NEW YORK (AP) — Sunday’s Academy of Country Music Awards will feature some of the genre’s biggest stars, though chart-toppers like Morgan Wallen and Luke Bryan won’t be in the building. 

Wallen was declared ineligible by the ACMs after he was caught on camera using a racial slur earlier this year, and Bryan backed out of the event because he recently tested positive for the coronavirus. 

Bryan is nominated for the top prize — entertainer of the year — where his competition includes Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, Eric Church and Thomas Rhett. 

All of the entertainer of the year nominees but Bryan will perform — most of them pre-taped at various venues in Nashville, Tennessee.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618746401858.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — Sunday’s Academy of Country Music Awards will feature some of the genre’s biggest stars, though chart-toppers like Morgan Wallen and Luke Bryan won’t be in the building. Wallen was declared ineligible by the ACMs after he was caught on camera using a racial slur earlier this year, and Bryan backed out of the event because he recently tested positive for the coronavirus. Bryan is nominated for the top prize — entertainer of the year — where his competition includes Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, Eric Church and Thomas Rhett. All of the entertainer of the year nominees but Bryan will perform — most of them pre-taped at various venues in Nashville, Tennessee.

ACM Awards to feature (most of) country music's top stars

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A sheriff's department official in Wisconsin says three people are dead and two are seriously injured following a shooting early Sunday at a tavern. 

Kenosha County Sgt. David Wright says the shooting happened at Somers House Tavern in the Village of Somers. 

The suspected shooter has not been captured. 

Wright says the shooting appears to be a “targeted and isolated incident.” 

Authorities don't believe the general public is in danger. Officials have not yet determined the identities of the three people who died. The two people who were wounded have been taken to area hospitals. 

The road leading up to the tavern is closed while officials investigate.

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A sheriff's department official in Wisconsin says three people are dead and two are seriously injured following a shooting early Sunday at a tavern. Kenosha County Sgt. David Wright says the shooting happened at Somers House Tavern in the Village of Somers. The suspected shooter has not been captured. Wright says the shooting appears to be a “targeted and isolated incident.” Authorities don't believe the general public is in danger. Officials have not yet determined the identities of the three people who died. The two people who were wounded have been taken to area hospitals. The road leading up to the tavern is closed while officials investigate.

Official: 3 dead, 2 wounded in shooting at Wisconsin tavern

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Global COVID deaths on the rise again, top 3 million

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

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

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

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

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

Woman sentenced for killing boyfriend with her car

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

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

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

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

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

Another Kan. school ditches Native American mascot

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is setting up a $1.7 billion national network to identify and track worrisome&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-mutations-rising-f471eca388965ee95cd1e324c4e239d8">coronavirus mutations</a>&nbsp;whose spread could trigger another pandemic wave, the Biden administration announced Friday.

White House officials unveiled a strategy that features three components: a major funding boost for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments to ramp up coronavirus gene-mapping; the creation of six “centers of excellence” partnerships with universities to conduct research and develop technologies for gene-based surveillance of pathogens, and building a data system to better share and analyze information on emerging disease threats, so knowledge can be turned into action.

“Even as we accelerate our efforts to get shots into arms, more dangerous variants are growing, causing increases in cases in people without immunity,” White House coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt told reporters. That “requires us to intensify our efforts to quickly test for and find the genetic sequence of the virus as it spreads.”

The new effort relies on money approved by Congress as part of President Joe Biden’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-inside-covid-19-bill-relief-package-52fa93ac75d38eae4cd3dbb6402e7eba">coronavirus relief package</a>&nbsp;to break what experts say is a feast-or-famine cycle in U.S. preparedness for disease threats.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">The coronavirus</a>&nbsp;is only one example. Others pathogens have included Ebola and Zika, and respiratory viruses like SARS in 2002 and MERS in 2012, which did not become major problems in the United States. Typically,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-public-health-genomics-united-kingdom-legislation-71879bce09ddc9956ed3e32f5925c0cf">the government scrambles to counter a potential threat</a>, but funding dries up when it recedes. The new genomic surveillance initiative aims to create a permanent infrastructure.

“It’s a transformative amount of money,” Mary Lee Watts, federal affairs director at the American Society for Microbiology, said in a recent interview. “It has the potential not only to get ahead of the current crisis, but it is going to help us in the future. This is a program that has been underfunded for years.”

The Biden administration’s move comes as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/public-health-england-health-washington-cor">a variant known as B117</a>, which first emerged in the United Kingdom, has become the predominant strain in the U.S. In&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-michigan-gretchen-whitmer-coronavirus-pandemic-rochelle-walensky-d5810b87b122a59bf734cf69f20aa51b">hard-hit Michigan</a>, the more transmissible mutation accounts for more than half the cases, according to CDC data. That’s also the case&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/infectious-diseases-coronavirus-pandemic-minnesota-4afe0f365943f75a84202878469b26f8">in Minnesota</a>. Vaccines are effective against the so-called U.K. variant, but other mutations circulating around the globe have shown resistance to currently available vaccines.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday the U.S. is now averaging nearly 70,000 new coronavirus cases daily, up from about 53,000 just four weeks ago. Hospitalizations have been trending higher, too, and deaths were up for the third day in a row. Along with relaxed restrictions on gatherings and indoor dining, the emergence of variants that spread more easily is part of the reason for the worsening trend.

Of particular concern are two variants that for now only have a toe-hold in the U.S. They are P1, first detected in travelers from Brazil, and B1351, identified in South Africa. The reason scientists are watching those variants is that they have shown some level of resistance to antibodies, defensive proteins produced by the human body in response to vaccines or a previous infection.

“In order for us to even have the possibility of getting back to normal by the fall we need to massively scale up our genomic surveillance,” said Esther Krofah, who directs the Faster Cures initiative of the Milken Institute. “It’s the insurance program that you need to have in place not just now, not just for COVID, but going forward for other pathogens of concern.”

Genomic sequencing essentially involves mapping the DNA of an organism, the key to its unique features. It’s done by high-tech machines that can cost from several hundred thousand dollars to $1 million or more. Technicians trained to run the machines and the necessary computing capacity add to costs.

Another hurdle is getting local, state and federal labs all working together. “There are lots of cats that need to be herded,” said University of Wisconsin virologist Thomas Friedrich.

At the end of last year, the CDC and collaborating labs were completing only 116 coronavirus gene sequences a week, according to the CDC’s website. “We started in a hole,” said Slavitt.

The White House says the weekly count is now about 29,000, but experts say in a large, diverse country like the U.S. those numbers need to be much higher to keep pace with potential changes to the virus. Viruses are highly efficient at spreading, developing mutations that enable them to keep reproducing.

White House officials said the government is releasing to states and territories an initial $240 million out of $1 billion allocated to expand genomic sequencing. Another $400 million will go to launch the six research partnerships with academic institutions, dubbed Centers of Excellence in Genomic Epidemiology. Finally, $300 million will go to set up the data sharing system, which is being called the National Bioinformatics Infrastructure.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1608566572342.png" alt="Virus variant image courtesy GISAID" />
 <figcaption>Virus variant image courtesy GISAID</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is setting up a $1.7 billion national network to identify and track worrisome&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-mutations-rising-f471eca388965ee95cd1e324c4e239d8">coronavirus mutations</a>&nbsp;whose spread could trigger another pandemic wave, the Biden administration announced Friday.White House officials unveiled a strategy that features three components: a major funding boost for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments to ramp up coronavirus gene-mapping; the creation of six “centers of excellence” partnerships with universities to conduct research and develop technologies for gene-based surveillance of pathogens, and building a data system to better share and analyze information on emerging disease threats, so knowledge can be turned into action.“Even as we accelerate our efforts to get shots into arms, more dangerous variants are growing, causing increases in cases in people without immunity,” White House coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt told reporters. That “requires us to intensify our efforts to quickly test for and find the genetic sequence of the virus as it spreads.”The new effort relies on money approved by Congress as part of President Joe Biden’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-inside-covid-19-bill-relief-package-52fa93ac75d38eae4cd3dbb6402e7eba">coronavirus relief package</a>&nbsp;to break what experts say is a feast-or-famine cycle in U.S. preparedness for disease threats.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">The coronavirus</a>&nbsp;is only one example. Others pathogens have included Ebola and Zika, and respiratory viruses like SARS in 2002 and MERS in 2012, which did not become major problems in the United States. Typically,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-public-health-genomics-united-kingdom-legislation-71879bce09ddc9956ed3e32f5925c0cf">the government scrambles to counter a potential threat</a>, but funding dries up when it recedes. The new genomic surveillance initiative aims to create a permanent infrastructure.“It’s a transformative amount of money,” Mary Lee Watts, federal affairs director at the American Society for Microbiology, said in a recent interview. “It has the potential not only to get ahead of the current crisis, but it is going to help us in the future. This is a program that has been underfunded for years.”The Biden administration’s move comes as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/public-health-england-health-washington-cor">a variant known as B117</a>, which first emerged in the United Kingdom, has become the predominant strain in the U.S. In&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-michigan-gretchen-whitmer-coronavirus-pandemic-rochelle-walensky-d5810b87b122a59bf734cf69f20aa51b">hard-hit Michigan</a>, the more transmissible mutation accounts for more than half the cases, according to CDC data. That’s also the case&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/infectious-diseases-coronavirus-pandemic-minnesota-4afe0f365943f75a84202878469b26f8">in Minnesota</a>. Vaccines are effective against the so-called U.K. variant, but other mutations circulating around the globe have shown resistance to currently available vaccines.CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday the U.S. is now averaging nearly 70,000 new coronavirus cases daily, up from about 53,000 just four weeks ago. Hospitalizations have been trending higher, too, and deaths were up for the third day in a row. Along with relaxed restrictions on gatherings and indoor dining, the emergence of variants that spread more easily is part of the reason for the worsening trend.Of particular concern are two variants that for now only have a toe-hold in the U.S. They are P1, first detected in travelers from Brazil, and B1351, identified in South Africa. The reason scientists are watching those variants is that they have shown some level of resistance to antibodies, defensive proteins produced by the human body in response to vaccines or a previous infection.“In order for us to even have the possibility of getting back to normal by the fall we need to massively scale up our genomic surveillance,” said Esther Krofah, who directs the Faster Cures initiative of the Milken Institute. “It’s the insurance program that you need to have in place not just now, not just for COVID, but going forward for other pathogens of concern.”Genomic sequencing essentially involves mapping the DNA of an organism, the key to its unique features. It’s done by high-tech machines that can cost from several hundred thousand dollars to $1 million or more. Technicians trained to run the machines and the necessary computing capacity add to costs.Another hurdle is getting local, state and federal labs all working together. “There are lots of cats that need to be herded,” said University of Wisconsin virologist Thomas Friedrich.At the end of last year, the CDC and collaborating labs were completing only 116 coronavirus gene sequences a week, according to the CDC’s website. “We started in a hole,” said Slavitt.The White House says the weekly count is now about 29,000, but experts say in a large, diverse country like the U.S. those numbers need to be much higher to keep pace with potential changes to the virus. Viruses are highly efficient at spreading, developing mutations that enable them to keep reproducing.White House officials said the government is releasing to states and territories an initial $240 million out of $1 billion allocated to expand genomic sequencing. Another $400 million will go to launch the six research partnerships with academic institutions, dubbed Centers of Excellence in Genomic Epidemiology. Finally, $300 million will go to set up the data sharing system, which is being called the National Bioinformatics Infrastructure.

US setting up $1.7B national network to track virus variants

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department’s internal watchdog has concluded that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife violated federal ethics rules by asking staffers to run personal errands and perform non-official work such as making restaurant reservations, shopping and caring for their dog.

In a report released on Friday, the department’s inspector general concluded that those requests were “inconsistent” with the regulations. But, because Pompeo is no longer a federal employee and not subject to federal disciplinary or other measures, it did not call for any action against the former secretary who left office on Jan. 20 at the end of the Trump administration.

Instead, it recommended that the State Department clarify its policies to better define tasks that are inappropriate for staffers under the ethics rules and make it easier to report alleged violations. The department accepted all of the recommendations in its response to the report.

Pompeo and his attorney strongly denied the allegations contained in the inspector general's report, which said the former secretary and his wife, Susan, “made over 100 requests to employees in the office of the secretary to conduct work that appeared to be personal in nature.” Pompeo's lawyer noted that the report identifies only a handful of questionable requests and that those did not amount to violations of the rules.

The report identified inappropriate tasks as including “picking up personal items, planning events unrelated to the department’s mission, and conducting such personal business as pet care and mailing personal Christmas cards.” Many of those requests were directed to a long-time assistant of the Pompeos who was hired by the State Department as a senior adviser to the secretary.

It said it had found evidence that Susan Pompeo had “on several occasions” instructed the adviser to plan events for groups with which the Pompeos had nongovernmental relationships. It said it had identified at least 30 instances in which either the secretary or his wife told staffers to make restaurant reservations for personal lunches and dinners.

The inspector general “found that such requests were inconsistent with department ethics rules and the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch,” the report said.

In an interview with investigators in late December, Pompeo said he had not paid that staffer or others separately for work that he either considered to be related to government business or to be minimal favors that long-time acquaintances would routinely do for each other, according to the report.

The inspector general, however, noted that there was no exception in the ethics rules for minimal personal favors. “Rather, the standards prohibit any use of a subordinate’s time to perform personal activities unless compensation is paid,” it said.

In a response appended to the report, the lawyer, William Burck, alleged that the report was biased and unfit for publication. Pompeo had shaken up the inspector general's office by firing its former chief in a move that critics alleged was aimed at halting potentially embarrassing investigations into his tenure at the department.

“The poor quality of the report bespeaks not merely unprofessionalism in its drafting but also bias, which we are concerned may be politically motivated,” Burck said. He said the report was “not fit for publication” and demanded evidence to support the investigators’ claims that the Pompeos had made more than 100 inappropriate requests of staffers.

In its response to the report, the State Department made no judgement on the findings but did accept the recommendations.

“The department appreciates the work of the Office of Inspector General, and, as the report notes, concurs with all the recommendations and will proceed to implement them," it said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/3/1616766008619.png" alt="Mike Pompeo spoke to a conservative group last Month in Iowa-photo courtesy Secretary Pompeo" />
 <figcaption>Mike Pompeo spoke to a conservative group last Month in Iowa-photo courtesy Secretary Pompeo</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department’s internal watchdog has concluded that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife violated federal ethics rules by asking staffers to run personal errands and perform non-official work such as making restaurant reservations, shopping and caring for their dog.In a report released on Friday, the department’s inspector general concluded that those requests were “inconsistent” with the regulations. But, because Pompeo is no longer a federal employee and not subject to federal disciplinary or other measures, it did not call for any action against the former secretary who left office on Jan. 20 at the end of the Trump administration.Instead, it recommended that the State Department clarify its policies to better define tasks that are inappropriate for staffers under the ethics rules and make it easier to report alleged violations. The department accepted all of the recommendations in its response to the report.Pompeo and his attorney strongly denied the allegations contained in the inspector general's report, which said the former secretary and his wife, Susan, “made over 100 requests to employees in the office of the secretary to conduct work that appeared to be personal in nature.” Pompeo's lawyer noted that the report identifies only a handful of questionable requests and that those did not amount to violations of the rules.The report identified inappropriate tasks as including “picking up personal items, planning events unrelated to the department’s mission, and conducting such personal business as pet care and mailing personal Christmas cards.” Many of those requests were directed to a long-time assistant of the Pompeos who was hired by the State Department as a senior adviser to the secretary.It said it had found evidence that Susan Pompeo had “on several occasions” instructed the adviser to plan events for groups with which the Pompeos had nongovernmental relationships. It said it had identified at least 30 instances in which either the secretary or his wife told staffers to make restaurant reservations for personal lunches and dinners.The inspector general “found that such requests were inconsistent with department ethics rules and the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch,” the report said.In an interview with investigators in late December, Pompeo said he had not paid that staffer or others separately for work that he either considered to be related to government business or to be minimal favors that long-time acquaintances would routinely do for each other, according to the report.The inspector general, however, noted that there was no exception in the ethics rules for minimal personal favors. “Rather, the standards prohibit any use of a subordinate’s time to perform personal activities unless compensation is paid,” it said.In a response appended to the report, the lawyer, William Burck, alleged that the report was biased and unfit for publication. Pompeo had shaken up the inspector general's office by firing its former chief in a move that critics alleged was aimed at halting potentially embarrassing investigations into his tenure at the department.“The poor quality of the report bespeaks not merely unprofessionalism in its drafting but also bias, which we are concerned may be politically motivated,” Burck said. He said the report was “not fit for publication” and demanded evidence to support the investigators’ claims that the Pompeos had made more than 100 inappropriate requests of staffers.In its response to the report, the State Department made no judgement on the findings but did accept the recommendations.“The department appreciates the work of the Office of Inspector General, and, as the report notes, concurs with all the recommendations and will proceed to implement them," it said.

State Dept. watchdog: Pompeo, wife violated ethics rules

LEAVENWORTH COUNTY—A Kansas teen died in an accident just after 10:30a.m. Friday in Leavenworth County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Chevy Cobalt driven Karley Renee&nbsp;Housworth, 18, Leavenworth,&nbsp;was southbound on 222nd just south of Alexandria Street.

The car rear-ended a 2017 GMC 3500 driven by Craig Anthony Bracken, 35, Basehor.

After the collision, the driver overcorrected and struck a 2012 RAM 1500 driven by Tracy R. Rogers, 62, Lawrence, head-on in the northbound lane of 222nd.

EMS transported Housworth to Overland Park Regional Medical Center where she died. EMS transported Rogers to Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Bracken was not injured. Housworth was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

LEAVENWORTH COUNTY—A Kansas teen died in an accident just after 10:30a.m. Friday in Leavenworth County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Chevy Cobalt driven Karley Renee&nbsp;Housworth, 18, Leavenworth,&nbsp;was southbound on 222nd just south of Alexandria Street.The car rear-ended a 2017 GMC 3500 driven by Craig Anthony Bracken, 35, Basehor.After the collision, the driver overcorrected and struck a 2012 RAM 1500 driven by Tracy R. Rogers, 62, Lawrence, head-on in the northbound lane of 222nd.EMS transported Housworth to Overland Park Regional Medical Center where she died. EMS transported Rogers to Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Bracken was not injured. Housworth was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

Kansas teen dies after 3-vehicle head-on crash

WILBER, Neb. (AP) — The decision of a three-judge panel on whether a man will get the death penalty or life in prison for the 2017 killing and dismembering of a Nebraska woman is set to be announced later this spring. 

The Omaha World-Herald reports that a Saline County District judge has set the sentencing date for 54-year-old Aubrey Trail for June 9. 

Prosecutors argued that Trail showed “exceptional depravity" in the death of 24-year-old Lincoln store clerk Sydney Loofe, who disappeared after arranging a Tinder date with Trail. 

Weeks after her disappearance, Loofe’s body parts were found in 14 pieces in ditches along a state highway. 

A defense attorney for Trail countered her killing was not planned and painted Trial as having endured abuse as a child.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/6/1561640263298.png" alt="Sydney Loofe" />
 <figcaption>Sydney Loofe</figcaption>
 </figure>WILBER, Neb. (AP) — The decision of a three-judge panel on whether a man will get the death penalty or life in prison for the 2017 killing and dismembering of a Nebraska woman is set to be announced later this spring. The Omaha World-Herald reports that a Saline County District judge has set the sentencing date for 54-year-old Aubrey Trail for June 9. Prosecutors argued that Trail showed “exceptional depravity" in the death of 24-year-old Lincoln store clerk Sydney Loofe, who disappeared after arranging a Tinder date with Trail. Weeks after her disappearance, Loofe’s body parts were found in 14 pieces in ditches along a state highway. A defense attorney for Trail countered her killing was not planned and painted Trial as having endured abuse as a child.

3-judge panel's decision on Trail's fate to come in June

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting and have identified the victim as Emmanuel I. Torres, 16 of Topeka.

Just before 7:30p.m. Thursday, police were dispatched to the area of 6th Avenue and SE Chandler Street in Topeka. in reference to a shooting, according to Lt. Edward Stanley. 

Police found the Torres suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital and was pronounced deceased by medical care personnel.&nbsp;

Police have not reported an arrest or released additional details as the Homicide Unit reviews all investigative leads and evidence.&nbsp;

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting.

One victim suffering from a gunshot wound was transported to a local hospital and was pronounced deceased by medical care personnel. This victim has been identified as a juvenile, according to Lt. Jerry Monasmith.

Police have not released the name of the victim or additional details as the&nbsp;Police Homicide Unit reviews all investigative leads and evidence.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618576172619.png" alt="Investigators on the scene of the fatal shooting -photo courtesy WIBW TV" />
 <figcaption>Investigators on the scene of the fatal shooting -photo courtesy WIBW TV</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting and have identified the victim as Emmanuel I. Torres, 16 of Topeka.Just before 7:30p.m. Thursday, police were dispatched to the area of 6th Avenue and SE Chandler Street in Topeka. in reference to a shooting, according to Lt. Edward Stanley. Police found the Torres suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital and was pronounced deceased by medical care personnel.&nbsp;Police have not reported an arrest or released additional details as the Homicide Unit reviews all investigative leads and evidence.&nbsp;------------SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting.Just before 7:30p.m. Thursday, police were dispatched to the area of 6th Avenue and SE Chandler Street in Topeka. in reference to a shooting, according to Lt. Edward Stanley. One victim suffering from a gunshot wound was transported to a local hospital and was pronounced deceased by medical care personnel. This victim has been identified as a juvenile, according to Lt. Jerry Monasmith.Police have not released the name of the victim or additional details as the&nbsp;Police Homicide Unit reviews all investigative leads and evidence.&nbsp;

Update: 16-year-old Kan. boy dead after shooting

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — State health officials say the highly contagious variant of COVID-19 first found in South Africa, known as B.1.351, has now been found in Nebraska. 

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services say in a news release Friday that the first case of the variant was recently confirmed in a Lancaster County resident. 

News of the discovery of the variant comes as the agency says about 524,000, or just over 35% of Nebraskans, have been fully vaccinated. 

Everyone 16 and older in Nebraska is now eligible to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — State health officials say the highly contagious variant of COVID-19 first found in South Africa, known as B.1.351, has now been found in Nebraska. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services say in a news release Friday that the first case of the variant was recently confirmed in a Lancaster County resident. News of the discovery of the variant comes as the agency says about 524,000, or just over 35% of Nebraskans, have been fully vaccinated. Everyone 16 and older in Nebraska is now eligible to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

South African variant of COVID-19 found in Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Police continue to investigate a crash last week that led to the death days later of a Lincoln Southeast High School student. 

The Lincoln Journal Star says 18-year-old Kennedy Bowles was taken off life support on Wednesday, four days after the Saturday night crash that left her hospitalized. 

Police say Bowles was riding in a car that ran a red light and crashed into a pickup truck. The crash sent both vehicles into a ditch and four people, including Bowles, to Lincoln hospitals. 

No charges had been filed in the crash as of early Friday.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618604886028.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Police continue to investigate a crash last week that led to the death days later of a Lincoln Southeast High School student. The Lincoln Journal Star says 18-year-old Kennedy Bowles was taken off life support on Wednesday, four days after the Saturday night crash that left her hospitalized. Police say Bowles was riding in a car that ran a red light and crashed into a pickup truck. The crash sent both vehicles into a ditch and four people, including Bowles, to Lincoln hospitals. No charges had been filed in the crash as of early Friday.

Lincoln teen dies several days after 2-vehicle crash

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration this week began to undo&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/e0bf2658969c482bb9addf40eb5bd667">a Trump-era ban on clinics referring women for abortions</a>, a policy that drove Planned Parenthood from the federal family planning program and created new complications for women trying to get birth control.

The proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services follows through on President Joe Biden’s campaign promise to reverse his predecessor’s family planning policy, which was branded a “gag rule” by women’s groups and decried by medical associations as violating the doctor-patient relationship.

But the Biden administration stopped short of immediately suspending the Trump regulation, which went into effect in 2019. While some abortion rights advocates had sought that additional step, administration officials believe that moving carefully and deliberately will increase the odds of the proposed changes being upheld in court.

Known as Title X, the federal family planning program has been in place for 50 years. It makes available about $286 million annually in grants that support clinics serving mainly low-income women. Those clinics, which provide birth control and basic health care services, have been whipsawed by Trump-era battles over ideology and by the impact of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">the coronavirus pandemic</a>&nbsp;on health services providers. Before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/9e62021bcde04e69aa2ffc2e70a60f8f">exiting the program in 2019</a>, Planned Parenthood and its affiliates served an estimated 40% of the patients.

Though by law federal family planning money could not be used to pay for abortions, religious conservatives long regarded the program as a form of indirect subsidy to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest provider of abortions. Former President Donald Trump counted on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-race-and-ethnicity-elections-7433585aae55ea0cadd9ea5f0eb00a62">religious conservatives</a>&nbsp;as a cornerstone of his political base and acceded to their demands on a range of women’s health issues.

Besides banning abortion referrals, his administration required federally funded clinics to financially and physically separate themselves from facilities that provide abortions. Abortion counseling was designated as an optional instead of a standard practice, and limits were placed on which staff members could discuss abortion with patients, among other requirements. Pregnant women were supposed to be referred for prenatal counseling even if they did not want it.

The Biden administration estimated that as a result of the Trump policy changes, the program serves about 1.5 million fewer women a year, a 37% reduction from the average caseload from 2016-18. HHS also estimated that the Trump policies may have led to up to 180,000 unintended pregnancies.

The department said its proposed rule reversal will restore the program to how it ran under President Barack Obama, when clinics were able to refer women seeking abortions to a provider.

“Ultimately, continued enforcement of the 2019 rule raises the possibility of a two-tiered health care system in which those with insurance and full access to health care receive full medical information and referrals, while low-income populations with fewer opportunities for care are relegated to inferior access,” HHS said in a statement. “This situation creates a widespread public health concern.”

Planned Parenthood’s president, Alexis McGill Johnson, said her organization could be participating in the program again some time next year, if the Biden rule is finalized as expected. HHS said clinics that left the program will gradually return, and Title X should again be serving about 4 million clients within a couple of years.

McGill Johnson said Biden must not only restore the program, but improve it. “What is most important is a kind of double-down commitment to really ensuring expanded access to care,” she said in an interview.

Release of the proposed regulations was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-medication-abortion-coronavirus-pandemic-covid-19-pandemic-1bd5c161f8e0f9f80e98b63002f50d37">the second blow to abortion opponents this week</a>&nbsp;from the administration. On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration said women would not be required to visit a doctor’s office to get a prescription for an abortion pill for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic and instead could safely rely on telehealth.

The head of a national group that works to elect candidates opposed to abortion said the administration is rewarding Planned Parenthood for its political support. “Coming on the heels of the Biden FDA’s refusal to enforce safety regulations on dangerous abortion drugs, plus Biden’s efforts to undermine the Supreme Court, their latest push to bail out the abortion industry proves there is no rule they won’t rewrite or simply ignore to get their way,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement.

But the American Medical Association welcomed the shift, saying the Trump policy “inappropriately interfered with the patient-physician relationship and jeopardized safe access to reproductive care.”

The rule reversal on family planning clinics is proceeding alongside&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-ruth-bader-ginsburg-abortion-reproductive-rights-courts-cb3720593bd6bd6bd6546c3b80a4eb15">litigation over the Trump administration policy</a>, now before the Supreme Court. In that case, the justices agreed to hear a challenge to the rules Biden is now trying to unravel. The Biden administration and medical groups that filed the challenge are asking the court to dismiss the case, but Republican state attorneys general want to proceed. The court has yet to say what it will do.

The 1970 law that created the family planning program stipulated that taxpayer money may not be used “where abortion is a method of family planning.”

Abortion rights supporters and opponents have argued for decades about whether counseling a patient about abortion or referring a patient to a different provider for an abortion violates that language.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/abortion">Abortion</a>&nbsp;remains a legal medical procedure, though improved access to birth control in recent years has led to a significant decline.

The Biden administration’s rule must go through a notice-and-comment period and additional review before being finalized, which can take several months.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/1/1578943990420.png" alt="Planned Parenthood in Kansas City" />
 <figcaption>Planned Parenthood in Kansas City</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration this week began to undo&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/e0bf2658969c482bb9addf40eb5bd667">a Trump-era ban on clinics referring women for abortions</a>, a policy that drove Planned Parenthood from the federal family planning program and created new complications for women trying to get birth control.The proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services follows through on President Joe Biden’s campaign promise to reverse his predecessor’s family planning policy, which was branded a “gag rule” by women’s groups and decried by medical associations as violating the doctor-patient relationship.But the Biden administration stopped short of immediately suspending the Trump regulation, which went into effect in 2019. While some abortion rights advocates had sought that additional step, administration officials believe that moving carefully and deliberately will increase the odds of the proposed changes being upheld in court.Known as Title X, the federal family planning program has been in place for 50 years. It makes available about $286 million annually in grants that support clinics serving mainly low-income women. Those clinics, which provide birth control and basic health care services, have been whipsawed by Trump-era battles over ideology and by the impact of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">the coronavirus pandemic</a>&nbsp;on health services providers. Before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/9e62021bcde04e69aa2ffc2e70a60f8f">exiting the program in 2019</a>, Planned Parenthood and its affiliates served an estimated 40% of the patients.Though by law federal family planning money could not be used to pay for abortions, religious conservatives long regarded the program as a form of indirect subsidy to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest provider of abortions. Former President Donald Trump counted on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-race-and-ethnicity-elections-7433585aae55ea0cadd9ea5f0eb00a62">religious conservatives</a>&nbsp;as a cornerstone of his political base and acceded to their demands on a range of women’s health issues.Besides banning abortion referrals, his administration required federally funded clinics to financially and physically separate themselves from facilities that provide abortions. Abortion counseling was designated as an optional instead of a standard practice, and limits were placed on which staff members could discuss abortion with patients, among other requirements. Pregnant women were supposed to be referred for prenatal counseling even if they did not want it.The Biden administration estimated that as a result of the Trump policy changes, the program serves about 1.5 million fewer women a year, a 37% reduction from the average caseload from 2016-18. HHS also estimated that the Trump policies may have led to up to 180,000 unintended pregnancies.The department said its proposed rule reversal will restore the program to how it ran under President Barack Obama, when clinics were able to refer women seeking abortions to a provider.“Ultimately, continued enforcement of the 2019 rule raises the possibility of a two-tiered health care system in which those with insurance and full access to health care receive full medical information and referrals, while low-income populations with fewer opportunities for care are relegated to inferior access,” HHS said in a statement. “This situation creates a widespread public health concern.”Planned Parenthood’s president, Alexis McGill Johnson, said her organization could be participating in the program again some time next year, if the Biden rule is finalized as expected. HHS said clinics that left the program will gradually return, and Title X should again be serving about 4 million clients within a couple of years.McGill Johnson said Biden must not only restore the program, but improve it. “What is most important is a kind of double-down commitment to really ensuring expanded access to care,” she said in an interview.Release of the proposed regulations was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-medication-abortion-coronavirus-pandemic-covid-19-pandemic-1bd5c161f8e0f9f80e98b63002f50d37">the second blow to abortion opponents this week</a>&nbsp;from the administration. On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration said women would not be required to visit a doctor’s office to get a prescription for an abortion pill for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic and instead could safely rely on telehealth.The head of a national group that works to elect candidates opposed to abortion said the administration is rewarding Planned Parenthood for its political support. “Coming on the heels of the Biden FDA’s refusal to enforce safety regulations on dangerous abortion drugs, plus Biden’s efforts to undermine the Supreme Court, their latest push to bail out the abortion industry proves there is no rule they won’t rewrite or simply ignore to get their way,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement.But the American Medical Association welcomed the shift, saying the Trump policy “inappropriately interfered with the patient-physician relationship and jeopardized safe access to reproductive care.”The rule reversal on family planning clinics is proceeding alongside&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-ruth-bader-ginsburg-abortion-reproductive-rights-courts-cb3720593bd6bd6bd6546c3b80a4eb15">litigation over the Trump administration policy</a>, now before the Supreme Court. In that case, the justices agreed to hear a challenge to the rules Biden is now trying to unravel. The Biden administration and medical groups that filed the challenge are asking the court to dismiss the case, but Republican state attorneys general want to proceed. The court has yet to say what it will do.The 1970 law that created the family planning program stipulated that taxpayer money may not be used “where abortion is a method of family planning.”Abortion rights supporters and opponents have argued for decades about whether counseling a patient about abortion or referring a patient to a different provider for an abortion violates that language.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/abortion">Abortion</a>&nbsp;remains a legal medical procedure, though improved access to birth control in recent years has led to a significant decline.The Biden administration’s rule must go through a notice-and-comment period and additional review before being finalized, which can take several months.

Pres. Biden begins to undo ban on abortion referrals

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (AP) — The mayor of a Minneapolis suburb that's seen nightly protests after a white police officer fatally shot Black motorist Daunte Wright contends police are overreacting to demonstrators and should scale back their tactics. 

Brooklyn Center Mayor Tim Elliott said at a news conference that he doesn't agree with police using pepper spray, tear gas and paintballs during demonstrations. 

The City Council passed a resolution banning city officers from using tear gas and other tactics against demonstrators. The city's stance has left leaders of other law enforcement agencies helping to control demonstrators confused. 

Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson sent Elliott a letter Wednesday asking if he still wanted his department's help.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618594017922.jpg" alt="Image courtesy of Pixabay" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy of Pixabay</figcaption>
 </figure>BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (AP) — The mayor of a Minneapolis suburb that's seen nightly protests after a white police officer fatally shot Black motorist Daunte Wright contends police are overreacting to demonstrators and should scale back their tactics. Brooklyn Center Mayor Tim Elliott said at a news conference that he doesn't agree with police using pepper spray, tear gas and paintballs during demonstrations. The City Council passed a resolution banning city officers from using tear gas and other tactics against demonstrators. The city's stance has left leaders of other law enforcement agencies helping to control demonstrators confused. Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson sent Elliott a letter Wednesday asking if he still wanted his department's help.

Minnesota mayor blasts police tactics to control protesters

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A 12-year-old boy who was shot and killed near a Leavenworth pharmacy was an innocent bystander, Police Chief Pat Kitchens said.

Brian Henderson Jr., of Kansas City, Missouri, died after the shooting Wednesday night near the Kare Pharmacy, police said.

Police responding to calls about shots fired did not find any victims at the scene. Witnesses said several shots were fired at a black Volkswagon Jetta sedan by a suspect in the parking lot before the suspects fled.

Kansas City, Missouri, police later notified Leavenworth officials that Henderson had died from gunshot wounds after being taken to a Kansas City hospital.

“It’s very clear that this young person was perfectly innocent, in the wrong place at the wrong time and suffered a terrible loss of life here."

The Leavenworth County prosecutor has charged Darvon Thomas, 25, with first-degree felony murder. A 17-year-old is also charged with murder and firing into an occupied vehicle. A 15-year-old was arrested but has not yet been charged.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618591549655.png" alt="The Leavenworth County prosecutor has charged Darvon Thomas, 25, with first-degree felony murder-photo Leavenworth Co. Jail" />
 <figcaption>The Leavenworth County prosecutor has charged Darvon Thomas, 25, with first-degree felony murder-photo Leavenworth Co. Jail</figcaption>
 </figure>LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A 12-year-old boy who was shot and killed near a Leavenworth pharmacy was an innocent bystander, Police Chief Pat Kitchens said.Brian Henderson Jr., of Kansas City, Missouri, died after the shooting Wednesday night near the Kare Pharmacy, police said.Police responding to calls about shots fired did not find any victims at the scene. Witnesses said several shots were fired at a black Volkswagon Jetta sedan by a suspect in the parking lot before the suspects fled.Kansas City, Missouri, police later notified Leavenworth officials that Henderson had died from gunshot wounds after being taken to a Kansas City hospital.“It’s very clear that this young person was perfectly innocent, in the wrong place at the wrong time and suffered a terrible loss of life here."The Leavenworth County prosecutor has charged Darvon Thomas, 25, with first-degree felony murder. A 17-year-old is also charged with murder and firing into an occupied vehicle. A 15-year-old was arrested but has not yet been charged.

Police ID 12-year-old shot, killed in Leavenworth

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has made public statistical models showing Wyoming is home to the 11 most coronavirus vaccine-hesitant counties in the country.

 The Casper Star-Tribune reported Wednesday that the models show 32% of residents in Johnson, Converse, Washakie, Crook, Niobrara, Weston, Natrona, Goshen, Campbell, Platte and Carbon counties are hesitant about getting vaccinations.

 That's more than any other counties in the U.S. 

The models rely on a U.S. Census Bureau survey assessing public attitudes toward the vaccines.

 The report did not provide a margin of error for each county and said the estimates could be swayed by a number of variables.

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has made public statistical models showing Wyoming is home to the 11 most coronavirus vaccine-hesitant counties in the country. The Casper Star-Tribune reported Wednesday that the models show 32% of residents in Johnson, Converse, Washakie, Crook, Niobrara, Weston, Natrona, Goshen, Campbell, Platte and Carbon counties are hesitant about getting vaccinations. That's more than any other counties in the U.S. The models rely on a U.S. Census Bureau survey assessing public attitudes toward the vaccines. The report did not provide a margin of error for each county and said the estimates could be swayed by a number of variables.

Report: Wyoming home to most vaccine-hesitant counties in US

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man has pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and a gun charge in the shooting death last year of a registered sex offender. 

The Omaha World-Herald reports that 44-year-old James Fairbanks entered the plea Thursday in the May 14 shooting death of&nbsp; Mattieo Condoluci, 64. 

Prosecutors say Fairbanks showed up at Condoluci's door with a rifle and fired seven shots into Condoluci, a convicted sex offender. 

Authorities say Fairbanks didn't know Condoluci, but was hunting sex offenders when he shot the older man. 

Fairbanks' attorney had suggested before the plea agreement that Fairbanks shot Condoluci in self-defense when Condoluci lunged at him in the doorway.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618586892708.png" alt="Fairbanks" />
 <figcaption>Fairbanks</figcaption>
 </figure>OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man has pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and a gun charge in the shooting death last year of a registered sex offender. The Omaha World-Herald reports that 44-year-old James Fairbanks entered the plea Thursday in the May 14 shooting death of&nbsp; Mattieo Condoluci, 64. Prosecutors say Fairbanks showed up at Condoluci's door with a rifle and fired seven shots into Condoluci, a convicted sex offender. Authorities say Fairbanks didn't know Condoluci, but was hunting sex offenders when he shot the older man. Fairbanks' attorney had suggested before the plea agreement that Fairbanks shot Condoluci in self-defense when Condoluci lunged at him in the doorway.

Omaha man pleads to count in fatal shooting of sex offender

HARRISONVILLE, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City man has been found guilty of killing two women a decade apart and burying their bodies near each other in a field in western Missouri.

Kylr Yust was convicted Thursday of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Kara Kopetsky, 17, of Belton, and of second-degree murder in the death of Jessica Runions, 21, of Raymore.

Yust had been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths. The jury deliberated for more than 14 hours. Sentencing is set for Friday morning.

Runions left a party in Grandview with Yust before she disappeared in September 2016. Kopetsky filed a protection order against Yust in April 2007, a month before she was last seen leaving Belton High School. A mushroom hunter&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/a5ab3e00dba34407a798be48a5a012aa">found their bodies</a>&nbsp;in a field in Cass County south of Kansas City in April 2017.

Prosecutors argued during the trial that Yust was a violent man who killed the women because they rejected him and he didn’t want them to be with other men. Yust’s attorneys contended investigators didn’t consider other suspects and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article250661679.html" target="_blank">said no physical evidence connected Yust to the killings</a>.

The Runions and Kopetsky families had said before the verdict that they wouldn’t comment until after sentencing. Yust’s defense lawyers declined to comment as they left the courthouse Thursday evening, according to local TV reports.

The sentence for voluntary manslaughter is five to 15 years in prison. The sentence for second-degree murder is 10 to 30 years or life in prison.

In closing arguments Wednesday, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Julie Tolle told jurors that common sense and reason point to Yust being guilty of first-degree murder in the women’s deaths. She said defense arguments — including Yust’s testimony — are “just not reasonable."

She called Yust an “obsessive, jealous, pathetic boyfriend” who could not handle getting dumped. Yust confessed to six people but he now expects jurors to believe they all made it up, Tolle said.

One of Yust’s attorneys, Sharon Turlington, said the prosecution case against Yust was not supported by any proof, arguing that the lack of physical evidence, the timelines presented by prosecutors and earlier witness statements supported his innocence.

“Somehow Kylr is supposed to have pulled off two murders without leaving a trace,” Turlington said, later saying there is no DNA linking Yust to either crime.

Yust, 32, testified on Wednesday that he did not kill the women, and accused his half-brother, Jessup Carter, in their deaths.

“I didn’t do anything to either of them.” he said.

In 2018, Carter died by suicide while he was being held in the Jackson County jail on a charge of second-degree arson. Yust testified that he believed Carter, 32, killed himself because Yust pleaded not guilty in Kopetsky’s and Runions’ deaths.

Tolle questioned Yust about why he had not accused Carter in the killings until Wednesday. He replied that he told one of his attorneys his theory years ago and she was representing him for free because she believed him.

Tolle said Yust must be the “most unlucky guy in the world” because two of his former girlfriends had gone missing.

“Anyone who has a brother who is a serial killer is unlucky,” Yust responded.

In the years after Kopetsky disappeared, Yust told several people that he had killed her because she wanted to end their on-and-off relationship. Prosecutors played a tape during the trial on which could be heard telling an ex-girlfriend, Katelynn Farris, that he killed Kopetsky.

Farris was wearing a wire at the time under the supervision of the FBI.

Yust testified Wednesday that he thought Farris was attracted to him because he was suspected of murder, and he was reacting to her attraction.

“I was just at a really low point in my life and I wanted to get her attention,” he said.

Yust also confessed in a phone call from jail to his mother, which he said Wednesday was done out of spite toward her and exhaustion over defending his innocence.

“At one point, I remember thinking: ‘I might as well just, I mean I’m going to get blamed. My whole life is a freaking wreck,’” Yust said. “This is happening all over again but even worse. I just remember at a couple points I was like: ‘Well screw it. I might as well be famous.’”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/12/1576707396150.png" alt="Then 21-year-old Jessica Runions disappeared in 2016, last seen leaving a house party. Her car was found burned the next day. photo KC Police" />
 <figcaption>Then 21-year-old Jessica Runions disappeared in 2016, last seen leaving a house party. Her car was found burned the next day. photo KC Police</figcaption>
 </figure>HARRISONVILLE, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City man has been found guilty of killing two women a decade apart and burying their bodies near each other in a field in western Missouri.Kylr Yust was convicted Thursday of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Kara Kopetsky, 17, of Belton, and of second-degree murder in the death of Jessica Runions, 21, of Raymore.Yust had been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths. The jury deliberated for more than 14 hours. Sentencing is set for Friday morning.Runions left a party in Grandview with Yust before she disappeared in September 2016. Kopetsky filed a protection order against Yust in April 2007, a month before she was last seen leaving Belton High School. A mushroom hunter&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/a5ab3e00dba34407a798be48a5a012aa">found their bodies</a>&nbsp;in a field in Cass County south of Kansas City in April 2017.Prosecutors argued during the trial that Yust was a violent man who killed the women because they rejected him and he didn’t want them to be with other men. Yust’s attorneys contended investigators didn’t consider other suspects and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article250661679.html" target="_blank">said no physical evidence connected Yust to the killings</a>.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/9/1567616156500.png" alt="Yust photo Cass County" />
 <figcaption>Yust photo Cass County</figcaption>
 </figure>The Runions and Kopetsky families had said before the verdict that they wouldn’t comment until after sentencing. Yust’s defense lawyers declined to comment as they left the courthouse Thursday evening, according to local TV reports.The sentence for voluntary manslaughter is five to 15 years in prison. The sentence for second-degree murder is 10 to 30 years or life in prison.In closing arguments Wednesday, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Julie Tolle told jurors that common sense and reason point to Yust being guilty of first-degree murder in the women’s deaths. She said defense arguments — including Yust’s testimony — are “just not reasonable."She called Yust an “obsessive, jealous, pathetic boyfriend” who could not handle getting dumped. Yust confessed to six people but he now expects jurors to believe they all made it up, Tolle said.One of Yust’s attorneys, Sharon Turlington, said the prosecution case against Yust was not supported by any proof, arguing that the lack of physical evidence, the timelines presented by prosecutors and earlier witness statements supported his innocence.“Somehow Kylr is supposed to have pulled off two murders without leaving a trace,” Turlington said, later saying there is no DNA linking Yust to either crime.Yust, 32, testified on Wednesday that he did not kill the women, and accused his half-brother, Jessup Carter, in their deaths.“I didn’t do anything to either of them.” he said.In 2018, Carter died by suicide while he was being held in the Jackson County jail on a charge of second-degree arson. Yust testified that he believed Carter, 32, killed himself because Yust pleaded not guilty in Kopetsky’s and Runions’ deaths.Tolle questioned Yust about why he had not accused Carter in the killings until Wednesday. He replied that he told one of his attorneys his theory years ago and she was representing him for free because she believed him.Tolle said Yust must be the “most unlucky guy in the world” because two of his former girlfriends had gone missing.“Anyone who has a brother who is a serial killer is unlucky,” Yust responded.In the years after Kopetsky disappeared, Yust told several people that he had killed her because she wanted to end their on-and-off relationship. Prosecutors played a tape during the trial on which could be heard telling an ex-girlfriend, Katelynn Farris, that he killed Kopetsky.Farris was wearing a wire at the time under the supervision of the FBI.Yust testified Wednesday that he thought Farris was attracted to him because he was suspected of murder, and he was reacting to her attraction.“I was just at a really low point in my life and I wanted to get her attention,” he said.Yust also confessed in a phone call from jail to his mother, which he said Wednesday was done out of spite toward her and exhaustion over defending his innocence.“At one point, I remember thinking: ‘I might as well just, I mean I’m going to get blamed. My whole life is a freaking wreck,’” Yust said. “This is happening all over again but even worse. I just remember at a couple points I was like: ‘Well screw it. I might as well be famous.’”

Kansas City man convicted in 2 women’s deaths decade apart

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of congressional Democrats introduced&nbsp;<a href="https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/judiciary_act_of_2021.pdf" target="_blank">legislation</a>&nbsp;Thursday to add four seats to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/institution.aspx" target="_blank">Supreme Court</a>, a long-shot bid designed to counter the court’s rightward tilt during the Trump administration and criticized by Republicans as a potential power grab that would reduce the public’s trust in the judiciary.

President Joe Biden last week&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-ruth-bader-ginsburg-amy-coney-barrett-judiciary-8734750b75318ed429bf206e2a8af6d1">created a commission</a>&nbsp;to spend the next six months examining the politically incendiary issues of expanding the court and instituting term limits for justices.

The fight over the composition of the nine-member court has become increasingly contentious over the past two decades, with fierce battles over nominees and acrimonious debates about the politicization of the judicial branch.

But the bill’s introduction had an inauspicious start. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she might not bring it up for a vote if it advanced out of committee and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was noncommittal as well.

Democratic lawmakers and groups supporting the court expansion bill gathered on the steps of the Supreme Court to make their case.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1618533579747.png" alt="Democratic lawmakers and groups supporting the court expansion bill gathered on the steps of the Supreme Court Thursday to make their case. image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Democratic lawmakers and groups supporting the court expansion bill gathered on the steps of the Supreme Court Thursday to make their case. image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of congressional Democrats introduced&nbsp;<a href="https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/judiciary_act_of_2021.pdf" target="_blank">legislation</a>&nbsp;Thursday to add four seats to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/institution.aspx" target="_blank">Supreme Court</a>, a long-shot bid designed to counter the court’s rightward tilt during the Trump administration and criticized by Republicans as a potential power grab that would reduce the public’s trust in the judiciary.President Joe Biden last week&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-ruth-bader-ginsburg-amy-coney-barrett-judiciary-8734750b75318ed429bf206e2a8af6d1">created a commission</a>&nbsp;to spend the next six months examining the politically incendiary issues of expanding the court and instituting term limits for justices.The fight over the composition of the nine-member court has become increasingly contentious over the past two decades, with fierce battles over nominees and acrimonious debates about the politicization of the judicial branch.But the bill’s introduction had an inauspicious start. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she might not bring it up for a vote if it advanced out of committee and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was noncommittal as well.Democratic lawmakers and groups supporting the court expansion bill gathered on the steps of the Supreme Court to make their case.“Some people say we’re packing the court. We’re not packing it. We’re unpacking it,” said the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep, Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y. He said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and the GOP had “packed the court over the last couple of years. This is a reaction to that. It’s a necessary step in the evolution of the court.”Inside the Capitol, Durbin, made clear that he wanted to wait for the White House’s 36-member commission to report its findings before deciding on a course of action.“I’m not ready to sign on yet,” Durbin said. “I think this commission of Biden’s is the right move. Let’s think this through carefully. This is historic.”Pelosi was even more dismissive. The prospect of an expanded Supreme Court is a campaign issue that Republicans will focus on as they target swing districts in their bid to retake the majority. Even before the bill’s introduction, state GOP parties were drawing attention to the effort in an attempt to link vulnerable Democratic members to it.“I have no plans to bring it to the floor,” Pelosi told reporters.White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would wait for the commission’s work to “play out,” before taking a position on the matter.Republicans quickly jumped in to the debate. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said in a SiriusXM radio interview that no matter what issue comes up this Congress, “this has got to be the most important because, remember, it’s taking over an entire branch of government.”McConnell quoted the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who warned before her death that adding justices to the Supreme Court would make it appear partisan and that “nine seems to be a good number.”“But the farthest-left activists aren’t interested in the common good. They want power,” McConnell said.Supporters of expanding the court say Republicans gained an unfair advantage by blocking President Barack Obama’s 2016 nomination of Merrick Garland, a federal appeals judge at the time who is now Biden’s attorney general, under the rationale that it was a presidential election year and the voters should decide. McConnell refused to hold hearings on filling the vacancy after Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, even though the November election was months away.Last year, McConnell and the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, to fill Ginsburg’s seat just days before the presidential election, securing a likely conservative majority for years to come.In their news conference on the Supreme Court steps, the authors and co-sponsors of the legislation framed the proposed expansion as a necessary progression to keep up with a growing nation and a growing case workload. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said the court expanded on seven occasions prior to the Civil War, “leaving us today with the historical oddity of 13 circuit courts of appeal and only nine justices.”Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., went right to the anger and frustration that so many Democrats have with the judicial conformation process under Trump and McConnell’s stewardship.“The Republicans stole two seats on the Supreme Court and now it is up to us to repair that damage,” Markey said.___