OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A man who was arrested last week after barricading himself inside an Iowa church has been charged in an arrest warrant with killing his grandmother and great-grandmother in Omaha.

Gage Walter, 27, of Omaha, was charged Friday with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 93-year-old Marceline Teeters and 70-year-old Linda Walter, according to online court records. The women's bodies were found Aug. 13 in an Omaha home.

Gage Walter is also charged with attempted murder in the hammer attack of Stephen Regnier of Omaha on Aug. 12, as well as three weapons counts.

Gage Walter was arrested Aug. 14 in Winterset, Iowa, after he barricaded himself inside a church there. Court records say he had been driving a car stolen from the home where his grandmother and great-grandmother were killed.

Gage Walter is being held in the Polk County Jail in Des Moines, Iowa, until he can be extradited to Nebraska.

<a href="https://northplattepost.com/posts/2ddcec21-000f-4ace-b19e-4250120d6629">&nbsp;&nbsp;Download The Post app for iOs or Android</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661196900360.png" alt="Gage Walter (Photo: Polk County Jail)" />
 <figcaption>Gage Walter (Photo: Polk County Jail)</figcaption>
 </figure>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A man who was arrested last week after barricading himself inside an Iowa church has been charged in an arrest warrant with killing his grandmother and great-grandmother in Omaha.Gage Walter, 27, of Omaha, was charged Friday with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 93-year-old Marceline Teeters and 70-year-old Linda Walter, according to online court records. The women's bodies were found Aug. 13 in an Omaha home.Gage Walter is also charged with attempted murder in the hammer attack of Stephen Regnier of Omaha on Aug. 12, as well as three weapons counts.Gage Walter was arrested Aug. 14 in Winterset, Iowa, after he barricaded himself inside a church there. Court records say he had been driving a car stolen from the home where his grandmother and great-grandmother were killed.Gage Walter is being held in the Polk County Jail in Des Moines, Iowa, until he can be extradited to Nebraska.<a href="https://northplattepost.com/posts/2ddcec21-000f-4ace-b19e-4250120d6629">&nbsp;&nbsp;Download The Post app for iOs or Android</a><figure>
 <img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/r6vpz2vIMAA5wEejc1giQXKAgR2BY0YTjMY-YDrWXNxMrPmVYiCHtFgzMOcD9dUfX4DERavY02wQGtDsTiGCztDeYJ8F5QVzBBhB5mTtT5qWSqXp3krgVSXU0EpiVGLPQj04GYfvXSfSW5cl2TzHeA" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>

Man arrested in Iowa standoff charged with Omaha killings

News Release United States Attorney-Omaha

OMAHA, Neb.-Acting United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Adante Mower, 38, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was sentenced on August 19, 2022, in federal&nbsp;court in Lincoln.&nbsp; United States District Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Mower to 240 months in prison for distributing cocaine and fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury.&nbsp; After serving his sentence, Mower will be placed on supervised release for 3 years.&nbsp; There is no parole in the federal system.&nbsp;

On August 4, 2021, Mower distributed a substance believed to be cocaine to two individuals in a store parking lot in Lincoln.&nbsp; Those two individuals then went to Nebraska City and used that substance.&nbsp; Shortly thereafter, those individuals became unresponsive.&nbsp; Emergency personnel arrived on scene and administered medical treatment, including Narcan, to reverse the effects of the overdose.&nbsp; The two individuals were hospitalized and survived.&nbsp; Law enforcement seized the remainder of the substance sold by Mower at the scene of the overdose.&nbsp; A lab determined that the substance contained cocaine and fentanyl.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

This case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol.

News Release United States Attorney-OmahaOMAHA, Neb.-Acting United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Adante Mower, 38, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was sentenced on August 19, 2022, in federal&nbsp;court in Lincoln.&nbsp; United States District Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Mower to 240 months in prison for distributing cocaine and fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury.&nbsp; After serving his sentence, Mower will be placed on supervised release for 3 years.&nbsp; There is no parole in the federal system.&nbsp;On August 4, 2021, Mower distributed a substance believed to be cocaine to two individuals in a store parking lot in Lincoln.&nbsp; Those two individuals then went to Nebraska City and used that substance.&nbsp; Shortly thereafter, those individuals became unresponsive.&nbsp; Emergency personnel arrived on scene and administered medical treatment, including Narcan, to reverse the effects of the overdose.&nbsp; The two individuals were hospitalized and survived.&nbsp; Law enforcement seized the remainder of the substance sold by Mower at the scene of the overdose.&nbsp; A lab determined that the substance contained cocaine and fentanyl.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol.<a href="https://northplattepost.com/posts/2ddcec21-000f-4ace-b19e-4250120d6629">&nbsp;&nbsp;Download The Post app for iOs or Android</a><figure>
 <img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/r6vpz2vIMAA5wEejc1giQXKAgR2BY0YTjMY-YDrWXNxMrPmVYiCHtFgzMOcD9dUfX4DERavY02wQGtDsTiGCztDeYJ8F5QVzBBhB5mTtT5qWSqXp3krgVSXU0EpiVGLPQj04GYfvXSfSW5cl2TzHeA" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>

Lincoln man sentenced to 20 years for selling cocaine, fentanyl

‘There’s no giving up,’ says advocate, pledging to try again

By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/08/22/medical-marijuana-petitions-fail-to-qualify-for-november-ballot/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Two initiatives to legalize
 medical marijuana failed to qualify for the November ballot, the 
Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office announced Monday.

The effort, led by Nebraskans for 
Medical Marijuana, needed to collect valid signatures of 86,776 voters 
and collect signatures of at least 5% of registered voters in 38 of the 
state’s 93 counties for its two petitions.

The Secretary of State’s Office said 
Monday that the effort — which used volunteer petition circulators — 
fell short on both counts and on both petitions. A petition to legalize 
marijuana collected 77,843 signatures and qualified in 26 counties. A 
companion petition to set up regulation of medical marijuana turned in 
77,119 valid signatures and qualified in 27 counties.

Crista Eggers, who coordinated the 
signature-gathering campaign for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, said 
if the group determines the failure is valid, it will immediately begin a
 new petition drive for the 2024 ballot.

&nbsp;“There is no giving up,” said Eggers, whose son, Colton, suffers up to 100 epileptic seizures a day.

She had hoped to be able to legally obtain cannabis treatments for the 7-year-old.

It was a bitter defeat for the 
medical marijuana group, which gathered more than enough signatures two 
years ago to qualify a single initiative for the ballot. But it was 
knocked off the ballot by the Nebraska Supreme Court, which ruled that 
the ballot language violated the state’s “single subject” rule.

This year, Nebraskans for Medical 
Marijuana attempted to gather the required signatures using mostly 
volunteers after a major donor died and they were unable to afford 
professional, paid circulators.

Officials with the group had expressed doubts that they could 
qualify, despite a last-minute rush of signatures, using only 
volunteers.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661188352281.png" alt="Crista Eggers, left, the campaign coordinator for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, accepts more petitions from a volunteer, Samantha Chavez of Omaha, last month as the deadline loomed to submit petitiions. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner) " />
 <figcaption>Crista Eggers, left, the campaign coordinator for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, accepts more petitions from a volunteer, Samantha Chavez of Omaha, last month as the deadline loomed to submit petitiions. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner) </figcaption>
 </figure><h2>‘There’s no giving up,’ says advocate, pledging to try again</h2>By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/08/22/medical-marijuana-petitions-fail-to-qualify-for-november-ballot/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Two initiatives to legalize
 medical marijuana failed to qualify for the November ballot, the 
Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office announced Monday.The effort, led by Nebraskans for 
Medical Marijuana, needed to collect valid signatures of 86,776 voters 
and collect signatures of at least 5% of registered voters in 38 of the 
state’s 93 counties for its two petitions.<h2>Both petitions were short</h2>The Secretary of State’s Office said 
Monday that the effort — which used volunteer petition circulators — 
fell short on both counts and on both petitions. A petition to legalize 
marijuana collected 77,843 signatures and qualified in 26 counties. A 
companion petition to set up regulation of medical marijuana turned in 
77,119 valid signatures and qualified in 27 counties.Crista Eggers, who coordinated the 
signature-gathering campaign for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, said 
if the group determines the failure is valid, it will immediately begin a
 new petition drive for the 2024 ballot.&nbsp;“There is no giving up,” said Eggers, whose son, Colton, suffers up to 100 epileptic seizures a day.She had hoped to be able to legally obtain cannabis treatments for the 7-year-old.<h2>Plenty of signatures in 2020</h2>It was a bitter defeat for the 
medical marijuana group, which gathered more than enough signatures two 
years ago to qualify a single initiative for the ballot. But it was 
knocked off the ballot by the Nebraska Supreme Court, which ruled that 
the ballot language violated the state’s “single subject” rule.This year, Nebraskans for Medical 
Marijuana attempted to gather the required signatures using mostly 
volunteers after a major donor died and they were unable to afford 
professional, paid circulators.Officials with the group had expressed doubts that they could 
qualify, despite a last-minute rush of signatures, using only 
volunteers.

Medical marijuana petitions fail to qualify for November ballot

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart, the nation’s largest employer, is expanding its abortion coverage for employees after staying largely mum on the issue following the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">Supreme Court ruling</a>&nbsp;that scrapped a nationwide right to abortion.

In a memo sent to employees on Friday, the company said its health care plans will now cover abortion for employees “when there is a health risk to the mother, rape or incest, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage or lack of fetal viability.”

Previously, the company’s benefits plan had covered abortion only in cases “when the health of the mother would be in danger if the fetus were carried to term, the fetus could not survive the birthing process, or death would be imminent after birth,” according to a copy of the policy viewed by The Associated Press but not confirmed by Walmart.

Donna Morris, the retailer’s chief people officer, said in the memo to staff that the new policy will also offer “travel support” for workers seeking abortions covered under its health care plans — as well as their dependents — so they can access services that are not available within 100 miles of their locations.

Walmart employs nearly 1.6 million people in the U.S. In Arkansas, where the company is based, abortion is banned under all circumstances unless the procedure is needed to protect the life of the mother in a medical emergency. There are no exceptions for rape or incest. That means under the revised policy, Walmart employees can travel out of the state — or any other state that bans abortion for rape and incest — to obtain the procedure through the retailer's health plans.

Several companies — including Meta, American Express and Bank of America — have said they will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/company-stances-abortion-c70835ae2eedc71c36078ccaa81437b7">cover travel costs</a>&nbsp;for their employees in the aftermath of the high court ruling that tossed out Roe v. Wade, including elective abortions. But a Walmart spokesperson did not immediately reply for a request for comment on whether any of the company’s revised policy will cover elective abortions as well.

“It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s simply not far enough for a company that employs that many women,” said Bianca Agustin, director of corporate accountability program for United for Respect, a group that advocates for Walmart workers. She said the organization will be incorporating “safe abortions” for employees in their list of demands pressing the company for better pay and benefits.

Meanwhile, many other corporations, and organizations that represent some of the nation’s most powerful companies,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-abortion-us-supreme-court-health-business-52cbf7dd6ec4391c8e3be766bc7c6f66">have continued to stay quiet</a>&nbsp;on the issue.

The careful expansion of Walmart’s abortion policy shows it is attempting to balance different pressures and opinions from employees, investors and other stakeholders, said Vanessa Burbano, a professor at Columbia University’s business school who researchers how companies take social stances.

“It’s much trickier than a lot of people initially think it is,” Burbano said. “It’s not like all of their stakeholders are of the same opinion on any of these issues, which is what makes it so challenging. They’re trying to figure out how to thread that needle.”

In the memo sent Friday, the company said it will also launch a center that provides fertility services to employees, such as in vitro fertilization. Additionally, it vowed to add surrogacy support and increase its financial aid for adoptions from $5,000 to $20,000. In June, Walmart said it would expand its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-louisiana-indiana-race-and-ethnicity-4d31b165d3c7235f41894633f9249e1e">offering of doulas —</a>&nbsp;or people who assist women during pregnancies — to address racial disparities in maternal care.

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart, the nation’s largest employer, is expanding its abortion coverage for employees after staying largely mum on the issue following the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">Supreme Court ruling</a>&nbsp;that scrapped a nationwide right to abortion.In a memo sent to employees on Friday, the company said its health care plans will now cover abortion for employees “when there is a health risk to the mother, rape or incest, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage or lack of fetal viability.”Previously, the company’s benefits plan had covered abortion only in cases “when the health of the mother would be in danger if the fetus were carried to term, the fetus could not survive the birthing process, or death would be imminent after birth,” according to a copy of the policy viewed by The Associated Press but not confirmed by Walmart.Donna Morris, the retailer’s chief people officer, said in the memo to staff that the new policy will also offer “travel support” for workers seeking abortions covered under its health care plans — as well as their dependents — so they can access services that are not available within 100 miles of their locations.Walmart employs nearly 1.6 million people in the U.S. In Arkansas, where the company is based, abortion is banned under all circumstances unless the procedure is needed to protect the life of the mother in a medical emergency. There are no exceptions for rape or incest. That means under the revised policy, Walmart employees can travel out of the state — or any other state that bans abortion for rape and incest — to obtain the procedure through the retailer's health plans.Several companies — including Meta, American Express and Bank of America — have said they will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/company-stances-abortion-c70835ae2eedc71c36078ccaa81437b7">cover travel costs</a>&nbsp;for their employees in the aftermath of the high court ruling that tossed out Roe v. Wade, including elective abortions. But a Walmart spokesperson did not immediately reply for a request for comment on whether any of the company’s revised policy will cover elective abortions as well.“It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s simply not far enough for a company that employs that many women,” said Bianca Agustin, director of corporate accountability program for United for Respect, a group that advocates for Walmart workers. She said the organization will be incorporating “safe abortions” for employees in their list of demands pressing the company for better pay and benefits.Meanwhile, many other corporations, and organizations that represent some of the nation’s most powerful companies,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-abortion-us-supreme-court-health-business-52cbf7dd6ec4391c8e3be766bc7c6f66">have continued to stay quiet</a>&nbsp;on the issue.The careful expansion of Walmart’s abortion policy shows it is attempting to balance different pressures and opinions from employees, investors and other stakeholders, said Vanessa Burbano, a professor at Columbia University’s business school who researchers how companies take social stances.“It’s much trickier than a lot of people initially think it is,” Burbano said. “It’s not like all of their stakeholders are of the same opinion on any of these issues, which is what makes it so challenging. They’re trying to figure out how to thread that needle.”In the memo sent Friday, the company said it will also launch a center that provides fertility services to employees, such as in vitro fertilization. Additionally, it vowed to add surrogacy support and increase its financial aid for adoptions from $5,000 to $20,000. In June, Walmart said it would expand its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-louisiana-indiana-race-and-ethnicity-4d31b165d3c7235f41894633f9249e1e">offering of doulas —</a>&nbsp;or people who assist women during pregnancies — to address racial disparities in maternal care.

Walmart expands abortion coverage for employees

Easement will provide wetland for reclusive marsh birds

By PAUL&nbsp; HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/08/20/wildlife-group-gets-conservation-easement-despite-opposition-by-ricketts-county-niobrara-council/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Despite Gov. Pete Ricketts’
 opposition to conservation easements, and “no” votes from two local 
boards, a wildlife group recently was able to establish a permanent 
conservation easement along a pristine stretch of the Niobrara River in 
north-central Nebraska.&nbsp;

A year ago, Ricketts held a series of
 “30-by-30” rallies across the state, railing against permanent 
conservation easements and steps by the Biden administration to provide 
more incentives for such voluntary conservation steps.&nbsp;

But despite that, and “no” votes from
 the Rock County Board and the Niobrara Scenic River Council, the 
Audubon of Kansas recently filed its permanent easement on about 290 
acres of land it owns along the Niobrara River, north of Bassett, just a
 few miles from the South Dakota border.

While the easement won’t come with the tax advantages normally 
enjoyed when a landowner gives up the right to develop land into cabins 
or housing, the step will allow the Audubon group to expand wetland 
areas along the river to benefit two elusive marsh birds, the Virginia 
rail and the sora.

Putting the land into a permanent easement, according to Jackie
 Augustine, the executive director of Audubon of Kansas, enables the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to install berms and water retention 
barriers to create additional wetlands for the birds, which have 
included a pair of Sandhill cranes that nest on the property.

“It’s really a special place,” Augustine said. “It’s great to have the added help maintaining and improving that habitat.”

Augustine said Audubon of Kansas isn’t seeking a fight over the 
conservation easements but is just pursuing its mission to preserve and 
expand the wildlife-drawing characteristics of its 5,000-acre Hutton 
Niobrara Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary.

The property, a mix of grasslands and wooded ravines that hug the 
south bank of the Niobrara, was gifted to the organization in 2002 by a 
local author, Harold Hutton, and his wife, Lucille.

Conditions of the gift included that the land would never be sold, 
that it would be managed for wildlife, and that it would remain on the 
tax rolls.

That last stipulation — that property taxes would continue to be paid
 on the ranch — is what allowed the conservation easement to go into 
place, despite opposition by the county board and the scenic river 
council, according to Augustine and Rock County Attorney Avery Gurnsey.

Augustine said another difference is that the federal government held
 the easement through the USDA’s “Wetland Reserve Easement” program, 
instead of being held by a private conservation organization.

That, she said, makes the federal government “a partner” in doing Audubon’s wetland restoration work.&nbsp;

“We’re really excited,” she said. “We  expect to see an increase in these unusual wetland birds.”

Conservation easements have stirred controversy with some 
agricultural groups because they can lower the valuation of a plot of 
land, thus shifting the tax load onto neighboring farms and ranches.

Landowners have used them to maintain and improve wildlife habitat. 
In exchange, they promise not to develop and, in some cases, not to farm
 the property. They can also be used to preserve farmland from urban 
development. In exchange, the federal government or conservation group 
will pay a landowner for the development rights they’ve given up.

After a conservation easement goes into effect, the valuation of the 
land for property tax purposes will often decline because the plot will 
be valued as marsh or prairie, instead of farmland, hay meadows or a 
cabin/housing development.

Ricketts and other critics have also opposed “permanent” conservation
 easements because they allow a current owner to dictate the future use 
of land into perpetuity, preventing future generations from using the 
land differently.

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/04/22/ricketts-boebert-and-others-hammer-away-at-bidens-30-by-30-initiative/">This spring, Ricketts joined</a>
 with an anti-federal government group, the American Stewards of 
Liberty, and U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., to rail against the 
Biden administration’s efforts to increase voluntary conservation of 
land via what was once called the “30-by-30” plan — to conserve 30% of 
the nation’s land by 2030.

Farmers and ranchers know best how to manage their land, Ricketts 
wrote in an April column, saying Nebraskans don’t need “the heavy hand” 
of the federal government involved in pushing a “radical” environmental 
agenda.

Biden administration officials, as well as local wildlife advocates, 
say that such criticism is misguided and inaccurate and that it is more 
about political posturing.

The 30-by-30 plan, now called “America the Beautiful Initiative,” 
seeks only to increase funding for already existing conservation 
programs that are totally voluntary for landowners, proponents say. That
 includes the popular Conservation Reserve Program, which pays farmers 
to set aside marginal farmland and plant native grasses for wildlife 
habitat and to prevent soil erosion.

“There’s been a lot of misinformation
 about easements and trying to discourage landowners from exercising 
their rights to sell or donate their easements as they choose,”&nbsp;said Shawn McVey, an easement restoration specialist with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

A map of conservation easements in Nebraska done through the USDA 
shows dozens of locations across the state. Almost 90% of them are 
wetland easements, McVey said, on marginal land that is usually too wet 
to farm.

Rock County Board member Jim Stout of Bassett said he voted against 
the conservation easement in large part because of a lack of 
information. No one from from Audubon of Kansas attended the meeting to 
explain the conservation easement when it came up for a vote in 
February, Stout said.

He said he opposes such permanent easements because they lowers the 
tax base, although that wasn’t the case in the Audubon of Kansas 
easement.

Stout said area ranchers were upset with the Audubon group when it 
tried to reintroduce prairie dogs to the Hutton Ranch preserve. But 
feelings have since cooled because the reintroduction failed, he said.

Augustine said efforts to establish a prairie dog town on the ranch 
have been suspended but said she’s very excited about the improvements 
now underway.

Last year, viewing blinds were set up so visitors could watch the 
spring mating dances of sharp-tailed grouse that inhabit the Hutton 
Ranch. And school groups from Bassett visited the ranch to learn more 
about wildlife.

There are plans to erect a “motus tower” to electronically track the 
movement of small birds through the area, Augustine said, and an online 
reservation system was recently set up to book the ranch lodge for 
overnight stays.

Birds that watchers ‘get excited about’

Virginia rails and soras are not common, Augustine said, and are “definitely birds that birdwatchers get excited about.”

“It’s unusual to find them and see them,” she said. “They love dense marsh vegetation, and they rarely fly and they randomly call.”

“It always feels kind of special when you get an opportunity to hear them,” Augustine said.

Soras got their name, she said, because their call sort of sounds like “sooor-a.” The rails have a distinctive grunt-like call.

The last survey of the birds on the Hutton Ranch estimated 13 
Virginia rails and nine soras. A total of 142 bird species have been 
documented on the ranch, along with elk, mountain lions, wild turkeys 
and porcupine.

“It’s a beautiful place to be,” she said.

Augustine said Audubon of Kansas plans to hold an open house at the 
ranch this fall to show local residents more about their plans for the 
property.

She said she understands why people would oppose conservation 
easements because of the property tax implications, but she said she 
hopes they also understand why an easement furthers the\ mission to 
preserve birds and wildlife.

“I don’t have any hard feelings. I hope they don’t feel ill of us,” Augustine said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661176752389.png" alt="The Niobrara River abuts the Hutton Niobrara Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary. (Courtesy of Jackie Augustine/Audubon of Kansas) " />
 <figcaption>The Niobrara River abuts the Hutton Niobrara Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary. (Courtesy of Jackie Augustine/Audubon of Kansas) </figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Easement will provide wetland for reclusive marsh birds</h2>By PAUL&nbsp; HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/08/20/wildlife-group-gets-conservation-easement-despite-opposition-by-ricketts-county-niobrara-council/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Despite Gov. Pete Ricketts’
 opposition to conservation easements, and “no” votes from two local 
boards, a wildlife group recently was able to establish a permanent 
conservation easement along a pristine stretch of the Niobrara River in 
north-central Nebraska.&nbsp;A year ago, Ricketts held a series of
 “30-by-30” rallies across the state, railing against permanent 
conservation easements and steps by the Biden administration to provide 
more incentives for such voluntary conservation steps.&nbsp;But despite that, and “no” votes from
 the Rock County Board and the Niobrara Scenic River Council, the 
Audubon of Kansas recently filed its permanent easement on about 290 
acres of land it owns along the Niobrara River, north of Bassett, just a
 few miles from the South Dakota border.While the easement won’t come with the tax advantages normally 
enjoyed when a landowner gives up the right to develop land into cabins 
or housing, the step will allow the Audubon group to expand wetland 
areas along the river to benefit two elusive marsh birds, the Virginia 
rail and the sora.<h2>‘A special place’</h2>Putting the land into a permanent easement, according to Jackie
 Augustine, the executive director of Audubon of Kansas, enables the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to install berms and water retention 
barriers to create additional wetlands for the birds, which have 
included a pair of Sandhill cranes that nest on the property.“It’s really a special place,” Augustine said. “It’s great to have the added help maintaining and improving that habitat.”Augustine said Audubon of Kansas isn’t seeking a fight over the 
conservation easements but is just pursuing its mission to preserve and 
expand the wildlife-drawing characteristics of its 5,000-acre Hutton 
Niobrara Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary.The property, a mix of grasslands and wooded ravines that hug the 
south bank of the Niobrara, was gifted to the organization in 2002 by a 
local author, Harold Hutton, and his wife, Lucille.Conditions of the gift included that the land would never be sold, 
that it would be managed for wildlife, and that it would remain on the 
tax rolls.<h2>Property tax unchanged</h2>That last stipulation — that property taxes would continue to be paid
 on the ranch — is what allowed the conservation easement to go into 
place, despite opposition by the county board and the scenic river 
council, according to Augustine and Rock County Attorney Avery Gurnsey.Augustine said another difference is that the federal government held
 the easement through the USDA’s “Wetland Reserve Easement” program, 
instead of being held by a private conservation organization.That, she said, makes the federal government “a partner” in doing Audubon’s wetland restoration work.&nbsp;“We’re really excited,” she said. “We expect to see an increase in these unusual wetland birds.”<h2>Ricketts, ag groups opposed</h2>Conservation easements have stirred controversy with some 
agricultural groups because they can lower the valuation of a plot of 
land, thus shifting the tax load onto neighboring farms and ranches.Landowners have used them to maintain and improve wildlife habitat. 
In exchange, they promise not to develop and, in some cases, not to farm
 the property. They can also be used to preserve farmland from urban 
development. In exchange, the federal government or conservation group 
will pay a landowner for the development rights they’ve given up.After a conservation easement goes into effect, the valuation of the 
land for property tax purposes will often decline because the plot will 
be valued as marsh or prairie, instead of farmland, hay meadows or a 
cabin/housing development.Ricketts and other critics have also opposed “permanent” conservation
 easements because they allow a current owner to dictate the future use 
of land into perpetuity, preventing future generations from using the 
land differently.<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/04/22/ricketts-boebert-and-others-hammer-away-at-bidens-30-by-30-initiative/">This spring, Ricketts joined</a>
 with an anti-federal government group, the American Stewards of 
Liberty, and U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., to rail against the 
Biden administration’s efforts to increase voluntary conservation of 
land via what was once called the “30-by-30” plan — to conserve 30% of 
the nation’s land by 2030.Farmers and ranchers know best how to manage their land, Ricketts 
wrote in an April column, saying Nebraskans don’t need “the heavy hand” 
of the federal government involved in pushing a “radical” environmental 
agenda.Biden administration officials, as well as local wildlife advocates, 
say that such criticism is misguided and inaccurate and that it is more 
about political posturing.<h2>Biden plan misunderstood</h2>The 30-by-30 plan, now called “America the Beautiful Initiative,” 
seeks only to increase funding for already existing conservation 
programs that are totally voluntary for landowners, proponents say. That
 includes the popular Conservation Reserve Program, which pays farmers 
to set aside marginal farmland and plant native grasses for wildlife 
habitat and to prevent soil erosion.“There’s been a lot of misinformation
 about easements and trying to discourage landowners from exercising 
their rights to sell or donate their easements as they choose,”&nbsp;said Shawn McVey, an easement restoration specialist with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.A map of conservation easements in Nebraska done through the USDA 
shows dozens of locations across the state. Almost 90% of them are 
wetland easements, McVey said, on marginal land that is usually too wet 
to farm.Rock County Board member Jim Stout of Bassett said he voted against 
the conservation easement in large part because of a lack of 
information. No one from from Audubon of Kansas attended the meeting to 
explain the conservation easement when it came up for a vote in 
February, Stout said.He said he opposes such permanent easements because they lowers the 
tax base, although that wasn’t the case in the Audubon of Kansas 
easement.<h2>Prairie dog project drew ire</h2>Stout said area ranchers were upset with the Audubon group when it 
tried to reintroduce prairie dogs to the Hutton Ranch preserve. But 
feelings have since cooled because the reintroduction failed, he said.Augustine said efforts to establish a prairie dog town on the ranch 
have been suspended but said she’s very excited about the improvements 
now underway.Last year, viewing blinds were set up so visitors could watch the 
spring mating dances of sharp-tailed grouse that inhabit the Hutton 
Ranch. And school groups from Bassett visited the ranch to learn more 
about wildlife.There are plans to erect a “motus tower” to electronically track the 
movement of small birds through the area, Augustine said, and an online 
reservation system was recently set up to book the ranch lodge for 
overnight stays.<h2>Birds that watchers ‘get excited about’</h2>Virginia rails and soras are not common, Augustine said, and are “definitely birds that birdwatchers get excited about.”“It’s unusual to find them and see them,” she said. “They love dense marsh vegetation, and they rarely fly and they randomly call.”“It always feels kind of special when you get an opportunity to hear them,” Augustine said.Soras got their name, she said, because their call sort of sounds like “sooor-a.” The rails have a distinctive grunt-like call.The last survey of the birds on the Hutton Ranch estimated 13 
Virginia rails and nine soras. A total of 142 bird species have been 
documented on the ranch, along with elk, mountain lions, wild turkeys 
and porcupine.<h2>‘A beautiful place’</h2>“It’s a beautiful place to be,” she said.Augustine said Audubon of Kansas plans to hold an open house at the 
ranch this fall to show local residents more about their plans for the 
property.She said she understands why people would oppose conservation 
easements because of the property tax implications, but she said she 
hopes they also understand why an easement furthers the\ mission to 
preserve birds and wildlife.“I don’t have any hard feelings. I hope they don’t feel ill of us,” Augustine said.

Niobrara River conservation easement OK'd despite opposition

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Melissa Lee comforted her son and daughter after a student&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-shootings-kansas-af49bdbb75fa7df79770b541bfd02b9b">opened fire</a>&nbsp;in their suburban Kansas City high school, wounding an administrator and a police officer stationed there.

Then weeks later, she wept for the parents in Uvalde, Texas, who were forced to bury their children after the massacre there in May. She said she was “absolutely” reassured when she learned her district had since purchased one of the panic-alert systems gaining traction nationwide amid a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-san-francisco-mental-459a57d7c8f69d25f0c36780d41a65a7">surge in school violence</a>&nbsp;that includes shootings and fights. The technology, featuring wearable panic buttons or mobile phone apps, enables teachers to notify each other and police in the event of an emergency.

“Time is of the essence,” said Lee, whose son helped barricade a classroom door and watched police enter his school with guns drawn. “They can hit a button and, OK, we know something’s wrong, you know, really wrong. And then it puts everybody else on high alert.”

Multiple states now mandate or encourage the buttons, and a growing number of districts are shelling out tens of thousands of dollars per school for them — part of a widespread scramble to beef up school security and prevent the next tragedy. The spending spree includes metal detectors, security cameras, vehicle barriers, alarm systems, clear backpacks, bullet-resistant glass and door-locking systems.

Critics say school officials are scrambling to show action — any action — to worried parents&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/back-to-school">ahead of the new school year,</a>&nbsp;but in their haste may be emphasizing the wrong things. It's “security theater," said Ken Trump, president of the National School Safety and Security Services. Instead, he said, schools should focus on making sure teachers are implementing basic safety protocols such as ensuring doors aren't propped open.

The attack in Uvalde illustrated the shortcomings of panic-alert systems. Robb Elementary School had implemented an alert app, and when an attacker approached the school, a school employee did send a lockdown alert. But&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-texas-education-violence-469144ec9cee9cb33f0860f7445d8591">not all teachers received it</a>&nbsp;because of poor Wi-Fi or phones that were turned off or in a drawer, according to an investigation by the Texas Legislature. And those who did may not have taken it seriously, the Legislature's report said: The school sent out frequent alerts related to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mexico-shootings-texas-immigration-578cd4c9577174282fb947a391471475">Border Patrol car chases</a>&nbsp;in the area.

“People want visible, tangible things,” Trump said. “It’s a lot harder to point to the value of training your staff. Those are intangibles. Those are things that are less visible and invisible, but they’re most effective.”

In suburban Kansas City, the decision to spend $2.1 million over five years for a system called CrisisAlert “isn’t a knee-jerk reaction," said Brent Kiger, Olathe Public Schools' director of safety services. He said he had been eying the system even before gunfire erupted in an Olathe high school in March as staff confronted an 18-year-old over rumors that he had a gun in his backpack.

“It helped us kind of evaluate it and look at it through a lens of: ‘We’ve been through this critical incident, and how would it have helped us?' And it would have helped us that day," he said. "There’s just no question about that.”

The system, a different one than what Uvalde relied on, allows staff to trigger a lockdown that will be announced with flashing strobe lights, a takeover of staff computers and a prerecorded intercom announcement. Teachers can set off the alarms by pushing a button on a wearable badge at least eight times. Staff also can summon help to break up a hallway fight or to deal with a medical emergency if they push the button three times.

Demand for CrisisAlert had been growing even before Uvalde, with revenue from new contracts increasing 270% from the first quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022, the product’s maker, Centegix, said in a statement.

Arkansas was an early adopter of panic buttons, announcing in 2015 that more than 1,000 schools would be equipped with a smartphone app that connects users quickly with 911. At the time, education officials said the plan was the most comprehensive in the nation.

But the idea really gained steam after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Lori Alhadeff, whose 14-year-old daughter, Alyssa, was among the 17 killed, founded the group Make Our Schools Safe and began advocating for panic buttons. She had texted her daughter as shots rang out that help was on the way.

“But in reality, there was no panic button. There was no immediate way to contact law enforcement or emergency services to get on site as soon as possible,” said Lori Kitaygorodsky, the group’s spokeswoman. “We always kind of go by the thinking that time equals life.”

Lawmakers in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-school-shootings-fl-state-wire-florida-laws-24e93391693326f7123a5fbc1e653ee8">Florida</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/4de21d78bb5d44c78a15d05fe7484edc">New Jersey</a>&nbsp;responded by passing Alyssa’s Law, requiring schools to begin using panic alarms. District of Columbia schools also added panic-button technology.

Following Uvalde, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a new bill into law that requires school districts to consider installing silent panic alarms. And Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt issued an executive order, calling on all schools to implement panic buttons if not already in use. The state previously provided money for schools to subscribe to an app.

Over the years, legislation also has been introduced in Nebraska, Texas, Arizona and Virginia, according to Make Our Schools Safe.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-las-vegas-mental-education-violence-18432d6395e67e952222da5b9894d5bb">Las Vegas schools</a>&nbsp;also decided to add panic buttons this year to deal with a wave of violence. Data show the district recorded 2,377 assaults and batteries from August 2021 through the end of May, including an after-school attack that left a teacher injured and unconscious in her classroom. Other districts adding panic buttons for back-to-school include Madison County Schools in North Carolina,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-north-carolina-f2b8b83af7165cc9b20846a0500bda19">which also are putting AR-15 rifles in every school</a><a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-north-carolina-f2b8b83af7165cc9b20846a0500bda19">,</a>&nbsp;and the Houston County School District in Georgia.

Walter Stephens, the executive director of school operations in the 30,000-student Houston County district, said the district piloted the panic button technology last year in three schools before signing a $1.7 million, five-year contract to make it available in all its buildings.

Like most schools, the district reassessed its safety protocols after the tragedy in Uvalde. But the Texas shooting didn't provide the impetus to add the panic buttons, Stephens insisted. If students don't feel safe, he said, “that translates to them not performing well in our schools.”

Whether the buttons deliver as promised is something experts are monitoring. In places like Florida, a panic button app has proven&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fort-lauderdale-florida-parkland-florida-school-shooting-legislature-shootings-fef83c930f7995ef4fdf989e35802a69">unpopular with teachers</a>. And what happens, asked Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers, in the case of a false alarm, or a student using a panic-button to cause mayhem?

“In throwing so much technology at the problem ... we may have unintentionally created a false sense of security,” Canady said.

Kansas state Sen. Cindy Holscher represents an area that includes part of the Olathe district, and her 15-year-old son knew the Olathe East shooter. While Holscher, a Democrat, supports the addition of panic buttons in the district, she said schools alone can't fix the country's mass shooting problem.

“If we make it way too easy for people to get their hands on guns, it’s still a problem,” said Holscher, who has championed a red-flag law and another measure that would have mandated safe firearm storage. She said neither measure even got a hearing in the GOP-dominated Legislature.

“We have got to get to the heart of the issue at some point.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/5/1653505281036.png" alt="Critics say school officials are scrambling to show action — any action — to worried parents&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/back-to-school">ahead of the new school year,</a>&nbsp;but in their haste may be emphasizing the wrong things-photo courtesy KSAT-TV" />
 <figcaption>Critics say school officials are scrambling to show action — any action — to worried parents&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/back-to-school">ahead of the new school year,</a>&nbsp;but in their haste may be emphasizing the wrong things-photo courtesy KSAT-TV</figcaption>
 </figure>MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Melissa Lee comforted her son and daughter after a student&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-shootings-kansas-af49bdbb75fa7df79770b541bfd02b9b">opened fire</a>&nbsp;in their suburban Kansas City high school, wounding an administrator and a police officer stationed there.Then weeks later, she wept for the parents in Uvalde, Texas, who were forced to bury their children after the massacre there in May. She said she was “absolutely” reassured when she learned her district had since purchased one of the panic-alert systems gaining traction nationwide amid a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-san-francisco-mental-459a57d7c8f69d25f0c36780d41a65a7">surge in school violence</a>&nbsp;that includes shootings and fights. The technology, featuring wearable panic buttons or mobile phone apps, enables teachers to notify each other and police in the event of an emergency.“Time is of the essence,” said Lee, whose son helped barricade a classroom door and watched police enter his school with guns drawn. “They can hit a button and, OK, we know something’s wrong, you know, really wrong. And then it puts everybody else on high alert.”Multiple states now mandate or encourage the buttons, and a growing number of districts are shelling out tens of thousands of dollars per school for them — part of a widespread scramble to beef up school security and prevent the next tragedy. The spending spree includes metal detectors, security cameras, vehicle barriers, alarm systems, clear backpacks, bullet-resistant glass and door-locking systems.Critics say school officials are scrambling to show action — any action — to worried parents&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/back-to-school">ahead of the new school year,</a>&nbsp;but in their haste may be emphasizing the wrong things. It's “security theater," said Ken Trump, president of the National School Safety and Security Services. Instead, he said, schools should focus on making sure teachers are implementing basic safety protocols such as ensuring doors aren't propped open.The attack in Uvalde illustrated the shortcomings of panic-alert systems. Robb Elementary School had implemented an alert app, and when an attacker approached the school, a school employee did send a lockdown alert. But&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-texas-education-violence-469144ec9cee9cb33f0860f7445d8591">not all teachers received it</a>&nbsp;because of poor Wi-Fi or phones that were turned off or in a drawer, according to an investigation by the Texas Legislature. And those who did may not have taken it seriously, the Legislature's report said: The school sent out frequent alerts related to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mexico-shootings-texas-immigration-578cd4c9577174282fb947a391471475">Border Patrol car chases</a>&nbsp;in the area.“People want visible, tangible things,” Trump said. “It’s a lot harder to point to the value of training your staff. Those are intangibles. Those are things that are less visible and invisible, but they’re most effective.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/3/1646417385414.png" alt="Police outside the shooting in March at Olathe East High School.&nbsp; A school&nbsp; administrator and a police officer stationed there were wounded. The officer wounded the student Jaylon&nbsp;Elmore who was hospitalized for weeks before he was jailed on $1 million bond on an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-education-school-shootings-robbery-kansas-city-33b40af0c849eb7db2accd234dbbb2b7">attempted capital murder charge</a>. He pleaded not guilty.-photo courtesy KMBC TV" />
 <figcaption>Police outside the shooting in March at Olathe East High School.&nbsp; A school&nbsp; administrator and a police officer stationed there were wounded. The officer wounded the student Jaylon&nbsp;Elmore who was hospitalized for weeks before he was jailed on $1 million bond on an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-education-school-shootings-robbery-kansas-city-33b40af0c849eb7db2accd234dbbb2b7">attempted capital murder charge</a>. He pleaded not guilty.-photo courtesy KMBC TV</figcaption>
 </figure>In suburban Kansas City, the decision to spend $2.1 million over five years for a system called CrisisAlert “isn’t a knee-jerk reaction," said Brent Kiger, Olathe Public Schools' director of safety services. He said he had been eying the system even before gunfire erupted in an Olathe high school in March as staff confronted an 18-year-old over rumors that he had a gun in his backpack.“It helped us kind of evaluate it and look at it through a lens of: ‘We’ve been through this critical incident, and how would it have helped us?' And it would have helped us that day," he said. "There’s just no question about that.”The system, a different one than what Uvalde relied on, allows staff to trigger a lockdown that will be announced with flashing strobe lights, a takeover of staff computers and a prerecorded intercom announcement. Teachers can set off the alarms by pushing a button on a wearable badge at least eight times. Staff also can summon help to break up a hallway fight or to deal with a medical emergency if they push the button three times.Demand for CrisisAlert had been growing even before Uvalde, with revenue from new contracts increasing 270% from the first quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022, the product’s maker, Centegix, said in a statement.Arkansas was an early adopter of panic buttons, announcing in 2015 that more than 1,000 schools would be equipped with a smartphone app that connects users quickly with 911. At the time, education officials said the plan was the most comprehensive in the nation.But the idea really gained steam after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.Lori Alhadeff, whose 14-year-old daughter, Alyssa, was among the 17 killed, founded the group Make Our Schools Safe and began advocating for panic buttons. She had texted her daughter as shots rang out that help was on the way.“But in reality, there was no panic button. There was no immediate way to contact law enforcement or emergency services to get on site as soon as possible,” said Lori Kitaygorodsky, the group’s spokeswoman. “We always kind of go by the thinking that time equals life.”Lawmakers in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-school-shootings-fl-state-wire-florida-laws-24e93391693326f7123a5fbc1e653ee8">Florida</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/4de21d78bb5d44c78a15d05fe7484edc">New Jersey</a>&nbsp;responded by passing Alyssa’s Law, requiring schools to begin using panic alarms. District of Columbia schools also added panic-button technology.Following Uvalde, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a new bill into law that requires school districts to consider installing silent panic alarms. And Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt issued an executive order, calling on all schools to implement panic buttons if not already in use. The state previously provided money for schools to subscribe to an app.Over the years, legislation also has been introduced in Nebraska, Texas, Arizona and Virginia, according to Make Our Schools Safe.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-las-vegas-mental-education-violence-18432d6395e67e952222da5b9894d5bb">Las Vegas schools</a>&nbsp;also decided to add panic buttons this year to deal with a wave of violence. Data show the district recorded 2,377 assaults and batteries from August 2021 through the end of May, including an after-school attack that left a teacher injured and unconscious in her classroom. Other districts adding panic buttons for back-to-school include Madison County Schools in North Carolina,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-north-carolina-f2b8b83af7165cc9b20846a0500bda19">which also are putting AR-15 rifles in every school</a><a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-north-carolina-f2b8b83af7165cc9b20846a0500bda19">,</a>&nbsp;and the Houston County School District in Georgia.Walter Stephens, the executive director of school operations in the 30,000-student Houston County district, said the district piloted the panic button technology last year in three schools before signing a $1.7 million, five-year contract to make it available in all its buildings.Like most schools, the district reassessed its safety protocols after the tragedy in Uvalde. But the Texas shooting didn't provide the impetus to add the panic buttons, Stephens insisted. If students don't feel safe, he said, “that translates to them not performing well in our schools.”Whether the buttons deliver as promised is something experts are monitoring. In places like Florida, a panic button app has proven&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fort-lauderdale-florida-parkland-florida-school-shooting-legislature-shootings-fef83c930f7995ef4fdf989e35802a69">unpopular with teachers</a>. And what happens, asked Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers, in the case of a false alarm, or a student using a panic-button to cause mayhem?“In throwing so much technology at the problem ... we may have unintentionally created a false sense of security,” Canady said.Kansas state Sen. Cindy Holscher represents an area that includes part of the Olathe district, and her 15-year-old son knew the Olathe East shooter. While Holscher, a Democrat, supports the addition of panic buttons in the district, she said schools alone can't fix the country's mass shooting problem.“If we make it way too easy for people to get their hands on guns, it’s still a problem,” said Holscher, who has championed a red-flag law and another measure that would have mandated safe firearm storage. She said neither measure even got a hearing in the GOP-dominated Legislature.“We have got to get to the heart of the issue at some point.”

Back to school, with panic buttons: The post-Uvalde scramble

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a possible accident that fatally injured a 34-year-old man.

Just after 8:30 a.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to the alley of the 1800 block of South Spruce in Wichita regarding a dead body found, according to Officer&nbsp;Juan Rebolledo.

At the scene, officers located a 34-year-old man, who was pronounced deceased, at the scene.

The investigation revealed that the 34-year-old man was possible run over by a vehicle.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call detectives at 316-268-4407, the See Something Say Something Hotline at 316-519-2282, or Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a possible accident that fatally injured a 34-year-old man.Just after 8:30 a.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to the alley of the 1800 block of South Spruce in Wichita regarding a dead body found, according to Officer&nbsp;Juan Rebolledo.At the scene, officers located a 34-year-old man, who was pronounced deceased, at the scene.The investigation revealed that the 34-year-old man was possible run over by a vehicle.Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call detectives at 316-268-4407, the See Something Say Something Hotline at 316-519-2282, or Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.

Police: Kan. man found dead in street possibly run over by vehicle

LONDON (AP) — For years, global health officials have used billions of drops of an oral vaccine in a remarkably effective campaign aimed at wiping out polio in its last remaining strongholds — typically, poor, politically unstable corners of the world.

Now, in a surprising twist in the decades-long effort to eradicate the virus, authorities in Jerusalem, New York and London have discovered evidence that polio is spreading there.

The original source of the virus? The oral vaccine itself.

Scientists have long known about this extremely rare phenomenon. That is why some countries have switched to other polio vaccines. But these incidental infections from the oral formula are becoming more glaring as the world inches closer to eradication of the disease and the number of polio cases caused by the wild, or naturally circulating, virus plummets.

Since 2017, there have been 396 cases of polio caused by the wild virus, versus more than 2,600 linked to the oral vaccine, according to figures from the World Health Organization and its partners.

“We are basically replacing the wild virus with the virus in the vaccine, which is now leading to new outbreaks,” said Scott Barrett, a Columbia University professor who has studied polio eradication. “I would assume that countries like the U.K. and the U.S. will be able to stop transmission quite quickly, but we also thought that about monkeypox.”

The latest incidents represent the first time in several years that vaccine-connected polio virus has turned up in rich countries.

Earlier this year, officials in Israel&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2022-DON366">detected polio</a>&nbsp;in an unvaccinated 3-year-old, who suffered paralysis. Several other children, nearly all of them unvaccinated, were found to have the virus but no symptoms.

In June, British authorities reported finding evidence in sewage that the virus was spreading, though no infections in people were identified. Last week, the government said all children in London ages 1 to 9 would be&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-london-473e92cf88201d7e7a92e6445498500f">offered a booster shot.</a>

In the U.S., an unvaccinated young adult suffered paralysis in his legs after being infected with polio, New York officials&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/polio-case-new-york-4c1e2512145a1d897982f27507259d83">revealed</a>&nbsp;last month. The virus has also shown up in New York sewers, suggesting it is spreading. But officials said they are not planning a booster campaign because they believe the state's high vaccination rate should offer enough protection.

Genetic analyses showed that the viruses in the three countries were all “vaccine-derived,” meaning that they were mutated versions of a virus that originated in the oral vaccine.

The oral vaccine at issue has been used since 1988 because it is cheap, easy to administer — two drops are put directly into children's mouths — and better at protecting entire populations where polio is spreading. It contains a weakened form of the live virus.

But it can also cause polio in about two to four children per 2 million doses. (Four doses are required to be fully immunized.) In extremely rare cases, the weakened virus can also sometimes mutate into a more dangerous form and spark outbreaks, especially in places with poor sanitation and low vaccination levels.

These outbreaks typically begin when people who are vaccinated shed live virus from the vaccine in their feces. From there, the virus can spread within the community and, over time, turn into a form that can paralyze people and start new epidemics.

Many countries that eliminated polio switched to injectable vaccines containing a killed virus decades ago to avoid such risks; the Nordic countries and the Netherlands never used the oral vaccine. The ultimate goal is to move the entire world to the shots once wild polio is eradicated, but some scientists argue that the switch should happen sooner.

“We probably could never have gotten on top of polio in the developing world without the (oral polio vaccine), but this is the price we’re now paying,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “The only way we are going to eliminate polio is to eliminate the use of the oral vaccine."

Aidan O’Leary, director of WHO's polio department, described the discovery of polio spreading in London and New York as “a major surprise,” saying that officials have been focused on eradicating the disease in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where health workers have been killed for immunizing children and where conflict has made access to some areas impossible.

Still, O'Leary said he is confident Israel, Britain and the U.S. will shut down their newly identified outbreaks quickly.

The oral vaccine is credited with dramatically reducing the number of children paralyzed by polio. When the global eradication effort began in 1988, there were about 350,000 cases of wild polio a year. So far this year, there have been 19 cases of wild polio, all in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Mozambique.

In 2020, the number of polio cases linked to the vaccine hit a peak of more than 1,100 spread out across dozens of countries. It has since declined to around 200 this year so far.

Last year, WHO and partners also began using a newer oral polio vaccine, which contains a live but weakened virus that scientists believe is less likely to mutate into a dangerous form. But supplies are limited.

To stop polio in Britain, the U.S. and Israel, what is needed is more vaccination, experts say. That is something Columbia University's Barrett worries could be challenging in the COVID-19 era.

“What’s different now is a reduction in trust of authorities and the political polarization in countries like the U.S. and the U.K.,” Barrett said. “The presumption that we can quickly get vaccination numbers up quickly may be more challenging now.”

Oyewale Tomori, a virologist who helped direct Nigeria’s effort to eliminate polio, said that in the past, he and colleagues balked at describing outbreaks as “vaccine-derived,” wary it would make people fearful of the vaccine.

“All we can do is explain how the vaccine works and hope that people understand that immunization is the best protection, but it’s complicated,” Tomori said. “In hindsight, maybe it would have been better not to use this vaccine, but at that time, nobody knew it would turn out like this.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661119663588.jpeg" alt="An Afghan health worker uses an oral polio vaccine on a child as part of a campaign to eliminate polio, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, April 18, 2017. For years, global health officials have used billions of drops of an oral vaccine in a remarkably effective campaign aimed at wiping out polio in its last remaining strongholds — typically, poor, politically unstable corners of the world. Now, in a surprising twist in the decades-long effort to eradicate the virus, authorities in Jerusalem, New York and London have discovered evidence that polio is spreading there. The source of the virus? The oral vaccine itself. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)" />
 <figcaption>An Afghan health worker uses an oral polio vaccine on a child as part of a campaign to eliminate polio, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, April 18, 2017. For years, global health officials have used billions of drops of an oral vaccine in a remarkably effective campaign aimed at wiping out polio in its last remaining strongholds — typically, poor, politically unstable corners of the world. Now, in a surprising twist in the decades-long effort to eradicate the virus, authorities in Jerusalem, New York and London have discovered evidence that polio is spreading there. The source of the virus? The oral vaccine itself. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)</figcaption>
 </figure>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSLONDON (AP) — For years, global health officials have used billions of drops of an oral vaccine in a remarkably effective campaign aimed at wiping out polio in its last remaining strongholds — typically, poor, politically unstable corners of the world.Now, in a surprising twist in the decades-long effort to eradicate the virus, authorities in Jerusalem, New York and London have discovered evidence that polio is spreading there.The original source of the virus? The oral vaccine itself.Scientists have long known about this extremely rare phenomenon. That is why some countries have switched to other polio vaccines. But these incidental infections from the oral formula are becoming more glaring as the world inches closer to eradication of the disease and the number of polio cases caused by the wild, or naturally circulating, virus plummets.Since 2017, there have been 396 cases of polio caused by the wild virus, versus more than 2,600 linked to the oral vaccine, according to figures from the World Health Organization and its partners.“We are basically replacing the wild virus with the virus in the vaccine, which is now leading to new outbreaks,” said Scott Barrett, a Columbia University professor who has studied polio eradication. “I would assume that countries like the U.K. and the U.S. will be able to stop transmission quite quickly, but we also thought that about monkeypox.”The latest incidents represent the first time in several years that vaccine-connected polio virus has turned up in rich countries.Earlier this year, officials in Israel&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2022-DON366">detected polio</a>&nbsp;in an unvaccinated 3-year-old, who suffered paralysis. Several other children, nearly all of them unvaccinated, were found to have the virus but no symptoms.In June, British authorities reported finding evidence in sewage that the virus was spreading, though no infections in people were identified. Last week, the government said all children in London ages 1 to 9 would be&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-london-473e92cf88201d7e7a92e6445498500f">offered a booster shot.</a>In the U.S., an unvaccinated young adult suffered paralysis in his legs after being infected with polio, New York officials&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/polio-case-new-york-4c1e2512145a1d897982f27507259d83">revealed</a>&nbsp;last month. The virus has also shown up in New York sewers, suggesting it is spreading. But officials said they are not planning a booster campaign because they believe the state's high vaccination rate should offer enough protection.Genetic analyses showed that the viruses in the three countries were all “vaccine-derived,” meaning that they were mutated versions of a virus that originated in the oral vaccine.The oral vaccine at issue has been used since 1988 because it is cheap, easy to administer — two drops are put directly into children's mouths — and better at protecting entire populations where polio is spreading. It contains a weakened form of the live virus.But it can also cause polio in about two to four children per 2 million doses. (Four doses are required to be fully immunized.) In extremely rare cases, the weakened virus can also sometimes mutate into a more dangerous form and spark outbreaks, especially in places with poor sanitation and low vaccination levels.These outbreaks typically begin when people who are vaccinated shed live virus from the vaccine in their feces. From there, the virus can spread within the community and, over time, turn into a form that can paralyze people and start new epidemics.Many countries that eliminated polio switched to injectable vaccines containing a killed virus decades ago to avoid such risks; the Nordic countries and the Netherlands never used the oral vaccine. The ultimate goal is to move the entire world to the shots once wild polio is eradicated, but some scientists argue that the switch should happen sooner.“We probably could never have gotten on top of polio in the developing world without the (oral polio vaccine), but this is the price we’re now paying,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “The only way we are going to eliminate polio is to eliminate the use of the oral vaccine."Aidan O’Leary, director of WHO's polio department, described the discovery of polio spreading in London and New York as “a major surprise,” saying that officials have been focused on eradicating the disease in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where health workers have been killed for immunizing children and where conflict has made access to some areas impossible.Still, O'Leary said he is confident Israel, Britain and the U.S. will shut down their newly identified outbreaks quickly.The oral vaccine is credited with dramatically reducing the number of children paralyzed by polio. When the global eradication effort began in 1988, there were about 350,000 cases of wild polio a year. So far this year, there have been 19 cases of wild polio, all in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Mozambique.In 2020, the number of polio cases linked to the vaccine hit a peak of more than 1,100 spread out across dozens of countries. It has since declined to around 200 this year so far.Last year, WHO and partners also began using a newer oral polio vaccine, which contains a live but weakened virus that scientists believe is less likely to mutate into a dangerous form. But supplies are limited.To stop polio in Britain, the U.S. and Israel, what is needed is more vaccination, experts say. That is something Columbia University's Barrett worries could be challenging in the COVID-19 era.“What’s different now is a reduction in trust of authorities and the political polarization in countries like the U.S. and the U.K.,” Barrett said. “The presumption that we can quickly get vaccination numbers up quickly may be more challenging now.”Oyewale Tomori, a virologist who helped direct Nigeria’s effort to eliminate polio, said that in the past, he and colleagues balked at describing outbreaks as “vaccine-derived,” wary it would make people fearful of the vaccine.“All we can do is explain how the vaccine works and hope that people understand that immunization is the best protection, but it’s complicated,” Tomori said. “In hindsight, maybe it would have been better not to use this vaccine, but at that time, nobody knew it would turn out like this.”

Polio in US, UK and Israel reveals rare risk of oral vaccine

WASHINGTON (AP) —Instagram and Facebook suspended Children's Health Defense last week after the anti-vaccine group led by Robert Kennedy Jr. repeatedly violated rules prohibiting misinformation about COVID-19.

A nonprofit, Children's Health Defense is one of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-pandemics-race-and-ethnicity-d140be878b1ef0c5a5cce3cfde71e69c">most influential anti-vaccine organizations</a>&nbsp;active on social media, where it has spread misleading claims about vaccines and other&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-the-holocaust-anne-frank-51ff5b36a8d30636184ef3e6d2dce198">public health measures</a>&nbsp;designed to control the pandemic.

In a statement, Kennedy compared Facebook's actions to government censorship, even though Facebook is a private company that can set and enforce its own rules about misinformation.

“Facebook is acting here as a surrogate for the federal government’s crusade to silence all criticism of draconian government policies,” Kennedy said.

Children's Health Defense had hundreds of thousands of followers at the time of the suspension, according to a statement from the organization, which also noted that it has sued Facebook over its moderation policies.

Public health advocates and misinformation experts have criticized Facebook&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/the-facebook-papers-covid-vaccine-misinformation-c8bbc569be7cc2ca583dadb4236a0613">for not acting more swiftly</a>&nbsp;to contain potentially harmful misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines.

Karen Kornbluh, director of the Digital Innovation and Democracy Initiative at the German Marshall Fund, said too many groups like Children's Health Defense have been allowed to flourish on social media for too long. She noted that the group remains on Twitter.

“Today's step is too late and too little,” Kornbluh said, adding that tech companies must address the reasons misinformation spreads so readily on social media.

Facebook and Instagram confirmed the company action on Thursday in a statement to The Associated Press.

“We removed these accounts for repeatedly violating our policies,” a spokesman for Meta, Facebook and Instagram's parent company, told the AP. Under the platforms' policies, suspensions are typically only enforced after multiple violations.

Several state affiliates of Children’s Health Defense remain on Facebook and Instagram despite the ban of the national organization.&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/Thanks%20for%20reaching%20out.%20We%20removed%20these%20accounts%20for%20repeatedly%20violating%20our%20policies.">Kennedy was kicked off Instagram</a>&nbsp;last year but continues to keep an active account on Facebook.

WASHINGTON (AP) —Instagram and Facebook suspended Children's Health Defense last week after the anti-vaccine group led by Robert Kennedy Jr. repeatedly violated rules prohibiting misinformation about COVID-19.A nonprofit, Children's Health Defense is one of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-pandemics-race-and-ethnicity-d140be878b1ef0c5a5cce3cfde71e69c">most influential anti-vaccine organizations</a>&nbsp;active on social media, where it has spread misleading claims about vaccines and other&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-the-holocaust-anne-frank-51ff5b36a8d30636184ef3e6d2dce198">public health measures</a>&nbsp;designed to control the pandemic.In a statement, Kennedy compared Facebook's actions to government censorship, even though Facebook is a private company that can set and enforce its own rules about misinformation.“Facebook is acting here as a surrogate for the federal government’s crusade to silence all criticism of draconian government policies,” Kennedy said.Children's Health Defense had hundreds of thousands of followers at the time of the suspension, according to a statement from the organization, which also noted that it has sued Facebook over its moderation policies.Public health advocates and misinformation experts have criticized Facebook&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/the-facebook-papers-covid-vaccine-misinformation-c8bbc569be7cc2ca583dadb4236a0613">for not acting more swiftly</a>&nbsp;to contain potentially harmful misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines.Karen Kornbluh, director of the Digital Innovation and Democracy Initiative at the German Marshall Fund, said too many groups like Children's Health Defense have been allowed to flourish on social media for too long. She noted that the group remains on Twitter.“Today's step is too late and too little,” Kornbluh said, adding that tech companies must address the reasons misinformation spreads so readily on social media.Facebook and Instagram confirmed the company action on Thursday in a statement to The Associated Press.“We removed these accounts for repeatedly violating our policies,” a spokesman for Meta, Facebook and Instagram's parent company, told the AP. Under the platforms' policies, suspensions are typically only enforced after multiple violations.Several state affiliates of Children’s Health Defense remain on Facebook and Instagram despite the ban of the national organization.&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/Thanks%20for%20reaching%20out.%20We%20removed%20these%20accounts%20for%20repeatedly%20violating%20our%20policies.">Kennedy was kicked off Instagram</a>&nbsp;last year but continues to keep an active account on Facebook.

Anti-vaccine group kicked off Facebook, Instagram

WICHITA, KAN. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging a Kansas man with child pornography crimes.

Walter Haskin, 27, Cottonwood Falls, was indicted on one count of attempted distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, according to the United State's Attorney.

The Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force launched an investigation after Dropbox submitted a tip through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children hotline indicating the file sharing service said it had detected child pornography uploaded to an account, according to&nbsp; a criminal complaint.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Wichita Police Department are investigating the case.

In 2011, Haskin was convicted of criminal sexual assault in Illinois, according to the KBI offender registry.&nbsp; He has been listed as an offender since 2013.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1660846648085.png" alt="Haskin-photo KBI Offender Registry" />
 <figcaption>Haskin-photo KBI Offender Registry</figcaption>
 </figure>WICHITA, KAN. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging a Kansas man with child pornography crimes.Walter Haskin, 27, Cottonwood Falls, was indicted on one count of attempted distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, according to the United State's Attorney.The Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force launched an investigation after Dropbox submitted a tip through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children hotline indicating the file sharing service said it had detected child pornography uploaded to an account, according to&nbsp; a criminal complaint.Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Wichita Police Department are investigating the case.In 2011, Haskin was convicted of criminal sexual assault in Illinois, according to the KBI offender registry.&nbsp; He has been listed as an offender since 2013.

Sex offender accused of child porn distribution in Kansas

By ELAINE S. POVICH <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/08/15/state-attorneys-general-unite-against-robocalls">Stateline</a>

Nothing has been able to kill scam robocalls — not federal 
regulation, not individual state lawsuits, not private software. Each 
effort has made a dent, but the unwanted calls keep on coming, much to 
the consternation of Americans on the receiving end.

Now, all 50 state attorneys general, Republicans and Democrats, have 
come together through a newly formed task force to go after U.S. 
telecommunications companies that allow robocalls originating overseas 
to reach their customers.

Stopping nuisance calls from foreign countries has been particularly 
challenging. The AGs have put telecom companies on notice that they must
 stop the scam calls before they go through to customers, or face 
prosecution. Experts say that strategy just might work. 

“Technology has advanced to the point so AGs can see when telecom 
carriers are carrying illegal traffic,” said Alex Quilici, CEO of 
YouMail, a robocall-blocking software company that keeps track of 
robocalling in the United States. 

“The problem has been that the [Federal Communications Commission] 
fines someone … one at a time, or one AG shuts down a carrier,” he said.
 “Now, it’s 50 going after them and 50 court proceedings and 50 fines. 
I’m optimistic that this will make some impact. Enforcement really is 
key.” 

Further, Quilici said, by coordinating lawsuits, the attorneys 
general make it more expensive for the robocaller companies, which 
earlier had calculated the cost of individual court cases into their 
cost of doing business. “The key thing you want to do is raise the cost 
for the robocaller,” he said.

As an example, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein in January 
sued telephone service provider Articul8 for allegedly facilitating 
illegal and fraudulent telemarketing phone calls in his state. Stein 
alleges the company sent 65 million fraud calls to his constituents in 
just a few months.

Now, Stein, a Democrat, and GOP attorneys general Todd Rokita of 
Indiana and Dave Yost of Ohio are leading the effort to coordinate 
similar suits against telecom providers on a 50-state (plus the District
 of Columbia) basis by forming an Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force. 

As its first act, the task force this month issued 20 investigative 
requests to 20 companies that are “allegedly responsible for a majority 
of foreign robocall traffic,” Stein said. 

Rokita, in a news release, pointed out that robocalls “aren't just a 
Hoosier problem. They are a nationwide problem.” He put the telecom 
industry on notice that if it “won't police itself, this unprecedented 
task force will."

State attorneys general have taken some coordinated actions in the 
past few years, such as calling on internet resellers like eBay Inc. <a href="https://www.naag.org/policy-letter/vaccination-cards/">to stop selling</a> fake COVID-19 vaccination cards and <a href="https://www.naag.org/policy-letter/attorneys-general-raise-concern-about-illegal-alcohol-sales-online">raising concerns</a> about illegal alcohol sales online. And together, they’ve <a href="https://www.naag.org/policy-letter/bipartisan-coalition-of-52-attorneys-general-send-ustelecom-letter-outlining-plan-to-strengthen-illegal-robocall-enforcement/">pushed companies</a> to beef up anti-robocalling technology.

But mostly the attorneys general have split along party lines. The 
Republican AGs association, for example, was on the winning side in its 
“friend of the court” brief <a href="https://republicanags.com/2021/06/17/republican-ags-win-unanimous-victory-for-religious-liberty-at-scotus/">supporting</a>
 a lawsuit in Pennsylvania arguing that religious institutions that ban 
same-sex foster parents should be allowed to take part in Philadelphia’s
 foster care system.

And the Democratic AGs issued a <a href="https://dems.ag/democratic-attorneys-general-praise-biden-harris-administrations-executive-order-on-reproductive-healthcare-access/">statement</a> this month praising President Joe Biden’s executive order aimed at protecting some abortion rights.

“I think we can give all the credit to the robocallers,” said former Maine Attorney General James Tierney, founder of <a href="https://www.stateag.org/">StateAG.org</a>,
 an educational group that studies the offices of state attorneys 
general. “They have been able to do the politically impossible feat: 
They have been able to unite the attorneys general when they don’t unite
 on anything else. I don’t know who they are, or what country they are 
in, but everybody hates robocallers.

“They [the AGs] are going to lose the pro-robocall vote, but I think 
they are willing to take the risk,” said Tierney, a Democrat. 

Some government actions have seemed to reduce the scourge a bit, but 
not enough to get rid of constituent hate for the scam calls. (There is 
some legitimate “opt-in” automatic calling, such as when schools notify 
parents of a snow day, for example.) 

The National Consumer Law Center and the Electronic Privacy Information Center <a href="https://www.nclc.org/issues/energy-utilities-a-communications/scam-robocalls-will-continue-until-telecom-providers-no-longer-profit-from-them.html">found</a> that in 2021, about 60 million Americans were bilked out of $29 billion by scam robocalls and texts.&nbsp;

YouMail reported that American phones got just over 3.8 billion 
robocalls in July, a nearly 12% decrease from June. That was due mostly 
to the July Fourth holiday and one extra weekend in the month, Quilici 
said. He said robocalling is notably down on weekends and holidays. 
Still, in July, there were an average 123.1 million calls a day, YouMail
 reported. 

But the reported decrease in calls in July might be misleading, 
YouMail said in its report, as many robocalls go undetected because of a
 regulatory quirk related to so-called spoofed numbers. &nbsp;

A spoofed number appears to be a legitimate number, likely one with a
 local area code and exchange, but is actually falsified information 
showing on the Caller ID to disguise where the call is coming from. 
Quilici said the FCC’s Stir/Shaken program — a digital verification <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/call-authentication">system</a>
 that makes it easier to identify spoofed or fake numbers — is driving 
down the number of obvious spoofed calls, but there may be many others 
that are going undetected.

Large carriers such as Verizon have implemented Stir/Shaken for a 
couple of years. The AGs are focusing on smaller carriers, such as the 
one Stein sued, which only came under the program in June, so its effect
 is not obvious yet. 

“Verizon is a strong advocate of tracking down and shutting down 
sources of illegal robocalls and we stand ready to help law enforcement 
with that goal,” Verizon spokesperson Rich Young said in an email to Stateline. 

Louis Jacobson, who writes about attorneys general for University of 
Virginia professor Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball website, said political 
polarization among attorneys general has increased in recent years. 
“There’s not as much cooperation, especially on high profile issues,” he
 said in a phone interview. “There is mostly partisan alignment.”


Still, he added: “While I think that general partisan division is still 
in force, robocall is the kind of thing that everyone can get behind 
stopping. There’s no political downside.”

Stateline is an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1660916830378.png" alt="All 50 state attorneys general, Republicans and Democrats, have come together through a newly formed task force to go after U.S. telecommunications companies that allow robocalls originating overseas to reach their customers. That includes Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, pictured here in 2021 (photo courtesy of the Attorney General's office)." />
 <figcaption>All 50 state attorneys general, Republicans and Democrats, have come together through a newly formed task force to go after U.S. telecommunications companies that allow robocalls originating overseas to reach their customers. That includes Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, pictured here in 2021 (photo courtesy of the Attorney General's office).</figcaption>
 </figure>By ELAINE S. POVICH <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/08/15/state-attorneys-general-unite-against-robocalls">Stateline</a>Nothing has been able to kill scam robocalls — not federal 
regulation, not individual state lawsuits, not private software. Each 
effort has made a dent, but the unwanted calls keep on coming, much to 
the consternation of Americans on the receiving end.Now, all 50 state attorneys general, Republicans and Democrats, have 
come together through a newly formed task force to go after U.S. 
telecommunications companies that allow robocalls originating overseas 
to reach their customers.Stopping nuisance calls from foreign countries has been particularly 
challenging. The AGs have put telecom companies on notice that they must
 stop the scam calls before they go through to customers, or face 
prosecution. Experts say that strategy just might work. “Technology has advanced to the point so AGs can see when telecom 
carriers are carrying illegal traffic,” said Alex Quilici, CEO of 
YouMail, a robocall-blocking software company that keeps track of 
robocalling in the United States. “The problem has been that the [Federal Communications Commission] 
fines someone … one at a time, or one AG shuts down a carrier,” he said.
 “Now, it’s 50 going after them and 50 court proceedings and 50 fines. 
I’m optimistic that this will make some impact. Enforcement really is 
key.” Further, Quilici said, by coordinating lawsuits, the attorneys 
general make it more expensive for the robocaller companies, which 
earlier had calculated the cost of individual court cases into their 
cost of doing business. “The key thing you want to do is raise the cost 
for the robocaller,” he said.As an example, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein in January 
sued telephone service provider Articul8 for allegedly facilitating 
illegal and fraudulent telemarketing phone calls in his state. Stein 
alleges the company sent 65 million fraud calls to his constituents in 
just a few months.Now, Stein, a Democrat, and GOP attorneys general Todd Rokita of 
Indiana and Dave Yost of Ohio are leading the effort to coordinate 
similar suits against telecom providers on a 50-state (plus the District
 of Columbia) basis by forming an Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force. As its first act, the task force this month issued 20 investigative 
requests to 20 companies that are “allegedly responsible for a majority 
of foreign robocall traffic,” Stein said. Rokita, in a news release, pointed out that robocalls “aren't just a 
Hoosier problem. They are a nationwide problem.” He put the telecom 
industry on notice that if it “won't police itself, this unprecedented 
task force will."State attorneys general have taken some coordinated actions in the 
past few years, such as calling on internet resellers like eBay Inc. <a href="https://www.naag.org/policy-letter/vaccination-cards/">to stop selling</a> fake COVID-19 vaccination cards and <a href="https://www.naag.org/policy-letter/attorneys-general-raise-concern-about-illegal-alcohol-sales-online">raising concerns</a> about illegal alcohol sales online. And together, they’ve <a href="https://www.naag.org/policy-letter/bipartisan-coalition-of-52-attorneys-general-send-ustelecom-letter-outlining-plan-to-strengthen-illegal-robocall-enforcement/">pushed companies</a> to beef up anti-robocalling technology. But mostly the attorneys general have split along party lines. The 
Republican AGs association, for example, was on the winning side in its 
“friend of the court” brief <a href="https://republicanags.com/2021/06/17/republican-ags-win-unanimous-victory-for-religious-liberty-at-scotus/">supporting</a>
 a lawsuit in Pennsylvania arguing that religious institutions that ban 
same-sex foster parents should be allowed to take part in Philadelphia’s
 foster care system. And the Democratic AGs issued a <a href="https://dems.ag/democratic-attorneys-general-praise-biden-harris-administrations-executive-order-on-reproductive-healthcare-access/">statement</a> this month praising President Joe Biden’s executive order aimed at protecting some abortion rights. But they all hate robocalls. “I think we can give all the credit to the robocallers,” said former Maine Attorney General James Tierney, founder of <a href="https://www.stateag.org/">StateAG.org</a>,
 an educational group that studies the offices of state attorneys 
general. “They have been able to do the politically impossible feat: 
They have been able to unite the attorneys general when they don’t unite
 on anything else. I don’t know who they are, or what country they are 
in, but everybody hates robocallers.“They [the AGs] are going to lose the pro-robocall vote, but I think 
they are willing to take the risk,” said Tierney, a Democrat. Some government actions have seemed to reduce the scourge a bit, but 
not enough to get rid of constituent hate for the scam calls. (There is 
some legitimate “opt-in” automatic calling, such as when schools notify 
parents of a snow day, for example.) The National Consumer Law Center and the Electronic Privacy Information Center <a href="https://www.nclc.org/issues/energy-utilities-a-communications/scam-robocalls-will-continue-until-telecom-providers-no-longer-profit-from-them.html">found</a> that in 2021, about 60 million Americans were bilked out of $29 billion by scam robocalls and texts.&nbsp; YouMail reported that American phones got just over 3.8 billion 
robocalls in July, a nearly 12% decrease from June. That was due mostly 
to the July Fourth holiday and one extra weekend in the month, Quilici 
said. He said robocalling is notably down on weekends and holidays. 
Still, in July, there were an average 123.1 million calls a day, YouMail
 reported. But the reported decrease in calls in July might be misleading, 
YouMail said in its report, as many robocalls go undetected because of a
 regulatory quirk related to so-called spoofed numbers. &nbsp;A spoofed number appears to be a legitimate number, likely one with a
 local area code and exchange, but is actually falsified information 
showing on the Caller ID to disguise where the call is coming from. 
Quilici said the FCC’s Stir/Shaken program — a digital verification <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/call-authentication">system</a>
 that makes it easier to identify spoofed or fake numbers — is driving 
down the number of obvious spoofed calls, but there may be many others 
that are going undetected. Large carriers such as Verizon have implemented Stir/Shaken for a 
couple of years. The AGs are focusing on smaller carriers, such as the 
one Stein sued, which only came under the program in June, so its effect
 is not obvious yet. “Verizon is a strong advocate of tracking down and shutting down 
sources of illegal robocalls and we stand ready to help law enforcement 
with that goal,” Verizon spokesperson Rich Young said in an email to Stateline. Louis Jacobson, who writes about attorneys general for University of 
Virginia professor Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball website, said political 
polarization among attorneys general has increased in recent years. 
“There’s not as much cooperation, especially on high profile issues,” he
 said in a phone interview. “There is mostly partisan alignment.”
Still, he added: “While I think that general partisan division is still 
in force, robocall is the kind of thing that everyone can get behind 
stopping. There’s no political downside.”Stateline is an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

All 50 state attorneys general unite against robocalls

News Release Drug Enforcement Administration

On Sunday, August 21, the Drug Enforcement Administration will recognize National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day by joining the many voices dedicated to educating the public on the serious dangers of fentanyl poisoning from fake pills and other illicit drugs.&nbsp; DEA supports the efforts of several organizations – including the Alexander Neville Foundation, Blue Plaid Society, Facing Fentanyl, Voices for Awareness, V.O.I.D., and others – to amplify nationwide efforts to increase awareness of the highly addictive and dangerous drugs containing fentanyl that continue driving the opioid epidemic.

<a>“Fentanyl is the single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever encountered,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.&nbsp; “From large cities to rural America, no community is safe from the presence of fentanyl.&nbsp; DEA is proud to work with families who have been affected by fentanyl poisonings to spread the word and to save lives.</a>”

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.&nbsp; It is inexpensive, widely available, highly addictive — and potentially lethal.&nbsp; Drug traffickers are increasingly mixing fentanyl with other illicit drugs—in powder and pill form—to drive addiction and create repeat customers. Many fentanyl poisoning victims are unaware that fentanyl is in the substance they are ingesting.&nbsp;

According to the CDC, an estimated 107,622 people in the United States died of drug overdoses and poisonings in 2021, with 67 percent of those deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl.&nbsp; Only two milligrams of fentanyl is a potentially lethal dose.

DEA stands with our federal, state, local, and community partners who work tirelessly to raise awareness of this important issue and prevent the fentanyl poisonings devastating our country.

DEA has created a special exhibit for its museum,&nbsp;The Faces of Fentanyl, to commemorate the lives lost from fentanyl poisoning.&nbsp; If you would like to submit a photo of a loved one lost to fentanyl, please submit their name and photo to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:fentanylawareness@dea.gov" target="_blank">fentanylawareness@dea.gov</a>,&nbsp;or post a photo and their name to social media using the hashtag #NationalFentanylAwarenessDay.

For more information on the dangers of fentanyl, visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.dea.gov/" target="_blank">www.DEA.gov</a>/fentanylawarenes

<figure>
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 </figure>News Release Drug Enforcement AdministrationOn Sunday, August 21, the Drug Enforcement Administration will recognize National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day by joining the many voices dedicated to educating the public on the serious dangers of fentanyl poisoning from fake pills and other illicit drugs.&nbsp; DEA supports the efforts of several organizations – including the Alexander Neville Foundation, Blue Plaid Society, Facing Fentanyl, Voices for Awareness, V.O.I.D., and others – to amplify nationwide efforts to increase awareness of the highly addictive and dangerous drugs containing fentanyl that continue driving the opioid epidemic.<a>“Fentanyl is the single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever encountered,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.&nbsp; “From large cities to rural America, no community is safe from the presence of fentanyl.&nbsp; DEA is proud to work with families who have been affected by fentanyl poisonings to spread the word and to save lives.</a>”Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.&nbsp; It is inexpensive, widely available, highly addictive — and potentially lethal.&nbsp; Drug traffickers are increasingly mixing fentanyl with other illicit drugs—in powder and pill form—to drive addiction and create repeat customers. Many fentanyl poisoning victims are unaware that fentanyl is in the substance they are ingesting.&nbsp;According to the CDC, an estimated 107,622 people in the United States died of drug overdoses and poisonings in 2021, with 67 percent of those deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl.&nbsp; Only two milligrams of fentanyl is a potentially lethal dose.DEA stands with our federal, state, local, and community partners who work tirelessly to raise awareness of this important issue and prevent the fentanyl poisonings devastating our country.DEA has created a special exhibit for its museum,&nbsp;The Faces of Fentanyl, to commemorate the lives lost from fentanyl poisoning.&nbsp; If you would like to submit a photo of a loved one lost to fentanyl, please submit their name and photo to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:fentanylawareness@dea.gov" target="_blank">fentanylawareness@dea.gov</a>,&nbsp;or post a photo and their name to social media using the hashtag #NationalFentanylAwarenessDay.For more information on the dangers of fentanyl, visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.dea.gov/" target="_blank">www.DEA.gov</a>/fentanylawarenes<a href="https://northplattepost.com/posts/2ddcec21-000f-4ace-b19e-4250120d6629">&nbsp;&nbsp;Download The Post app for iOs or Android</a><figure>
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