2001, he returned to Wichita as play-by-play voice for the Double-A Wichita Wranglers before going back to Wichita State as director of baseball operations for 12 years.Dennis is now part of the WSU baseball broadcast team and hosts a daily sports show, The Shane Dennis Show, on a Wichita radio station.Dennis’s father, Don, pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox and was inducted into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.Neil AllenNeil Allen was born in Kansas City and was drafted by the New York Mets out of Bishop Ward High School in the eleventh round of the&nbsp;1976 Major League Baseball draft.&nbsp; Allen made his debut with the Mets in 1979.&nbsp; He became their closer and saved 67 games over the next four years.In 1983, Allen was traded to St. Louis for Keith Hernandez.&nbsp; The Cardinals used him as a starter that season and he went 10-6 with a 3.70 earned run average.&nbsp; In 1984, Allen returned to the bullpen and was sent to the Yankees in midseason.Following the 1985 season, Allen was traded to the&nbsp;Chicago White Sox, who converted him back to a starter.&nbsp; The following season, Allen was 7-2 with a 3.82 ERA.&nbsp; In 1987, he returned to the Yankees and finished his major league career with Cleveland in 1989.Over 11 major league seasons, Allen won 58 games and saved 75 with an ERA of 3.88.Post retirement, Allen began a career as a pitching coach.&nbsp; After a brief stint in an independent league, he worked in the Toronto, Yankees and Tampa Bay organizations.&nbsp; He was bullpen coach with the Yankees in 2005 and Minnesota’s pitching coach from 2014-17.&nbsp; During that time, Allen coached Twins’ All-Star closer Glenn Perkins and up-and-coming star Jose Berrios.The reception and banquet will be held at noon Saturday, Feb. 1, at LaVela, located at 6147 E. 13th St. N., and the cost is $30 per person.

⚾ Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame announces inductees

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith moved to abandon two criminal cases against&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;on Monday, acknowledging that Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/s.com/article/election-day-trump-harris-white-house-83c8e246ab97f5b97be45cdc156af4e2">return to the White House</a>&nbsp;will preclude attempts to federally prosecute him for retaining classified documents or trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

The decision was inevitable, since longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/projects/trump-investigations-civil-criminal-tracker/">criminal prosecution.</a>&nbsp;Yet it was still a momentous finale to an unprecedented chapter in political and law enforcement history, as federal officials attempted to hold accountable a former president while he was simultaneously running for another term.

Trump emerges indisputably victorious, having successfully delayed the investigations through legal maneuvers and then winning re-election despite indictments that described his actions as a threat to the country's constitutional foundations.

“I persevered, against all odds, and WON," Trump exulted in a post on Truth Social, his social media website.

He also said that “these cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought.”

The outcome makes it clear that, when it comes to a president and criminal accusations, nothing supersedes the voters' own verdict. In court filings, Smith's team emphasized that the move to end their prosecutions was not a reflection of the merit of the cases but a recognition of the legal shield that surrounds any commander in chief.

“That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” prosecutors said in one of their filings.

They wrote that Trump’s return to the White House “sets at odds two fundamental and compelling national interests: on the one hand, the Constitution’s requirement that the President must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities . . . and on the other hand, the Nation’s commitment to the rule of law.”

In this situation, “the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” they concluded.

Smith’s team said it was leaving intact charges against two co-defendants in the classified documents case — Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira — because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.”

Steven Cheung, Trump's incoming White House communications director, said Americans “want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.”

Trump has long described the investigations as politically motivated, and he has vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. Now he will start his second term free from criminal scrutiny by the government that he will lead.

The election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing Trump as he tried to reclaim the White House. He was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc">indicted for plotting to overturn his defeat</a>&nbsp;to Joe Biden in 2020, an effort that climaxed with his supporters' violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

But the case quickly stalled amid legal fighting over Trump’s sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he took while in the White House.

The U.S. Supreme Court in July ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine which allegations in the indictment, if any, could proceed to trial.

The case was just beginning to pick up steam again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this year’s election. Smith’s team in October filed a lengthy brief laying out new evidence they planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will of voters after he lost to Biden.

In asking for the election case to be dismissed, prosecutors requested that Chutkan do it “without prejudice,” raising the possibility that they could try to bring charges against Trump again after he leaves office. But such a move may be barred by the statute of limitations, and Trump may also try to pardon himself while in office.

The separate case involving classified documents had been widely seen as legally clear cut, especially because the conduct in question occurred after Trump left the White House and lost the powers of the presidency.

The indictment included dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing federal efforts to get them back. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.

The case quickly became snarled by delays, with U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon slow to issue rulings — which favored Trump’s strategy of pushing off deadlines in all his criminal cases — while also entertaining defense motions and arguments that experts said other judges would have dispensed with without hearings.

In May, she indefinitely canceled the trial date amid a series of unresolved legal issues before dismissing the case outright two months later. Smith’s team appealed the decision, but now has given up that effort.

Trump faced two other state prosecutions while running for president. One them, a New York case involving hush money payments,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-trial-deliberations-jury-testimony-verdict-85558c6d08efb434d05b694364470aa0">resulted in a conviction</a>&nbsp;on felony charges of falsifying business records. It was the first time a former president had been found guilty of a crime.

The sentencing in that case is on hold as Trump's lawyers try to have the conviction dismissed before he takes office, arguing that letting the verdict stand will interfere with his presidential transition and duties.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is fighting the dismissal but has indicated that it would be&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-hush-money-case-stormy-daniels-8793ae086092c64325d38a380851e23a">open to delaying sentencing</a>&nbsp;until Trump leaves office. Bragg, a Democrat, has said the solution needs to balance the obligations of the presidency with “the sanctity of the jury verdict."

Trump was also indicted in Georgia along with 18 others accused of participating in a sprawling scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election there.

Any trial appears unlikely there while Trump holds office. The prosecution already&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fani-willis-georgia-election-indictment-31ca3234b244126cbe412dc279fd0562">was on hold</a>&nbsp;after an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fani-willis-nathan-wade-trump-indictment-493165c4614761d4b965923696134c09">romantic relationship</a>&nbsp;with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case.

Four defendants have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1730919256483.png" alt="File photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>File photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith moved to abandon two criminal cases against&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;on Monday, acknowledging that Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/s.com/article/election-day-trump-harris-white-house-83c8e246ab97f5b97be45cdc156af4e2">return to the White House</a>&nbsp;will preclude attempts to federally prosecute him for retaining classified documents or trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat.The decision was inevitable, since longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/projects/trump-investigations-civil-criminal-tracker/">criminal prosecution.</a>&nbsp;Yet it was still a momentous finale to an unprecedented chapter in political and law enforcement history, as federal officials attempted to hold accountable a former president while he was simultaneously running for another term.Trump emerges indisputably victorious, having successfully delayed the investigations through legal maneuvers and then winning re-election despite indictments that described his actions as a threat to the country's constitutional foundations.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought. Over $100 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Party’s fight against their Political Opponent, ME. Nothing like…&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1861148158128169007?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“I persevered, against all odds, and WON," Trump exulted in a post on Truth Social, his social media website.He also said that “these cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought.”The outcome makes it clear that, when it comes to a president and criminal accusations, nothing supersedes the voters' own verdict. In court filings, Smith's team emphasized that the move to end their prosecutions was not a reflection of the merit of the cases but a recognition of the legal shield that surrounds any commander in chief.“That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” prosecutors said in one of their filings.They wrote that Trump’s return to the White House “sets at odds two fundamental and compelling national interests: on the one hand, the Constitution’s requirement that the President must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities . . . and on the other hand, the Nation’s commitment to the rule of law.”In this situation, “the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” they concluded.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">If Donald J. Trump had lost an election, he may very well have spent the rest of his life in prison. These prosecutions were always political. Now it&#39;s time to ensure what happened to President Trump never happens in this country again. <a href="https://t.co/18dB65naNG">https://t.co/18dB65naNG</a>&mdash; JD Vance (@JDVance) <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/1861122371093930365?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Smith’s team said it was leaving intact charges against two co-defendants in the classified documents case — Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira — because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.”Steven Cheung, Trump's incoming White House communications director, said Americans “want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.”Trump has long described the investigations as politically motivated, and he has vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. Now he will start his second term free from criminal scrutiny by the government that he will lead.The election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing Trump as he tried to reclaim the White House. He was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc">indicted for plotting to overturn his defeat</a>&nbsp;to Joe Biden in 2020, an effort that climaxed with his supporters' violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.But the case quickly stalled amid legal fighting over Trump’s sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he took while in the White House.The U.S. Supreme Court in July ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine which allegations in the indictment, if any, could proceed to trial.The case was just beginning to pick up steam again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this year’s election. Smith’s team in October filed a lengthy brief laying out new evidence they planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will of voters after he lost to Biden.In asking for the election case to be dismissed, prosecutors requested that Chutkan do it “without prejudice,” raising the possibility that they could try to bring charges against Trump again after he leaves office. But such a move may be barred by the statute of limitations, and Trump may also try to pardon himself while in office.The separate case involving classified documents had been widely seen as legally clear cut, especially because the conduct in question occurred after Trump left the White House and lost the powers of the presidency.The indictment included dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing federal efforts to get them back. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.The case quickly became snarled by delays, with U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon slow to issue rulings — which favored Trump’s strategy of pushing off deadlines in all his criminal cases — while also entertaining defense motions and arguments that experts said other judges would have dispensed with without hearings.In May, she indefinitely canceled the trial date amid a series of unresolved legal issues before dismissing the case outright two months later. Smith’s team appealed the decision, but now has given up that effort.Trump faced two other state prosecutions while running for president. One them, a New York case involving hush money payments,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-trial-deliberations-jury-testimony-verdict-85558c6d08efb434d05b694364470aa0">resulted in a conviction</a>&nbsp;on felony charges of falsifying business records. It was the first time a former president had been found guilty of a crime.The sentencing in that case is on hold as Trump's lawyers try to have the conviction dismissed before he takes office, arguing that letting the verdict stand will interfere with his presidential transition and duties.Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is fighting the dismissal but has indicated that it would be&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-hush-money-case-stormy-daniels-8793ae086092c64325d38a380851e23a">open to delaying sentencing</a>&nbsp;until Trump leaves office. Bragg, a Democrat, has said the solution needs to balance the obligations of the presidency with “the sanctity of the jury verdict."Trump was also indicted in Georgia along with 18 others accused of participating in a sprawling scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election there.Any trial appears unlikely there while Trump holds office. The prosecution already&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fani-willis-georgia-election-indictment-31ca3234b244126cbe412dc279fd0562">was on hold</a>&nbsp;after an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fani-willis-nathan-wade-trump-indictment-493165c4614761d4b965923696134c09">romantic relationship</a>&nbsp;with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case.Four defendants have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty.

Trump responds after Special Counsel drops cases against him

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith moved to abandon two criminal cases against Donald Trump on Monday, acknowledging that Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/s.com/article/election-day-trump-harris-white-house-83c8e246ab97f5b97be45cdc156af4e2">return to the White House</a>&nbsp;will preclude attempts to federally prosecute him for retaining classified documents or trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

The decision was inevitable, since longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Yet it was still a momentous finale to an unprecedented chapter in political and law enforcement history, as federal officials attempted to hold accountable a former president while he was simultaneously running for another term.

In court filings, Smith's team emphasized that the move to abandon their prosecutions was not a reflection of the merit of the cases but a recognition of the legal shield that surrounds any commander in chief.

“That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” the prosecutors wrote in one of their filings.

Steven Cheung, Trump's incoming White House communications director, welcomed the decision to drop the prosecutions against the president-elect, describing it as a “major victory for the rule of law.”

"The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country,” Cheung said in a statement.

Trump has long described the investigations as politically motivated, and he has vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. Now he will re-enter the White House free from criminal scrutiny by the government that he will lead.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1714517455009.png" alt="File photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>File photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith moved to abandon two criminal cases against Donald Trump on Monday, acknowledging that Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/s.com/article/election-day-trump-harris-white-house-83c8e246ab97f5b97be45cdc156af4e2">return to the White House</a>&nbsp;will preclude attempts to federally prosecute him for retaining classified documents or trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1732563427933.png" alt="Trump" />
 <figcaption>Trump</figcaption>
 </figure>The decision was inevitable, since longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Yet it was still a momentous finale to an unprecedented chapter in political and law enforcement history, as federal officials attempted to hold accountable a former president while he was simultaneously running for another term.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">If Donald J. Trump had lost an election, he may very well have spent the rest of his life in prison. These prosecutions were always political. Now it&#39;s time to ensure what happened to President Trump never happens in this country again. <a href="https://t.co/18dB65naNG">https://t.co/18dB65naNG</a>&mdash; JD Vance (@JDVance) <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/1861122371093930365?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>In court filings, Smith's team emphasized that the move to abandon their prosecutions was not a reflection of the merit of the cases but a recognition of the legal shield that surrounds any commander in chief.“That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” the prosecutors wrote in one of their filings.Smith’s team said it was leaving intact charges against two co-defendants in the classified documents case — Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira — because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.”Steven Cheung, Trump's incoming White House communications director, welcomed the decision to drop the prosecutions against the president-elect, describing it as a “major victory for the rule of law.”"The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country,” Cheung said in a statement.Trump has long described the investigations as politically motivated, and he has vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. Now he will re-enter the White House free from criminal scrutiny by the government that he will lead.The election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing Trump as he tried to reclaim the White House. He was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc">indicted for plotting to overturn his defeat</a>&nbsp;to Joe Biden in 2020, an effort that climaxed with his supporters' violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.But the case quickly stalled amid legal fighting over Trump’s sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he took while in the White House.The U.S. Supreme Court in July ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine which allegations in the indictment, if any, could proceed to trial.The case was just beginning to pick up steam again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this year’s election. Smith’s team in October filed a lengthy brief laying out new evidence they planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will of voters after he lost to Biden.The separate case involving classified documents had been widely seen as legally clear cut, especially because the conduct in question occurred after Trump left the White House and lost the powers of the presidency.The indictment included dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing federal efforts to get them back. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.The case quickly became snarled by delays, with U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon slow to issue rulings — which favored Trump’s strategy of pushing off deadlines in all his criminal cases — while also entertaining defense motions and arguments that experts said other judges would have dispensed with without hearings.In May, she indefinitely canceled the trial date amid a series of unresolved legal issues before dismissing the case outright two months later. Smith’s team appealed the decision, but now has given up that effort.

Justice Dept. ending election interference, classified docs cases against Trump

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — In the wee hours Sunday at the United Nations climate talks,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-climate-talks-baku-azerbaijan-finance-8ab629945660ee97d58cdbef10136f35">countries from around the world reached an agreement on how rich countries can cough up the funds</a>&nbsp;to support poor countries in the face of climate change.

It's a far-from-perfect arrangement, with many parties still deeply unsatisfied but some hopeful that the deal will be a step in the right direction.

World Resources Institute president and CEO Ani Dasgupta called it “an important down payment toward a safer, more equitable future,” but added that the poorest and most vulnerable nations are “rightfully disappointed that wealthier countries didn’t put more money on the table when billions of people’s lives are at stake.”

The summit was supposed to end on Friday evening but negotiations spiraled on through early Sunday. With countries on opposite ends of a massive chasm, tensions ran high as delegations tried to close the gap in expectations.

What was the finance deal agreed at climate talks?

Rich countries have agreed to pool together at least $300 billion a year by 2035. It’s not near the full amount of $1.3 trillion that developing countries were asking for, and that experts said was needed. But delegations more optimistic about the agreement said this deal is headed in the right direction, with hopes that more money flows in the future.

The text included a call for all parties to work together using “all public and private sources” to get closer to the $1.3 trillion per year goal by 2035. That means also pushing for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cop29-climate-multilateral-development-banks-13332b960d36656e4187dec64744a57b">international mega-banks, funded by taxpayer dollars, to help foot the bill.</a>&nbsp;And it means, hopefully, that companies and private investors will follow suit on channeling cash toward climate action.

The agreement is also a critical step toward helping countries on the receiving end create more ambitious targets to limit or cut emissions of heat-trapping gases that are due early next year. It’s part of the plan to keep cutting pollution with new targets every five years, which the world agreed to at the U.N. talks in Paris in 2015.

The Paris agreement set the system of regular ratcheting up climate fighting ambition as away to keep warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. The world is already at 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit) and carbon emissions keep rising.

The deal decided in Baku replaces a previous agreement from 15 years ago that charged rich nations $100 billion a year to help the developing world with climate finance.

The new number has similar aims: it will go toward the developing world's long laundry list of to-dos to prepare for a warming world and keep it from getting hotter. That includes paying for the transition to clean energy and away from fossil fuels. Countries need funds to build up the infrastructure needed to deploy technologies like wind and solar power on a large scale.

Communities hard-hit by extreme weather also want money to adapt and prepare for events like floods, typhoons and fires. Funds could go toward improving farming practices to make them more resilient to weather extremes, to building houses differently with storms in mind, to helping people move from the hardest-hit areas and to help leaders improve emergency plans and aid in the wake of disasters.

The Philippines, for example, has been hammered&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/philippines-typhoon-manyi-520b17b3c2b0ccfd33c7421f65ba177d">by six major storms in less than a month</a>, bringing to millions of people howling wind, massive storm surges and catastrophic damage to residences, infrastructure and farmland.

“Family farmers need to be financed," said Esther Penunia of the Asian Farmers Association. She described how many have already had to deal with millions of dollars of storm damage, some of which includes trees that won't again bear fruit for months or years, or animals that die, wiping out a main source of income.

“If you think of a rice farmer who depends on his or her one hectare farm, rice land, ducks, chickens, vegetables, and it was inundated, there was nothing to harvest,” she said.

Election results around the world that herald a change in climate leadership, a few key players with motive to stall the talks and a disorganized host country all led to a final crunch that left few happy with a flawed compromise.

The ending of COP29 is "reflective of the harder geopolitical terrain the world finds itself in,” said Li Shuo of the Asia Society. He cited Trump's recent victory in the US — with his promises to pull the country out of the Paris Agreement — as one reason why the relationship between China and the EU will be more consequential for global climate politics moving forward.

Developing nations also faced some difficulties agreeing in the final hours, with one Latin American delegation member saying that their group didn't feel properly consulted when small island states had last-minute meetings to try to break through to a deal. Negotiators from across the developing world took different tacks on the deal until they finally agreed to compromise.

Meanwhile, activists ramped up the pressure: many urged negotiators to stay strong and asserted that no deal would be better than a bad deal. But ultimately the desire for a deal won out.

Some also pointed to the host country as a reason for the struggle. Mohamed Adow, director of climate and energy think tank Power Shift Africa, said Friday that “this COP presidency is one of the worst in recent memory,” calling it “one of the most poorly led and chaotic COP meetings ever.”

The presidency said in a statement, “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator. We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.”

Shuo retains hope that the opportunities offered by a green economy “make inaction self-defeating” for countries around the world, regardless of their stance on the decision. But it remains to be seen whether the UN talks can deliver more ambition next year.

In the meantime, “this COP process needs to recover from Baku,” Shuo said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1732496415744.png" alt="U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) attended the event." />
 <figcaption>U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) attended the event.</figcaption>
 </figure>BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — In the wee hours Sunday at the United Nations climate talks,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-climate-talks-baku-azerbaijan-finance-8ab629945660ee97d58cdbef10136f35">countries from around the world reached an agreement on how rich countries can cough up the funds</a>&nbsp;to support poor countries in the face of climate change.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">I returned from COP29 this week where I talked with many world leaders and experts on the stages of climate change. <a href="https://t.co/Kr7s83zEZJ">pic.twitter.com/Kr7s83zEZJ</a>&mdash; Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenWhitehouse/status/1860065466875805823?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 22, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>It's a far-from-perfect arrangement, with many parties still deeply unsatisfied but some hopeful that the deal will be a step in the right direction.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bakubreakthrough?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bakubreakthrough</a>: a result of months of intensive diplomacy by the COP29 Presidency, delivering some of the most complex tasks in multilateral <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClimareAction?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ClimareAction</a>. As we conclude <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COP29Azerbaijan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COP29Azerbaijan</a>, these achievements mark a critical step in putting in place the means to deliver a… <a href="https://t.co/ZmvEizKTX5">pic.twitter.com/ZmvEizKTX5</a>&mdash; COP29 Azerbaijan (@COP29_AZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/COP29_AZ/status/1860754331839987964?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>World Resources Institute president and CEO Ani Dasgupta called it “an important down payment toward a safer, more equitable future,” but added that the poorest and most vulnerable nations are “rightfully disappointed that wealthier countries didn’t put more money on the table when billions of people’s lives are at stake.”The summit was supposed to end on Friday evening but negotiations spiraled on through early Sunday. With countries on opposite ends of a massive chasm, tensions ran high as delegations tried to close the gap in expectations.Here's how they got there:<h2>What was the finance deal agreed at climate talks?</h2>Rich countries have agreed to pool together at least $300 billion a year by 2035. It’s not near the full amount of $1.3 trillion that developing countries were asking for, and that experts said was needed. But delegations more optimistic about the agreement said this deal is headed in the right direction, with hopes that more money flows in the future.The text included a call for all parties to work together using “all public and private sources” to get closer to the $1.3 trillion per year goal by 2035. That means also pushing for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cop29-climate-multilateral-development-banks-13332b960d36656e4187dec64744a57b">international mega-banks, funded by taxpayer dollars, to help foot the bill.</a>&nbsp;And it means, hopefully, that companies and private investors will follow suit on channeling cash toward climate action.The agreement is also a critical step toward helping countries on the receiving end create more ambitious targets to limit or cut emissions of heat-trapping gases that are due early next year. It’s part of the plan to keep cutting pollution with new targets every five years, which the world agreed to at the U.N. talks in Paris in 2015.The Paris agreement set the system of regular ratcheting up climate fighting ambition as away to keep warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. The world is already at 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit) and carbon emissions keep rising.<h2>What will the money be spent on?</h2>The deal decided in Baku replaces a previous agreement from 15 years ago that charged rich nations $100 billion a year to help the developing world with climate finance.The new number has similar aims: it will go toward the developing world's long laundry list of to-dos to prepare for a warming world and keep it from getting hotter. That includes paying for the transition to clean energy and away from fossil fuels. Countries need funds to build up the infrastructure needed to deploy technologies like wind and solar power on a large scale.Communities hard-hit by extreme weather also want money to adapt and prepare for events like floods, typhoons and fires. Funds could go toward improving farming practices to make them more resilient to weather extremes, to building houses differently with storms in mind, to helping people move from the hardest-hit areas and to help leaders improve emergency plans and aid in the wake of disasters.The Philippines, for example, has been hammered&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/philippines-typhoon-manyi-520b17b3c2b0ccfd33c7421f65ba177d">by six major storms in less than a month</a>, bringing to millions of people howling wind, massive storm surges and catastrophic damage to residences, infrastructure and farmland.“Family farmers need to be financed," said Esther Penunia of the Asian Farmers Association. She described how many have already had to deal with millions of dollars of storm damage, some of which includes trees that won't again bear fruit for months or years, or animals that die, wiping out a main source of income.“If you think of a rice farmer who depends on his or her one hectare farm, rice land, ducks, chickens, vegetables, and it was inundated, there was nothing to harvest,” she said.<h2>Why was it so hard to get a deal?</h2>Election results around the world that herald a change in climate leadership, a few key players with motive to stall the talks and a disorganized host country all led to a final crunch that left few happy with a flawed compromise.The ending of COP29 is "reflective of the harder geopolitical terrain the world finds itself in,” said Li Shuo of the Asia Society. He cited Trump's recent victory in the US — with his promises to pull the country out of the Paris Agreement — as one reason why the relationship between China and the EU will be more consequential for global climate politics moving forward.Developing nations also faced some difficulties agreeing in the final hours, with one Latin American delegation member saying that their group didn't feel properly consulted when small island states had last-minute meetings to try to break through to a deal. Negotiators from across the developing world took different tacks on the deal until they finally agreed to compromise.Meanwhile, activists ramped up the pressure: many urged negotiators to stay strong and asserted that no deal would be better than a bad deal. But ultimately the desire for a deal won out.Some also pointed to the host country as a reason for the struggle. Mohamed Adow, director of climate and energy think tank Power Shift Africa, said Friday that “this COP presidency is one of the worst in recent memory,” calling it “one of the most poorly led and chaotic COP meetings ever.”The presidency said in a statement, “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator. We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.”Shuo retains hope that the opportunities offered by a green economy “make inaction self-defeating” for countries around the world, regardless of their stance on the decision. But it remains to be seen whether the UN talks can deliver more ambition next year.In the meantime, “this COP process needs to recover from Baku,” Shuo said.___

🎥U.S. Oks $300 billion funding deal at UN climate talks

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/sofia-resnick/">SOFIA RESNICK</a>

The 2024 election results created complicated new realities for reproductive rights in the U.S., with Americans even in a few red states overwhelmingly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/voters-seven-states-restore-reproductive-rights" target="_blank">voting to protect</a>&nbsp;the right to have an abortion while also overwhelmingly electing anti-abortion representatives in state houses, courts, Congress and the White House.

With a Republican trifecta coming to the nation’s capital in January, anti-abortion activist groups are planning for the first potentially friendly presidential administration since the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated a 50-year federal right to terminate a pregnancy.

They aim to end other federal and state protections while vastly expanding restrictions on reproductive health care.

Though many anti-abortion leaders are skeptical of President-elect Donald Trump’s commitment to their cause, they say they are willing to compromise to maintain influence in his administration. Some groups are strategizing how to end-run Trump’s campaign pledge not to enact any federal abortion bans — by heavily restricting medication abortion or trying to ban a common abortion procedure.

“I don’t think we have a champion here for pro-life causes,” said the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, longtime anti-abortion organizer. “What we have here is someone who will not work against us and try to crush us. We will not see pro-choice federal judges.”

Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition and the chief strategy officer of Stanton Public Policy Center, told States Newsroom that he is not a supporter of Trump and disagrees with his rhetoric on immigrants.

But he is happy Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris lost. The vice president had vowed to try to restore federal abortion rights and throughout her career has advocated for reproductive rights. As California attorney general, she&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-attorney-general-seizes-planned-parenthood-videos-20160405-story.html" target="_blank">prosecuted anti-abortion activists</a>&nbsp;charged with illegally recording abortion providers about a decade ago.

“We can have an opportunity now to begin the second phase after Roe was overturned,” Mahoney said. “We knew overturning Roe was only a starting line, not a finishing line.”

Lila Rose, president of Live Action, was one of the few prominent anti-abortion leaders who called out Trump before the election, after he criticized Florida’s six-week abortion ban and vowed to veto a federal ban. In late August, Rose&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/08/29/lila-rose-abortion-trump-interview-00176619" target="_blank">told Politico</a>&nbsp;she would write in a presidential candidate and would encourage her&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncregister.com/interview/fighting-for-life-lila-rose-s-mission-to-save-the-unborn" target="_blank">millions of followers</a>&nbsp;to do the same if Trump did not change course.

On her&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSgwXPGviUA" target="_blank">podcast</a>, the millennial activist recently revealed that she met with Trump and asked him to say he would vote against Florida’s abortion-rights amendment, which he did. Days before the election, Rose&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/LilaGraceRose/status/1852731859815542991" target="_blank">endorsed Trump on X</a>.

Live Action did not respond to an interview request.

Nationally,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/voters-seven-states-restore-reproductive-rights" target="_blank">three out of 10 abortion-rights measures</a>&nbsp;failed: Florida’s proposed amendment had the highest threshold to clear, but got 57% out of the required 60% of the vote. It would have reversed the ban that reproductive rights advocates say has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/reproductive-health-care-southeast-hinges-florida-abortion-rights-ballot-measure-doctors" target="_blank">decimated abortion access in the Southeast</a>.

Another anti-abortion leader willing to compromise with the incoming president and Congress is Steven Aden, general counsel at Americans United for Life, the policy shop behind many state and federal abortion restrictions. Aden said he was disappointed the Republican Party removed from its platform a&nbsp;<a href="https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/media/documents/DRAFT_12_FINAL%5B1%5D-ben_1468872234.pdf" target="_blank">previous commitment</a>&nbsp;to a federal ban.

However, he said his group was still able to inject critical language into the&nbsp;<a href="https://cdn.nucleusfiles.com/be/beb1a388-1d88-4389-a67d-c1e2d7f8bedf/2024-gop-platform-july-7-final.pdf?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=ncl_amplify&amp;utm_campaign=240708-2024_gop_platform_make_america_great_again&amp;utm_content=ncl-4NsN8UE5x2&amp;_nlid=4NsN8UE5x2&amp;_nhids=g95bUYd" target="_blank">current platform</a>&nbsp;that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/rnc-approves-platform-would-give-rights-fetuses-endangering-abortion-ivf" target="_blank">effectively supports states establishing fetal personhood</a>&nbsp;through the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which grants equal protection under the law. The platform also says Republicans “will oppose Late Term Abortion,” a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/political-rhetoric-about-third-trimester-abortion-misleading-experts-say" target="_blank">political term</a>&nbsp;used to refer to abortions in the second and third trimesters, the rarest but most restricted types of abortions in the U.S.

“We had direct input into the Trump campaign and framing the pro-life language in the party platform,” Aden told States Newsroom. “The platform language was much pared down, but we believe that the pro-life language preserves the essence of the party’s position on the pro-life issue, and we’re proud of that, and look forward to continuing to work with the incoming Trump administration.”

Federal reproductive rights protections in question

Early into his term, Democratic President Joe Biden began reversing blocks on federal funding domestically and globally for reproductive health organizations that also provide or refer for abortions. Leading up to and following the Dobbs decision, the Biden administration loosened restrictions to the medication abortion regimen, a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol, which has become the most common way of terminating pregnancy in the U.S. during the first trimester.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed abortion medication to be obtained via telemedicine and dispensed directly at pharmacies.

Nearly half the country has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/see-data-reproductive-rights" target="_blank">partially or fully banned abortions</a>. But abortion numbers have risen since before Dobbs, researchers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/2024/03/despite-bans-number-abortions-united-states-increased-2023#:~:text=New%20findings%20from%20the%20Monthly,Organization%20overturned%20Roe%20v.%20Wade." target="_blank">have reported</a>, attributing the increase in part to expanded access to telemedicine abortion and to more people using online abortion clinics that mail abortion drugs from states with so-called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/telehealth-abortion-still-rise-especially-states-shield-laws-report-shows" target="_blank">shield laws</a>&nbsp;to those with bans.

Anti-abortion groups&nbsp;<a href="https://sbaprolife.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/win-memo.pdf" target="_blank">Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.studentsforlifeaction.org/roadmap/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=Time%20for%20a%20Pro-Life%20New%20Deal%20%F0%9F%A4%9D&amp;utm_campaign=PLG%3A%202024%20Primary%20Wins%3A%20KJH%20Op-Ed%20Email%20%28Nov%20%20%2024%29#form" target="_blank">Students for Life of America</a>&nbsp;recently unveiled memos asking the Trump administration to pull&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/health-experts-outline-how-trump-administration-could-affect-abortion-contraception-access" target="_blank">regulatory levers</a>&nbsp;that especially target abortion drugs.

Under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, regulations could include:

When asked about stories of alleged&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/women-serious-pregnancy-complications-sue-over-state-abortion-bans-2" target="_blank">denied care</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/texas-woman-died-after-hospital-said-it-would-be-crime-intervene-her-miscarriage" target="_blank">maternal deaths</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/texas-ob-gyns-urge-lawmakers-change-abortion-laws-after-reports-pregnant-womens-deaths" target="_blank">doctor confusion</a>&nbsp;related to state abortion bans, Aden chalked up the problem to a misinterpretation of state laws, which he said should be clarified to address these problems, while noting several times, “I’m not a doctor.” Americans United for Life’s&nbsp;<a href="https://aul.org/2022/11/09/introducing-the-abortion-abolition-amendment/" target="_blank">recommended health-exception language</a>&nbsp;in part says abortion should be allowed “to preserve the life of a pregnant woman or to address a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.”

“That’s a health exception with teeth,” Aden said. “It doesn’t allow for a free-ranging, quote unquote, ‘mental health’ exception that would swallow the rule.”

Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-picks-dr-oz-run-mammoth-centers-medicare-and-medicaid-services" target="_blank">pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services</a>, which manages the country’s largest health programs, is Dr. Mehmet Oz, who&nbsp;<a href="https://19thnews.org/2024/11/trump-picks-dr-oz-celebrity-tv-doctor-medicare-medicaid/" target="_blank">opposes abortion</a>.

The U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs could:

The U.S. Agency for International Development could:

As they brace for the potential impact of Dobbs without a federal safety net, reproductive justice activists are working to expand access and fight anti-abortion laws, while also protecting new state wins. The election results did not change the fact that most people want abortion access, said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, during a recent media press briefing organized by the progressive Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

“Donald Trump won the election, but so did abortion, and people need to hold this incoming administration to its word that it would not restrict abortion,” Graves said. “We have to square the idea that millions of people in the United States voted for reproductive freedom … but they also will be experiencing a situation that will become even more dire, and that people will feel scared and hopeless in this period.”

Aden said AUL would support a federal “dismemberment” bill, referring to a proposed ban on a common second-trimester abortion procedure known as&nbsp;<a href="https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/health-wellness/health-encyclopedia/he.dilation-and-evacuation-d-e.tw2462" target="_blank">dilation and evacuation</a>, or D&amp;E. This procedure involves dilating the cervix and removing the contents of the uterus, typically performed beginning around 12 weeks. It would be a way to effectively get a 12- or 15-week ban without calling it that.

Despite its safety and efficacy record, the D&amp;E procedure has been banned in several states, over the objection of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/population-care/ban-standard-de-abortion-procedure-unsafe-unwarranted" target="_blank">American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists</a>. It’s part of an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/political-rhetoric-about-third-trimester-abortion-misleading-experts-say" target="_blank">old anti-abortion playbook</a>, which under Republican President George W. Bush resulted in a federal ban on another later abortion procedure — dilation and extraction, or D&amp;X — by reframing it as “partial-birth” abortion, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in 2007’s Gonzales v. Carhart decision.

Abortion foes describe D&amp;Es as a gruesome procedure, or as Aden puts it, “tearing 13-week-old humans apart limb from limb.” Anti-abortion doctors&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/anti-abortion-researchers-back-riskier-procedures-when-pregnancy-termination-needed-experts" target="_blank">recommend more risky and invasive</a>&nbsp;procedures like C-sections, even when the abortion is medically indicated.

If D&amp;Es are banned, there would be fewer options for later abortions, which are sometimes necessary, said reproductive-health legal expert Rachel Rebouché, dean of Temple University School of Law in Philadelphia. She noted that some of the U.S. Supreme Court justices have indicated support for abortion restrictions for reasons of preserving fetal dignity rather than preserving maternal health.

“That litigation, from the anti-abortion perspective, depends on saying the fetus is a person with rights that attach at a certain point, if not from conception,” Rebouché told States Newsroom. “Dobbs opens the door wide open for those kinds of regulations. … But the question is, is there a role for the federal government to enact a nationwide ban that would curtail the rights of states that have not gone the way of Idaho or Texas or others?”

Aden said that for now AUL will be more focused on the incremental approach to abortion restrictions, as well as calling for expanded child and prenatal tax credits and other social supports.

The attorney, who was 11 when Roe was decided in 1973, is expecting another half-century of litigation over abortion with the hopes that one day the U.S. Constitution gives personhood rights to the unborn, regardless of the stage of that pregnancy. Aden said a so-called Human Life Amendment is likely impossible in the near term, needing approval from two-thirds of both houses of Congress. He said U.S. culture is not there yet.

“It would require a cultural sea change in the way that the majority of Americans view human life in the womb,” Aden said. “That’s our second generational goal. Having won our first generational goal of overturning Roe, we’d love to see the day when every life is welcomed and protected in law. And if that’s through a constitutional amendment, then we’re here for that.”

Abortion foes strategize to get Trump to ban some abortions while keeping his pledge

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two weeks before Election Day, activists from across the country gathered for an online rally heralding the historic number of state ballot initiatives seeking to change the way people vote. Hopes were high that voters would ditch traditional partisan primaries and embrace ballots with more candidate choices.

Instead, the election reform movement lost almost everywhere it appeared on a statewide ballot.

“It turns out, in retrospect, we weren’t yet ready for prime time,” said John Opdycke, president of the advocacy group Open Primaries, which organized the rally.

In Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and South Dakota — a mixture of red, blue and purple states — voters rejected either&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ranked-choice-voting-maine-alaska-elections-3c671352c0a6aa3604502955e6df3097">ranked choice voting</a>, open primaries or a combination of both.

The open primary proposals sought to place candidates of all parties on the same ballot, with a certain number of top finishers advancing to the general election. Under ranked choice voting, people can vote for multiple candidates in order of preference. If no one receives a majority of first place votes, then candidates who receive the fewest votes are eliminated and their votes redistributed to people's next choices.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ranked-choice-voting-open-primaries-election-2024-881a2630d57e3596754c714c4d90dc5e">Election reform advocates</a>&nbsp;raised about $110 million for the statewide ballot measures, vastly outpacing their opponents, according to an Associated Press analysis of campaign finance figures that could grow even larger as post-election reports are filed. Still, their promotional push wasn't enough to persuade most voters.

“While Americans are frustrated with politics, I think most Americans are just fine with the traditional way of voting,” said Trent England, executive director of Save Our States, which opposes ranked choice voting.

Advocates for alternative election methods had thought momentum was on their side after Alaska voters narrowly approved a combination of open primaries and ranked choice voting in 2020. Then voters in Nevada — where initiatives proposing constitutional amendments require approval in two consecutive elections — gave first-round approval to a similar measure in 2022. But Nevada voters reversed course this year.

In Alaska, an attempt this year to repeal open primaries and ranked choice voting appears to have fallen just short of passing, garnering 49.9% support in results released Wednesday. Final results are expected to be certified Nov. 30.

In addition to Alaska, versions of ranked choice voting&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/maine-house-congress-golden-theriault-bb072ca55aaab2ebae3fb8b6339cb545">already exist in Maine</a>&nbsp;'s federal elections and about 50 counties or cities. Voters in Washington, D.C., and the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, both approved ranked choice voting this November. And voters in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, reaffirmed their use of it.

Data suggests that ranked choice voting rarely results in different outcomes than traditional elections won by candidates receiving a plurality, but not majority, of support. The AP analyzed nearly 150 races this fall in 16 jurisdictions where ranked choice voting is authorized, ranging from the Board of Assessors elections in the Village of Arden, Delaware, to the presidential elections in Alaska and Maine. The ranking system was needed in just 30% of those cases, because the rest were won by candidates receiving a majority of the initial votes.

Nationwide, just three candidates who initially trailed in first-place votes ended up winning after ranked vote tabulations — one for Portland City Council and two for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

In San Francisco, two progressive candidates campaigned together, encouraging voters to rank them No. 1 and 2. Initially, they fell behind a moderate candidate who would have won a traditional election. But after six rounds of rankings, one of the progressive candidates emerged the victor when the other was eliminated and his supporters' votes were redistributed to her.

Supporters of ranked choice voting point to that as a success, because it avoided two similar candidates splitting the vote and both losing.

“It’s kind of like a pressure valve – you don’t always need it, but when you do, you really do,” said Deb Otis, director of research and policy at FairVote, which advocates for ranked choice voting.

In Portland, Oregon, voters used ranked choice voting for the first time this November in their mayoral and City Council elections, even as Oregon voters simultaneously rejected a measure to implement it for federal and statewide offices. Political outsider Keith Wilson, who led Portland's 19-person mayoral field with about one-third of the initial vote,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/portland-oregon-mayor-keith-wilson-homelessness-ba9c06e72d9de6d71bb9b5fa65ffa422">ultimately won election</a>&nbsp;after 19 rounds of ranked tabulations. One City Council seat took at least 30 rounds to decide.

But not everyone participated in the new voting method. About one-fifth of Portland voters skipped the council races, and about one-in-seven voters left the mayoral election blank.

Opponents of ranked choice voting contend that some people find it confusing and don't vote in ranked races.

Academic research also has cast doubt on the benefits of ranked choice voting, said Larry Jacobs, a professor of politics at the University of Minnesota. Fewer Black voters tend to rank candidates than white voters, he said, and there is little evidence that ranked choice voting reduces political polarization or negative campaigning.

“I think the tide for ranked choice voting is turning away from it,” Jacobs said.

Groups that heavily financed this year's election reform initiatives aren't giving up, but may retool their approach. Supporters are considering whether to separate the efforts to end partisan primaries from those to adopt ranked choice voting, and whether to focus more on incremental changes that state legislatures can make instead of on high-stakes initiatives to amend state constitutions.

Opdycke said some of this year's initiatives may have launched prematurely, counting on ads to persuade voters without first cultivating enough grassroots support.

“I think there’s a deeper appreciation for the kind of brick work, foundation-building, conversation creation that has to go on as a precursor of launching a formal campaign," he said.

Unite America, which spent around $70 million this year in its effort to end partisan primaries, is analyzing voter surveys and focus group results to help reshape its approach.

“The question is not if we should continue that effort," Unite America Executive Director Nick Troiano said, "but how are we ultimately going to succeed at it?”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1732417787036.png" alt="“While Americans are frustrated with politics, I think most Americans are just fine with the traditional way of voting,” said Trent England, executive director of Save Our States, which opposes ranked choice voting." />
 <figcaption>“While Americans are frustrated with politics, I think most Americans are just fine with the traditional way of voting,” said Trent England, executive director of Save Our States, which opposes ranked choice voting.</figcaption>
 </figure>JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two weeks before Election Day, activists from across the country gathered for an online rally heralding the historic number of state ballot initiatives seeking to change the way people vote. Hopes were high that voters would ditch traditional partisan primaries and embrace ballots with more candidate choices.Instead, the election reform movement lost almost everywhere it appeared on a statewide ballot.“It turns out, in retrospect, we weren’t yet ready for prime time,” said John Opdycke, president of the advocacy group Open Primaries, which organized the rally.In Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and South Dakota — a mixture of red, blue and purple states — voters rejected either&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ranked-choice-voting-maine-alaska-elections-3c671352c0a6aa3604502955e6df3097">ranked choice voting</a>, open primaries or a combination of both.The open primary proposals sought to place candidates of all parties on the same ballot, with a certain number of top finishers advancing to the general election. Under ranked choice voting, people can vote for multiple candidates in order of preference. If no one receives a majority of first place votes, then candidates who receive the fewest votes are eliminated and their votes redistributed to people's next choices.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ranked-choice-voting-open-primaries-election-2024-881a2630d57e3596754c714c4d90dc5e">Election reform advocates</a>&nbsp;raised about $110 million for the statewide ballot measures, vastly outpacing their opponents, according to an Associated Press analysis of campaign finance figures that could grow even larger as post-election reports are filed. Still, their promotional push wasn't enough to persuade most voters.“While Americans are frustrated with politics, I think most Americans are just fine with the traditional way of voting,” said Trent England, executive director of Save Our States, which opposes ranked choice voting.Advocates for alternative election methods had thought momentum was on their side after Alaska voters narrowly approved a combination of open primaries and ranked choice voting in 2020. Then voters in Nevada — where initiatives proposing constitutional amendments require approval in two consecutive elections — gave first-round approval to a similar measure in 2022. But Nevada voters reversed course this year.In Alaska, an attempt this year to repeal open primaries and ranked choice voting appears to have fallen just short of passing, garnering 49.9% support in results released Wednesday. Final results are expected to be certified Nov. 30.In addition to Alaska, versions of ranked choice voting&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/maine-house-congress-golden-theriault-bb072ca55aaab2ebae3fb8b6339cb545">already exist in Maine</a>&nbsp;'s federal elections and about 50 counties or cities. Voters in Washington, D.C., and the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, both approved ranked choice voting this November. And voters in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, reaffirmed their use of it.Data suggests that ranked choice voting rarely results in different outcomes than traditional elections won by candidates receiving a plurality, but not majority, of support. The AP analyzed nearly 150 races this fall in 16 jurisdictions where ranked choice voting is authorized, ranging from the Board of Assessors elections in the Village of Arden, Delaware, to the presidential elections in Alaska and Maine. The ranking system was needed in just 30% of those cases, because the rest were won by candidates receiving a majority of the initial votes.Nationwide, just three candidates who initially trailed in first-place votes ended up winning after ranked vote tabulations — one for Portland City Council and two for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.In San Francisco, two progressive candidates campaigned together, encouraging voters to rank them No. 1 and 2. Initially, they fell behind a moderate candidate who would have won a traditional election. But after six rounds of rankings, one of the progressive candidates emerged the victor when the other was eliminated and his supporters' votes were redistributed to her.Supporters of ranked choice voting point to that as a success, because it avoided two similar candidates splitting the vote and both losing.“It’s kind of like a pressure valve – you don’t always need it, but when you do, you really do,” said Deb Otis, director of research and policy at FairVote, which advocates for ranked choice voting.In Portland, Oregon, voters used ranked choice voting for the first time this November in their mayoral and City Council elections, even as Oregon voters simultaneously rejected a measure to implement it for federal and statewide offices. Political outsider Keith Wilson, who led Portland's 19-person mayoral field with about one-third of the initial vote,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/portland-oregon-mayor-keith-wilson-homelessness-ba9c06e72d9de6d71bb9b5fa65ffa422">ultimately won election</a>&nbsp;after 19 rounds of ranked tabulations. One City Council seat took at least 30 rounds to decide.But not everyone participated in the new voting method. About one-fifth of Portland voters skipped the council races, and about one-in-seven voters left the mayoral election blank.Opponents of ranked choice voting contend that some people find it confusing and don't vote in ranked races.Academic research also has cast doubt on the benefits of ranked choice voting, said Larry Jacobs, a professor of politics at the University of Minnesota. Fewer Black voters tend to rank candidates than white voters, he said, and there is little evidence that ranked choice voting reduces political polarization or negative campaigning.“I think the tide for ranked choice voting is turning away from it,” Jacobs said.Groups that heavily financed this year's election reform initiatives aren't giving up, but may retool their approach. Supporters are considering whether to separate the efforts to end partisan primaries from those to adopt ranked choice voting, and whether to focus more on incremental changes that state legislatures can make instead of on high-stakes initiatives to amend state constitutions.Opdycke said some of this year's initiatives may have launched prematurely, counting on ads to persuade voters without first cultivating enough grassroots support.“I think there’s a deeper appreciation for the kind of brick work, foundation-building, conversation creation that has to go on as a precursor of launching a formal campaign," he said.Unite America, which spent around $70 million this year in its effort to end partisan primaries, is analyzing voter surveys and focus group results to help reshape its approach.“The question is not if we should continue that effort," Unite America Executive Director Nick Troiano said, "but how are we ultimately going to succeed at it?”

Voters rejected historic election reforms across the US, despite more than $100M push

President-elect&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;is filling key posts in his second administration, and it's shaping up much differently than his first. He's prioritizing loyalists for top jobs.

Trump was bruised and hampered by internal squabbles during his initial term in office. Now he appears focused on remaking the federal government in his own image. Some of his choices could face difficult confirmation battles even with Republicans in control of the U.S. Senate. One candidate, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump's choice for attorney general, has withdrawn.

Here's a look at whom he has selected so far.

Bessent, 62, is a former&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/george-soros">George Soros</a>&nbsp;money manager and an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/budget-deficit-trump-harris-kamala-debt-1ee3ff65e22ccf19d19b792ee22c46da">advocate for deficit reduction</a>.

He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary.

He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending.

“This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then.

Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-marco-rubio-secretary-of-state-25664371f80dcf3332838352165e4d48">named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio</a>&nbsp;to be secretary of state, making the critic-turned-ally his choice for top diplomat.

Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator once called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations.

DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Tulsi Gabbard

Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-gabbard-director-national-intelligence-466dfdfe2f949ea20bc2f4ef13e21438">has been tapped by Trump</a>&nbsp;to be director of national intelligence, another example of Trump prizing loyalty over experience.

Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall, and she's been accused of echoing Russian propaganda.

Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions.

Hegseth, 44, was a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014. He developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show.

Hegseth served in the Army National Guard from 2002 to 2021, deploying to Iraq in 2005 and Afghanistan in 2011. He has two Bronze Stars. However,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-hegseth-defense-secretary-pentagon-2d8030921ecef933778cf92afd40ec72">Hegseth lacks</a>&nbsp;senior military and national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea.

Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year.

Bondi, 59, has been tapped by Trump to be Attorney General after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration.

She was Florida's first female attorney general serving between 2011 and 2019. She was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020.