The Iola Register, Aug. 9, 2023

Ukraine accuses Russia of ‘double tap’ missile strike

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) —

Ukrainian officials on Tuesday accused the Kremlin’s forces of targeting rescue workers as the death toll from two Russian missile strikes that slammed into residential buildings in the downtown area of a Ukrainian city climbed to seven.

The dead in the Monday evening strikes in the city of Pokrovsk were five civilians, one rescuer and one soldier, Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said. Dozens more were wounded, most of them police officers, emergency workers and soldiers who had rushed to the scene to assist residents.

The Russian missiles slammed into the center of Pokrovsk, which is in the eastern Donetsk region that is partially occupied by Rus-

See UKRAINE | Page A6

Having fun with Pour Choices

By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

Come take a shot at Pour Choices, where the puns flow as freely as the specials.

Iola’s newest drinking establishment, under the management of Liz and Josh McArdle, celebrated its grand opening Saturday at 118 E. Jackson Ave., site of the former Timeout Tavern.

“We’d talked with Randy (Misenhelter) when Timeout Tavern was closing, and he asked if we wanted to run it,” Liz said of the building owner.

“Josh and I talked about it and decided we did.”

The memorable name came from an atypical source.

Credit the Rev. Jocelyn Tupper, who up until this spring served as pastor at Wesley United Methodist Church. (Liz works as office manager at the church in the mornings.)

Tupper was aware the McArdles had set their dreams on reopening the bar, “but you can’t do anything until you have a name,” Liz recalled. “You

can’t apply for a business license, any of that.

“We were just throwing around names when she walked into my office,” Liz

continued. “She just said ‘Pour Choices,’ and we loved it.

“Now, when everybody asks where I got the name, I

just say, ‘it’s how I got here,’” she joked. Besides, Pour Choices was much more warmly received

See POUR CHOICES | Page A3

Inflation cools, but still not to Fed’s liking

WASHINGTON (AP) —

Over the past year, inflation in the United States has tumbled from 9% all the way to 3%, softening most of the price pressures that have gripped the nation for more than two years.

Now comes the hard part.

Squeezing out the last bit of excess inflation and reducing it to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target rate is ex-

pected to be a much harder and slower grind.

A measure called “core” inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is even higher than overall inflation. It, too, seems likely to slow only gradually. The Fed pays particular attention to core prices as a signal of where inflation might be headed.

In June, core prices were

up 4.1% from a year earlier, according to the Fed’s preferred gauge.

“We see some challenges in getting that all the way back to 2% quickly,” said Michael Hanson, senior global economist at J.P. Morgan. The stickiness of inflation could endanger the possibility that the Fed will achieve a rare “soft landing” — a scenario in which it manages

to slow inflation down to its target level through higher interest rates without derailing the economy. If inflation were to remain elevated for too long, the Fed might feel compelled to further raise its key rate from its current 5.4%, a 22-year high. Most economists say they think the central bank is done hik-

See INFLATION | Page A4

Famed Joshua trees may be ‘gone forever’

By COLTON LOCHHEED Las Vegas Review-Journal

Work continues on what will be a new cell at the Allen County Landfill.

REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS

County looks at landfill’s future

By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register

Construction of a new cell at the Allen County Landfill is about 20% complete, according to an engineer overseeing the project.

Jared Brooks, an engineer with Schwab Eaton of Manhattan, gave county commissioners a report on the construction project, and

also discussed options for future cells as well as other landfill issues.

The work on the new cell is a month or two behind schedule because of a late start and inclement weather, Brooks said. However, the contractor has 365 days to complete the project and is expected to be finished by March 2024.

Crews are about 80% fin-

ished with the dirt work and subgrade construction, shaping the bottom of the cell and preparing for a 2-foot clay liner. After the clay liner is installed, they’ll lay a heavy plastic liner in the bottom to keep liquified waste from seeping into the ground. As trash decomposes, it creates a liquid “leachate” substance, which is basically

contaminated water. Pipes carry the leachate to holding ponds on site.

“The guys are doing a good job but it’s taking longer than we anticipated,” Brooks said. “They have time to get caught up. I’m not concerned.”

Brooks is on site to monitor the work, as required by

See LANDFILL | Page A3

A wildfire burning near the California-Nevada border has ravaged parts of the Mojave National Preserve’s famed Joshua tree forests, and experts worry that the massive blaze will forever change the fragile desert ecosystem.

The Joshua trees and other plant species burned by the nearly 94,000-acre York Fire are likely to never regrow, said Debra Hughson, the preserve’s deputy superintendent, leaving behind a permanent reminder of a changing climate on the preserve’s landscape.

“You have just barren, blackened soil, and there’s

See JOSHAU TREES | Page A3

Josh and Liz McArdle celebrated the grand opening Saturday of Pour Choices, Iola’s newest drinking establishment, at 118 E. Jackson Ave. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN

Obituary

Beverly Libich

Beverly Jean Libich, age 90, of Iola, died Monday, Aug. 7, 2023, at her residence.

She was born Feb. 20, 1933, in Kansas City, Kansas, to Harry Brown and Ella Grace (Lorie) Wyatt. She married Claydean Libich on Sept. 22, 1949, in Olathe.

Survivors include her husband; her children, Twila Abbott, Ottawa, Pam Scott, Lake of the Ozarks, Mo., Dean Libich, Spring Hill; six grandchildren; six great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren.

Memorials are suggested to Allen County Animal Rescue Facility (ACARF), and may be left with Feuerborn Family Funeral Service, 1883 US Highway 54, Iola, KS.

Square B meets with exchange student

By KATELYN HICKS Square B 4-H Club

Square B 4-H Club members gathered July 10 for their monthly meeting at the K-State Extension office in Iola.

President Abigail Meiwes called the meeting to order. Flag salute and 4-H pledge were led by Henry Kramer, Cassie Hicks and Wiley Jessup. Roll call was answered by “favorite Fair project.”

Song leaders Wiley and Maysa Jessup led the club in singing “Let It Shine.”

Maria Cecilie, a 4-H exchange student from Norway, was in attendance, along with six members, two leaders

Area news

Labette Health opens clinic in Pittsburg PITTSBURG — A new primary care center, the Labette Health Pittsburg Clinic, opened last week at 2039 S. Tucker Terrace, according to The Morning Sun. Stephanie Wagner, an Erie native, is the nurse practitioner at the clinic. Labette Health has clinics at its main campus in Parsons as well as Independence, Coffeyville, Altamont, Erie, Chanute, St. Paul and Oswego.

Chanute Art Gallery celebrates 50th anniversary CHANUTE — The

Chanute Art Gallery is celebrating its 50th year of operation in 2023, The Chanute Tribune reported. The gallery was founded June 3, 1973, and had its first show in August of that year, featuring Lillian Godden Barker. Elly McCoy led the effort and served as its director; she passed away about eight months ago. A room is dedicated in her honor.

Wilson County approves EMS tax

FREDONIA — Wilson County commissioners agreed to split a one-cent EMS sales tax 50-50 between Fredonia and Neodesha, according to The Wilson County Citizen. Voters

approved the sales tax in November 2022. The agencies are expected to provide periodic financial reports.

Coffey County discusses new law enforcement center, courthouse

BURLINGTON — Coffey County commissioners learned about a preconstruction schedule for the Coffey County Law Enforcement Center and renovation of the courthouse, according to The Coffey County Republican. The center should take about 18 months to build with construction to start by December of January and be completed

by May 2025. After the center is completed, renovation work will begin at the courthouse and is expected to take about six months.

Two arrested, fentanyl seized PITTSBURG — Two people were arrested and about 5,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills suspected to contain fentanyl were seized in Pittsburg on Aug. 3 as part of a Joint Fentanyl Impact Team investigation. Authorities also seized a large amount of cash, and numerous firearms and ammunition. Horace Wright, 39, and Amanda Lee, 43, of Pittsburg, were arrested on drug-related and other charges.

and four parents.

Square B Secretary Carly Kramer read the minutes from the previous meeting. Treasurer Henry Kramer gave his report. Reporter Katelyn Hicks said her previous report was published in the Iola Register’s May 18 edition. For the program, Maria talked about 4-H in Norway.

For new business, club members voted to have the Kramers and Meiweses set up the foods table at the Allen County Fair.

The next club meeting is Aug. 14 at the Extension office. The Hicks family will bring snacks and present the program.

Kansas officer dies after weekend shootout

MISSION, Kan. (AP) —

A suburban Kansas City police officer who was wounded in a shootout that killed a car chase suspect has died, authorities said.

Police in Fairway, Kansas, announced late Monday in a news release that Officer Jonah Oswald died of injuries suffered in the Sunday morning shooting at a QuikTrip store in neighboring Mission, Kansas. The 29-year-old was a four-year veteran of the police force and leaves behind a wife and two young children. Police said the family has asked for privacy.

“We will remember him as a warm-hearted individual whose hard work and passion touched the lives of many,” Chief J.P. Thurlo said.

Police in the nearby suburb of Lenexa, Kansas, said it all started when Shannon Wayne Marshall, 40, from the town of Ashland City,

White House holds summit on ransomware crisis plaguing the nation’s public schools

By FRANK BAJAK The Associated Press

The White House on Tuesday held its first-ever cybersecurity “summit” on the ransomware attacks plaguing U.S. schools, which has included hackers leaking sensitive student data such as medical records, psychiatric evaluations and student sexual assault reports.

All but 10 had data stolen, the firm reported.

Tennessee, near Nashville, fled from police along Interstate 35 in what officers believed was a stolen car. When officers initially found the vehicle, police said the driver struck a patrol car and fled.

Police from multiple agencies had been trying to arrest him when gunfire broke out. Marshall died in the shootout and Oswald was rushed to a hospital with critical injuries.

A second suspect, Andrea Rene Cothran, 32, of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, was arrested and charged Tuesday with aggravated battery, fleeing law enforcement, felony theft and reckless driving. Her bond was set at $1 million. No attorney is listed for her in online court records.

A Johnson County law enforcement team that is charged with reviewing officer-involved shootings is investigating.

“If we want to safeguard our children’s futures we must protect their personal data,” first lady Jill Biden, who is a teacher, told the gathering. “Every student deserves the opportunity to see a school counselor when they’re struggling and not worry that these conversations will be shared with the world.”

At least 48 districts have reported ransomware attacks this year — already three more than in all of 2022, according to the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft.

An October 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog agency, found that more than 1.2 million students were affected in 2020 alone — with lost learning ranging from three days to three weeks. Nearly one in three U.S. districts had been breached by the end of 2021, according to a survey by the Center for Internet Security, a federally funded nonprofit. “Do not underestimate the ruthlessness of those who would do us harm,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during the summit, noting that even reports on suicide attempts have been dumped online by criminal extortionists and urging educators to avail themselves of federal resources already available.

Education tech ex-

IF YOU THINK BUZZED DRIVING IS OK, YOU’RE WASTED.

perts praised the Biden administration for the consciousness-raising but lamented that limited federal funds currently exist for them to tackle a scourge that cash-strapped school districts have been illequipped to defend effectively.

Among measures announced at the summit: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will step up training for the K-12

sector and technology providers, including Amazon Web Services and Cloudflare, will offer grants and free software.

A pilot proposed by Federal Communications Commission

Chair Jessica Rosenworcel — yet to be voted on by the agency — would make $200 million available over three years to strengthen cyber defense in schools and libraries.

Joshua trees: Likely ‘gone forever’ after wildfires rage

Continued from A1

nothing left but ashes and scraggly Joshua tree stumps sticking up. That doesn’t come back. It’s gone forever,” Hughson said.

The fire has mostly burned inside the preserve’s boundaries but did creep across the Nevada border and scorched some parts of the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument. Park officials say the fire, which is California’s largest of the year thus far, was 93 percent contained as of Saturday.

Crews have had to balance their firefighting efforts with the need to not disrupt the sensitive desert ecosystem inside the preserve, which is home to hundreds of rare plant species, including the Joshua tree, and prime habitat for the threatened desert tortoise. That’s meant mostly avoiding the use of heavy equipment like bulldozers while building fire lines, Hughson said.

Joshua trees, like many desert plant spe-

cies, struggle to recover from wildfires. Research has shown that there is a chance for Joshua trees to survive if only the top third of the plant is burned, ac-

cording to the National Park Service.

“In some cases Joshua trees can survive fires. But on a whole, they are not adapted to wildfires. They have a

really high mortality during wildfires,” said Lynn Sweet, an assistant research ecologist at University of California, Riverside who studies Joshua trees.

Nurse shrubs such as blackbrush play an important role in helping new Joshua trees sprout. But the fire has wiped out large areas of those nurse plants, as well, which Sweet said only reduces the chances that those Joshua trees can recover.

Preserve officials don’t know exactly how much of the Joshua tree forest has been burned by the latest fire. Hughson said they believe it has caused a similar level of devastation as that of the Dome Fire, which scorched the preserve in 2020 and burned an estimated 1.3 million Joshua trees — or about one-quarter of the region’s contiguous Joshua tree forest.

It’s hard to know what exactly will grow back, but previous fires offer a look at what may be in

store for the latest area of the preserve charred by wildfire.

The once dense Joshua tree forest burned by the Dome Fire has started to transition to a grassier landscape. And while a small number of the Joshua trees in that area did manage to resprout from unburned roots, Hughson said, “it’s not a juniper tree forest, nor will it ever be again.”

“The ecosystem is changing. It’s not going to be what it used to be. It’s going to be something new and different,” Hughson said. “Overall it will be a more impoverished ecosystem, less biodiversity, less nice overall. But this is a pattern that we’re seeing globally with fairly global rapid change. We’re just part of it.”

Avoiding the tortoise habitat

If there is one bright spot, it’s that the fire has mostly managed to avoid the critical habitat of the threatened

desert tortoise located inside the preserve.

“We’re thinking and hoping that most of the desert tortoise habitat was unscathed and that most of the desert tortoise are OK,” Hughson said.

The desert tortoise population has been in decline for decades, and the species has been listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act dating back to 1990.

Most of the effects to the tortoise population from the fire are likely to come from motor vehicles and large equipment responding to the fire, Hughson said. That’s why preserve officials implemented a 25 mph speed limit for all vehicles operating near those habitat areas. There also have been several biologists out in the field moving tortoises off the road and guiding vehicles in an effort to minimize the chances of tortoises being killed, Hughson said.

Pour Choices: Iola tavern celebrates grand opening

Continued from A1

than Liz’s other suggestion: Drinks Onus.

FEW CHANGES were required to the building when the McArdles opened the doors in June.

“The coolers and wells were already in place,” Liz noted. “We added some games, new carpet, a few changes, but nothing too major.”

They soon plan to reintroduce live music nights as well. The 2,000-square foot building has an ample dance floor and elevated stage for music or

other performances.

“We’ve got a few more things to tie up before we’re ready for that,” Josh said. “We figure we can probably get a couple shows, maybe three or four a year.”

POUR CHOICES has plenty of other entertainment options, including three billiards tables for pool league nights on Tuesdays, 9-ball tournaments and potluck dinners on Sundays and free pool nights on Wednesdays.

“Free pool nights are kind of special for us,” Liz noted. “It’s where

Landfill: Progress

Continued from A1

the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. He sends weekly reports to the state.

“Landfills are highly regulated. KDHE requires you to have a third-party inspector. That’s where I come into play, for construction quality assurance,” Brooks explained. “So you have an inspector on site pretty much full-time to assure the facility is constructed according to the design documents.”

Future development

The new cell is the second to open since the landfill was designated a Subtitle D regional facility in 1996. The new cell is expected to serve the county’s needs for 10-15 years.

The landfill is approved to open a total of four cells.

But when it comes time to build a third and fourth cell, Brooks is concerned the county won’t have enough clay on site. Outside of the quarry, much of the remaining land is used for the leachate ponds and related infrastructure.

“You probably want to start thinking about neighboring tracts to expand on or at least places to get soil from,” he said.

There are alterna-

tives, but they come with a cost. The county could purchase clay from elsewhere and ship it. Another — and much more expensive — option is to use just 1-foot of clay with a geotextile liner that contains bentonite, a different type of clay formed from volcanic ash.

Brooks also offered solutions for two ongoing problems related to the disposal of tires and lithium batteries. More details will follow in Thursday’s Register.

MITCH GARNER, Public Works director, presented bids for a new portable gas extraction monitor. The monitor checks levels of gases such as methane, carbon dioxide and oxygen, and also checks temperature and different types of pressure in the trash pile. Gas and pressure must be tested each month.

The existing monitor is so old, there are no replacement parts. Garner said he can’t even find a cord to charge it.

He received two bids with a $1,700 price difference.

Commissioners approved a bid from QED Environmental of Michigan for $13,207.50.

Garner also reported a new hydroseeder for the landfill is expected to arrive Monday.

Josh and I met.”

On top of that, several televisions broadcast every Kansas Chiefs and Kansas City Royals game, or other prominent sporting events.

“Last week was the World Cup,” Liz said. “Sometimes it’s just ‘Wheel of Fortune.’”

The building also is large enough to host sanctioned corn hole tournaments.

And a pair of new interactive dart boards allows players to compete against others from around the world.

“We had a game the other day against somebody from Germany,” Liz noted. “It’s fun.”

THE MCARDLES

also carry a full line of beer selections on tap, and frequently have their ears to the ground to find out new types of drinks.

“The liquor market changes constantly,” Liz noted. “We try to keep up with that, and we’re happy to accept requests. People suggest, ‘Have you tried this?’ and we’ll try to get it and see how people receive it.”

With 20 years of experience as a bartender, Liz knows all the drink staples, yet she still fields calls for unique drinks on a regular basis (Scooby snack, anyone?)

“My answer is always, ‘Do you know how to make it?’” she laughs. “If they do, we’ll give it a shot.”

Mainly, it’s a matter of getting the word out that the bar is open and under new management.

“There are still quite a few people who don’t know we’re open,” Josh said. “And many of those people still think it’s Timeout.”

“We’re super excit-

ed,” Liz said. “The closer we got to opening, the more trepidation I had, but it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle. And we’ve had a really great reception. Once we get settled in, and people know we’re open, it’ll be even better.”

There’s a certain freedom, she admits, to being the one in charge, getting to decide things like drink specials and other promotions.

“Really, it’s for the customers,” she said. “We listen to what they want, and we try to accommodate them the best we can.”

WHILE sealed off from the public, the Pour Choice employees

have a break area behind the building, with a special mural painted in honor of the late Darrell Chester, who ran Timeout Tavern until he died in December 2019.

Jessica Marlow, a part-time bartender, painted the mural.

“It’s just beautiful,” Liz said. “Jessica is such a wonderful artist. What we’d really like to do is paint a mural out front. But we’d have to clear that with Randy, since he still owns the building, and check with the city to see what’s acceptable.”

Pour Choices opens at 2 p.m. daily Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. Sundays, and remains open until 2 a.m. the next day.

Thousands of yuccas and Joshua trees have burned due to wildfires within the Mojave National Preserve in California. LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL/L.E.

BASKOW/TNS

South Korea evacuates Scouts as tropical storm nears

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)

— Carrying huge backpacks and water bottles, tens of thousands of Scouts began arriving at university dormitories, government and corporate training centers, and hotels around Seoul and other inland cities on Tuesday afternoon as the South Korean government evacuated the World Scout Jamboree ahead of a tropical storm.

The South Korean government had scrambled to keep the 12-day gathering of Scouts going in the face of struggles with heat, hygiene and land use controversies, as thousands of British and American Scouts departed over the weekend.

It wasn’t until Monday afternoon that officials announced the decision to abandon the coastal campsite in the southwestern town of Buan, after forecasters raised alarms that Tropical Storm Khanun was heading toward

the Korean Peninsula.

The 37,000 Scouts, who hailed from 156 countries and were mostly teenagers, folded up their tents before boarding over 1,000 vehicles for the evacuation. Officials say 656 vehicles had left the campsite as of 4 p.m.

Most of the Scouts will be accommodated in Seoul and the surrounding area, with others sent to other provinces in the country’s north and central regions.

South Korean officials say the Jamboree will continue in the form of cultural events and activities, including a K-Pop concert in Seoul Friday. Scouts from Britain, who had transferred to hotels in Seoul over the weekend because of the extreme heat at the Jamboree site, visited a war memorial and the former presidential palace. Hundreds of scouts from Norway had already left the site on Monday, citing con-

cerns about the complications of moving together with tens of thousands of other Scouts. Geir Olav Kaase, leader of the Norwegian contingent, said the Scouts arrived at their hotels in Incheon by 9 p.m. Monday. The provincial government had hoped the event would draw attention and investment to a controversial swath of reclaimed land.

Concerns had been raised beforehand about having such large numbers of young people in a vast, treeless area lacking protection from heat as South Korea grappled with one of its hottest summers in years. After the Jamboree began, hundreds of participants were treated for heat-related ailments.

The government insisted the event was safe enough to continue and channeled resources to keep the event going, adding medical staff, air-conditioned buses, military shade structures, and

hundreds of workers to maintain bathrooms and showers, which some Scouts had complained were filthy or unkempt.

Saemangeum is the result of a 19-year project to build a 21-mile seawall, which South Korea describes as the world’s longest.

Since the wall was finished in 2010, the land the wall helped to reclaim from the sea remained largely barren. Once seen as a major development project for a region lacking an industrial base, it’s now increasingly viewed as an ecological blunder that wiped out coastal wetlands and hurt fisheries production. Local government officials insist that the project remains key to the region’s economic future, despite its failure to deliver on early promises.

In a 2018 document describing its successful bid to host, the North Jeolla provin-

cial government wrote that its main reason for hosting the event was to lure badly needed infrastructure investment to the area after initial plans didn’t progress as hoped.

“North Jeolla province needed a project that could spur the construction of an international airport and other SOC (social overhead capital) investments to further encourage the development of Saemangeum’s inner areas,” provincial officials wrote, using an acronym that refers to infrastructure projects.

Local officials continue to pursue plans for new highways, ports and an international airport. The airport was initially supposed to be built for the Jamboree, but construction hasn’t started yet.

Organizers said the campsite will not be used for any other events after the Scouts leave.

Inflation: Rate cools, but not enough to satisfy Fed

Continued from A1

ing, but only if inflation continues to cool.

At the same time, the Fed has acknowledged that inflation pressures have eased significantly over the past year. Encouragingly, that slowdown has occurred even while the economy has continued to expand and employers have steadily hired at a healthy pace.

On Thursday, when the government will issue inflation data for July, economists expect it to show a slight pickup in year-over-year inflation to 3.3%. It would be the first such increase after 12 months of declines.

In part, any rebound in annual inflation for July will reflect higher gas prices. Unless they ease, gas prices could keep overall inflation above 3% through the end of the year. The national average pump price has jumped about 30 cents, to $3.83, in the past month, partly because the cost of oil has risen.

One obstacle in bringing inflation down to the Fed’s 2% target is that the price slowdown so far has reflected mainly relatively painless changes not likely to be repeated. Until last month, for example, gas prices had already plunged from a peak national average of $5. And supply-chain snarls that had swollen the prices of cars, furniture, appliances and other physical goods have mostly unwound. The cost of long-lasing manufactured goods actually declined slightly in June from a year ago.

Another factor is that prices had soared in the first half of 2022 before

slowing in the second half. So any increase in July would have the effect of boosting the year-over-year inflation rate.

What’s now sending prices up is mostly the cost of services — everything from dental care and auto insurance to restaurant meals and summer concerts. Those costs mostly reflect healthy wage gains for workers, which are often passed on to customers in the form of higher prices.

“Energy prices are off, commodity prices off, core goods fell,” said Kristin Forbes, an economist at MIT and a former member of the Bank of England’s interest-rate setting committee. “That’s the quick, easy stuff. What’s left is this underlying wage-service inflation. And that’s the part that’s harder to slow down and will take take longer.”

Many employees, especially in the economy’s service sector, could push for further

raises in the coming months. With labor shortages still a problem for service industries, workers have leverage to demand higher pay. For most Americans, pay gains have trailed inflation over the past two years.

Higher pay is one key issue driving strikes among Hollywood writers and actors. It was also a focus of the Teamsters union in its negotiations with UPS, which led to large pay gains. The United Auto Workers is also pushing for robust raises in its talks with U.S. automakers.

Hanson, of J.P. Morgan, notes that measures of health insurance costs will start to

rise this fall because of quirks in how the government measures them. And auto insurance and repair costs have been surging. A key reason is that vehicle prices soared after parts shortages developed when the pandemic erupted; costlier cars are more expensive to fix and insure. Auto insurance prices have soared nearly 17% in the past year.

As a result, economists generally expect core prices, under the Fed’s preferred measure, to still rise at a 3.5% annual pace by year’s end — far above its 2% target. The Fed’s latest forecasts show that its policymakers expect core inflation to

still be 2.6% at the end of 2024.

Still, there are some hopeful signs that hiring and wages are slowing, which would cool inflation over time. On Friday, the government reported that employers added 187,000 jobs in July, a solid total but still reflective of a slowdown: Job growth over the past three months has averaged only about half the pace of the same period in 2022. And wage growth slipped to 4.6% in the April-June quarter, the government said, the slowest pace in a year and a half.

“That trajectory tells us where things will go in the next 12 months,” said Skanda Amarnath, executive director of Employ America, an advocacy group.

At his most recent news conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell sounded some cautious but hopeful notes about the prospect of a soft landing.

“I wouldn’t use the term optimism about this yet,” he said. “I would say though that there’s a pathway.... We’ve seen so far the beginnings of disinflation without any real costs in the labor market. And that’s a really good thing.”

Yet a defining characteristic of the post-pandemic economy has been resilience, with consumers in particular

showing a surprisingly persistent willingness to spend. Some economists worry that it will take a sharp rise in unemployment to reverse that trend and finally conquer inflation.

The Fed has already been coming under some criticism for sharply raising rates and potentially putting the job market at risk. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, wrote Powell before the Fed met last month and urged him to forgo another rate increase. The central bank, though, went ahead with its 11th rate hike since March 2022.

“The Fed’s aggressive rate hikes disproportionately threaten Black workers and their families and risk fully reversing the extraordinary labor market gains we have seen,” Warren, a frequent Fed critic, wrote.

With political pressure on the Fed rising, Powell and other officials may soon see the precipitous drop in inflation in the first half of this year as having been the easy part.

“The Fed has got lucky so far in what it’s gotten,” said Steven Blitz, chief U.S. economist at GlobalData TS Lombard. “Most of the decline in inflation was going to happen anyway. They really own the part that’s to come.”

Austan Goolsbee, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama, is hopeful the central bank can bring inflation down to 2% without causing a recession. GETTY IMAGES/CHIP SOMODEVILLA/TNS

A

~ Journalism that makes a difference

Did I bribe a Supreme Court Justice? You be the judge

By MARGARET MCMULLAN Guest Opinion for the Washington Post

One rainy day in April 2019, my phone buzzed and the caller ID lit up with “Supreme Court.” I stared at the two words for a moment. Was I in trouble?

Then I remembered.

Alexei Navalny gets another 19 years

The world hardly needs another reminder of the true nature of Vladimir Putin’s Russian state, but last week brought one anyway: On Friday the opposition figure Alexei Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in prison on charges of extremism, after a trial that took place in the penal colony where he is already imprisoned.

Mr. Navalny, age 47, has galvanized protests and publicized criticisms of Mr. Putin’s personal wealth. In 2020 he survived a poisoning by what investigators later said was the Russian nerve agent Novichok. He was arrested in 2021, and his anti-corruption foundation was shut down as a purported “extremist” organization.

In comments posted to social media after the 19year sentence came down, Mr. Navalny made clear that he has no illusions about what he’s up against. “The number doesn’t matter,” he said. “I understand very well that, like many political prisoners, I am serving

a life sentence — where life is measured by the duration of my life or the life of this regime.” He added that Mr. Putin’s goal in persecuting him is to frighten and intimidate everyone else who might be tempted to resist:

“You are being forced to surrender your Russia without a fight to a gang of traitors, thieves and scoundrels who have seized power.”

What a thing to say from the confines of a Russian prison. Bravery, Mr. Navalny has it. So does Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong, who could easily be living a billionaire’s life in exile instead of sitting in a prison cell, and so do countless others who defy autocratic regimes, as far away as Iran and Afghanistan, and as close to home as Cuba, only 90 miles off Florida.

The U.S. has its share of problems, but it remains, as much as ever, a beacon of freedom and democracy, and if Americans ever take that for granted, they should take a look around.

— Wall Street Journal

A look back in t me. A look back in t me.

70 Years Ago

August 1953 COLONY — Miss Helen Neuenswander, daughter of the Rev. and Mrs. I. L. Neuenswander, left Monday for Guatemala, where she will be stationed for five years as a member of the Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. Her work will be two-fold. She will have a medical clinic for the natives since there are no doctors or nurses in the village. As a translator she and co-workers will go among the various Indian tribes, learn their languages, devise their alphabets, make dictionaries, grammars and primers, teach reading and writing and, finally, translate the Bible into native languages.

*****

The Iola City Planning Commission voted unanimously last night to recommend a portion of the Cyrus-Morrell property at the corner of State and Buchanan streets as a location for the new National Guard Armory which was approved by the voters last month.

*****

The Model Grocery on the east side of the square has installed a seven-and-a half-

ton air-conditioning unit. Charles Hattan, manager, reports the unit maintains a temperature of 79 degrees even in the warmest days. The Model is the first grocery store on the square to install a cooling system.

*****

A proposal to hold a centennial celebration in Allen County next year was discussed today by the board of directors of the Iola Chamber of Commerce. Kansas was recognized as a territory in 1854 and the first white settlers may have arrived in this area shortly after that date. Allen County was first legally established in the spring of 1855 by the so-called bogus legislature.

*****

Howard Gilpin was elected chairman of the Allen County Tax Assessment Equalization Committee. The committee will study ways to equalize the assessment of property for tax purposes. What is learned here may help develop statewide assessment equalization laws and procedures. The committee decided to focus its first efforts on real estate assessment procedures.

A few months earlier, I’d sent Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor a letter inviting her to speak at the Mississippi Book Festival, which runs every August. Our offer was the same as it had been for other authors: a $250 stipend, a ride to and from the airport and a large, appreciative audience. In addition, we would purchase 1,500 copies of Sotomayor’s books to give to students. Could the justice please travel to Jackson, Miss., to talk to kids for two days? In the hottest time of the year?

My rainy-day call was a response from her assistant, Anh Le. I have lately been double-checking my communications with Le in light of the Associated Press report saying Sotomayor’s staff “has often prodded public institutions that have hosted the justice to buy her memoir or children’s books, works that have earned her at least $3.7 million since she joined the court in 2009.” Like many Americans, I’m appalled by reports of private jets, yachts, fishing trips and other lavish gifts accepted by some of our Supreme Court justices. I went back to my emails and notes and wondered: Had I “bribed” Justice Sotomayor to come to Mississippi?

I help run a family foundation that focuses on education and literacy, especially for disadvantaged young people. Among the things we support are college scholarships, book groups in prisons, a community reading program and the Mississippi Book Festival — which includes an event called KidsNote, where children can meet featured authors and receive a copy of their books. We look for authors with a new book that will appeal to young readers. Sotomayor’s “Turning Pages,” aimed at children ages 4 to 8, had come out in 2018. In her 2013 memoir suitable for young adults, “My Beloved World,” Sotomayor wrote about reading and the importance of education in her life, as well as her challenges with diabetes. I was sure that both books would resonate with Mississippi students. During our call, Le said the offer was interesting; the justice had never been to Mississippi. I outlined the potential impact Sotomayor would have on students, noting our state’s high poverty rate and its problem with childhood diabetes.

Le said she would get back to me.

And she did, with a few

more questions — details about flight connections, book-signing and so on. I said we would be happy to upgrade her flight. Nope, the publisher was handling her flight. I said we’d be happy to upgrade her hotel room. Nope, the justice was fine with a Marriott, plus her security detail was familiar with the layout.

So far, so good.

Subsequent emails and phone conversations were similar. No, Le said, the justice did not need us to provide lunch or dinner. No, she could not accept the $250 stipend.

Did Le urge me to buy more books? No. She did ask whether we wanted any of the copies of “My Beloved World” to be in Spanish. In fact, we did, and I hadn’t thought to order them.

When Sotomayor came to Jackson, we had her speaking in the sanctuary at Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church, the church where Eudora Welty once worshiped. Backstage, Sotomayor smiled when she saw my clipboard of questions. She helped me with my tote bag full of books. She then clapped her hands together and said something like, “Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do.”

In addition to our planned onstage interview, she said, she wanted the freedom to go off-script. “They’re children,” I recall her saying. “I want to be sure I get to their questions.”

“Perfect,” I said.

So the justice took a seat in one of the side pews and watched as Dav Pilkey, the author and illustrator of “Captain Underpants,” entertained a delighted audience of about a thousand students, drawing cartoons as he spoke. Then, it was our turn on the stage. I asked my clipboard questions and Sotomayor answered. Afterward, she got up and spoke from the heart, walking up

Today in history

On Aug. 9, 1945, three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, a U.S. B-29 Superfortress code-named Bockscar dropped a nuclear device over Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people. *****

In 1936, Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the

Berlin Olympics as the United States took first place in the 400-meter relay. *****

In 1974, Vice President Gerald R. Ford became the nation’s 38th chief executive as President Richard Nixon’s resignation took effect.

*****

and down the aisles. In answer to the students’ questions, she told them about growing up in Puerto Rico, eating mangoes off the tree, going away to college for the first time and working in a male-dominated court system. She talked to these kids. She asked them their names, what they liked in school, what they wanted to do with their lives. She hugged them and posed for pictures with them. After she finished, she signed their books and took more pictures.

“My success came about because I read,” she told them.

The following morning, we did it all over again for another packed sanctuary, with Sotomayor telling even more personal stories about her life and talking about a civics program she and Justice Neil M. Gorsuch work on. She also gave us homework: Go out and make friends with someone who doesn’t look like you.

My only regret is that we ran out of books. I wish we had ordered more.

There very well might be a culture of poor ethical conduct in the Supreme Court, but there is no moral equivalency between justices accepting rides on private jets to vacation with friends who had cases before the court and Sotomayor talking about her books and her life to a crowd of mesmerized young readers.

The standard royalty rate for authors is less than 10 percent of the sales price. I don’t know anything about Sotomayor’s deal with her publishers, but 10 percent would make her cut of the 1,500 books our foundation purchased approximately $2,250 — for which she had to fly to Mississippi and give two presentations. During the hottest month of the year. Was that a bribe? You be the judge.

In 2016, at the Rio Games, American Michael Phelps earned his 20th and 21st Olympic gold medals in the 200-meter butterfly and as anchor in the 4x200 freestyle relay. Katie Ledecky earned her second gold by winning the 200-meter freestyle.

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. (ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES/TNS)

screen shows the already imprisoned Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, second from left, as he listens to his verdict over a series of extremism charges on Aug. 4, 2023. He was sentenced to another 19 years in prison. (ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES/TNS)

With honor

Ron Burris, Colony, received a Quilt of Valor on July 29 at the LaHarpe Veterans of Foreign Wars post. During the 1960s, Burris served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and with the Navy Seabees in Puerto Rico. Members of the East Central Kansas Quilters club give the quilts to veterans from Anderson and Coffey counties. To learn more about nominating a veteran,

Summer can be rough on tomatoes

By MELINDA MYERS melindamyers.com

Extreme heat, drought, torrential rains, and hungry critters may be wreaking havoc on your garden.

After weeding, watering, and waiting you may be finding less, diseased, or misshapen tomatoes. Don’t give up. Make a few adjustments in garden maintenance to boost the current and future tomato harvests.

Blossom end rot is a common problem on the first set of fruit. It’s due to a calcium deficiency often caused by fluctuations in soil moisture frequently seen on the first set of fruit and those grown in containers.

Always water thoroughly to encourage a deep robust root system. Adjust your watering as needed and mulch the soil to help keep it consistently moist. Have your soil tested before adding

any calcium fertilizer. Further reduce the risk of blossom end rot by avoiding root damage when staking and cultivating your garden. Eliminating some of the roots limits the plant’s ability to absorb water and nutrients.

Avoid overfertilization and don’t use ammonium-based nitrogen fertilizers on tomatoes.

Fortunately, it is safe to eat the firm red portion of the affected tomato. Since this is a physiological disorder, not a disease or insect problem you can cut off the black portion and toss it into the compost pile.

Cracked fruit is also common in the garden. Fluctuating temperatures, moisture stress, and improper fertilization result in irregular development of the fruit that results in cracking. You can’t change the weather, but you can reduce the risk of this problem with thorough, less frequent watering to encourage deep roots. And just like blossom end rot, mulch the soil to keep it evenly moist and be sure to avoid root damage.

Several fungal diseases, such as early and late blight, septoria leaf spot, and anthracnose, can cause spots on the leaves and fruit of tomatoes.

Minimize the problem by rotating your plantings whenever possible. Move your tomatoes to an area of the garden where unrelated crops, such as beans, lettuce, or onions, had been grow-

ing the previous season.

Mulching the soil also helps keep soilborne fungal spores off the plant. Water early in the day and if possible, apply the water directly to the soil with a soaker hose, drip irrigation, or a watering wand to reduce the risk of disease.

Properly space and stake or tower your tomato plants to promote healthier growth and reduce the risk of disease. Remove any volunteer tomatoes that sprout and crowd out the current season’s planting.

Remove weeds as they appear. Many serve as hosts for insect pests and diseases and compete with tomato plants

for water and nutrients. Removing them before they flower and set seed eliminates hundreds of weeds you would need to pull next year. Always clean up and dispose of disease-infected plant material in the fall. Cultural practices and growing the most disease-resistant varieties available are often enough to keep these diseases under control.

If you choose to use a fungicide, select one labeled for food crops and apply it at the first sign of the disease. Repeat applications are usually needed. Be sure to read and follow all label directions carefully whether using organic, natural, or synthetic fungicides.

Rescuers

Ukraine: Russia strikes

Continued from A1

sia. Emergency crews were still removing rubble at the scene on Tuesday. The Iskander missiles, which have an advanced guidance system that increases their accuracy, hit within 40 minutes of each other, according to Kyrylenko.

Russia has since the start of the war aimed artillery and missiles at the exact same spot it struck around 30 minutes earlier, often hitting emergency workers who had deployed at the scene. It’s a tactic, called a “double tap” in military jargon, that the Russians also used in Syria’s civil war.

“All of (the police) were there because they were needed, putting their efforts into rescuing people after the first strike,” Ivan Vyhivskyi, chief of Ukraine’s National Police, said Tuesday. “They knew that under the rubble were the injured — they needed to react, to dig, to retrieve, to save. And the enemy deliberately struck the second time.”

Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed it hit a Ukrainian army command post in Pokrovsk. Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.

Among those injured was Volodymyr Nikulin, a policeman originally from the now Russian-occupied port city of Mariupol.

Arriving at the scene after the first missile strike, Nikulin was

wounded in the second strike when missile shrapnel pierced his left lung and left hand.

“Today is not my happy day because Russian criminals committed another awful crime in Pokrovsk,” he said in a video he sent to The Associated Press from a hospital ward in the city.

In the video, he is seen lying on a bed shirtless, dried blood on his side and covering his left hand. He moves with pain to show his injuries.

Pointing his camera to show other injured security forces in the ward, he says: “Look, these are Ukrainian heroes who helped (injured) people.”

Like others, Nikulin was taken to a hospital in the city. But there were so many injured that he was still waiting for surgery on Tuesday morning. He was later transported to a hospital in Dnipro, where he was to undergo surgery to remove the shrapnel.

Nikulin had already witnessed some of the war’s horrors. He helped an AP team escape after Russian troops that had besieged the city entered the downtown area and searched for them.

He featured in the award-winning documentary “20 Days in Mariupol,” a joint project between The Associated Press and PBS Frontline about the earliest phase of the Rus-

sian invasion of Mariupol.

The head of the Pokrovsk City Administration, Serhii Dobriak, described the attacks on Pokrovsk as “a typical Russian scenario: 30-40 minutes between missiles.”

“When rescuers come to save people’s lives, another rocket arrives. And the number of casualties increases,” he said in a video comment to local media.

Kyrylenko, the regional governor, said that 12 multi-story buildings were damaged in Pokrovsk as well as a hotel, a pharmacy, two stores and two cafes.

Russian missiles, drones and artillery have repeatedly struck civilian areas in the war. The Kremlin says its forces target only military assets and claims other damage is caused by debris from Ukrainian air defense weapons.

Meanwhile, an overnight attack on the town of Kruhliakivka, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, killed three people and injured nine others, Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said.

Russia also dropped four guided bombs on a village near Kupiansk, in the Kharkiv region, killing two civilians, Ukraine’s presidential office said. Rescuers later came under fire and two of them were injured, it said.

carry a wounded person into an ambulance following Russian missile strikes in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES/TNS)

call Connie Hatch at 785-232-2816. COURTE-

SY PHOTO

Sports Daily B

Crest’s McAnulty a chosen leader

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

COLONY — Nick McAnulty believes his high school coaching days couldn’t have brought him to a better place than Crest High School.

A Uniontown native, McAnulty is heading into his fifth year as head coach of the Crest Lancers football team, a team he’s helped revive in the last half decade. The year prior to McAnulty coming to Crest, the Lancers finished the season an abysmal 0-9.

In McAnulty’s second year the Lancers went undefeated through the regular season and reached new heights of a 10-1 record.

“Seeing some of those kids be able to turn it around and then two years later go undefeated was amazing,” said McAnulty. “Seeing them get the recognition and seeing their confidence grow was just awesome. It’s such a tight knit community and

everybody says it’s a family, which it is.”

McAnulty’s idea around coaching Crest’s football team keys in on being a coach that his players enjoy being near which will in turn propel them to play harder.

“I want to be the coach that I would have wanted in high school,” said McAnulty. “I want the kids to know that I care and I’m not just here to win games and use them. This is a for-life deal and they know if they need anything they can come talk to me, I’ve got their backs.”

McAnulty played football at Fort Scott Community College for one year before serving as the junior high head football coach at Marmaton Valley for a year. He then went to Emporia State where he played club rugby before taking different youth coaching jobs around Iola.

Coaches Doug Kerr and Luke Bycroft were instrumental in McAnulty coach-

ing in the Iola area. McAnulty then went to coach football at Baldwin High School alongside Kerr before earning the head coaching job at Crest.

“Everybody that’s in this game has knowledge of the game but the difference is whether the relationship between a coach and his players is good,” McAnulty said. “It’s more important than your knowledge of the game. If your kids don’t believe in you, it’s not going to work.”

The Lancers must prepare for this fall season in an eight-man format. The size of Crest’s school only allows the Lancers to play eight-man football which means tackles and an eligible receiver are taken out offensively as well as three others on defense.

“The biggest difference is for defense. On offense, it’s basically just taking extra tackles out and an eligible receiver, which does change some things where I can’t run

See MCANULTY | Page B4

Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Humboldt Speedway hosts weekly racing

The Humboldt Speedway

HUMBOLDT — Though it was a hot one at the Humboldt Speedway there was a big crowd for Friday night’s action.

The night kicked off with the Home Savings Bank Factory Stocks where driver Derrek Wilson picked up his first win in 2023. He ran an awesome race and put himself up front at the end of the A Feature after starting the race in fourth. Coming in second place was Ethan Vance who also ran a really good race. Third went to Grant Reeves, fourth went to Braden Bowman and rounding out the top five was Chris Wilkerson.

In the Extrusion Inc. Midwest Mods, there were 23 cars checking in. Matthew Kay picked up the win after he had a mid-season wreck. Kay said his car is back on track. The car coming in second was Andrew Hodges who started seventh in the A Feature. Third place went to Tret Bailey and fourth went to Jon Westhoff. Tyler Davis came in fifth place.

USRA Tuners have been struggling all year with their car count but had seven cars check in on Friday night. Trenton Wilson and Clint Haigler had another close one but coming out on top was Haigler. Wilson ran a great race as he started sixth in the A Feature. Taking third was Jesse Stair, fourth went to Travis Bockover and Craig Gibson

came in fifth.

Hitting the track to finish out the night for the regular racing was Ryan Gillmore of Springfield, MO. He started on the pole and never looked back to pick up the win. Once again, Brian McGowen was a bridesmaid as for the second week in a row he came in second place. Third went to Henry Chambers and fourth went to Shadren Turner. Andy Brant took home fifth.

To round out the night to have a little bit of fun, some mechanics ran some laps to see who the fastest was. The Factory Stocks and the USRA Tuners raced at the same time and picking up the win for the tuners was Kyle Ward, normally driven by Travis Bockover. Picking up the win for the Factory Stocks was Chance Aiello, which is normally driven by Ashley Mueller. Then the mechanics in the Midwest Mods hit the track. Picking up the win was Merril Lamb, normally driven by Trevor Holman. The last cars to hit the track were the USRA B-Mods and picking up the win was Mason Sigg, normally driving is Ryan Smith. It was a good time seeing those guys rip around the track.

Next week is Championship week. In action will be Ray’s Metal Depot USRA B-Mods, Extrusions, Inc. Midwest Mods, Home Savings Bank Factory Stocks, USRA Tuners, and ARMI Contracting Modifieds.

Chiefs Chris Jones continues holdout

By DAVE SKRETTA The Associated Press

By JOE REEDY The Associated Press

Larry Scott boasted five years ago that the Pac-12 Conference would be able “to adapt, react and take advantage of this new world media order that’s coming in a way others can’t.”

As it turns out, Scott’s statement instead ended up reflecting what rival conferences and commissioners did.

Scott didn’t have a chance to negotiate a second Pac12 media deal. He stepped down as commissioner in 2021 and his successor, George Kliavkoff, didn’t land the deal the conference needed.

Last week’s Pac-12 collapse, which saw five of the remaining nine members announce they were leaving the “Conference of Champions” for either the Big Ten or the Big 12, drove home in

See PAC-12 | Page B3

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs coach Andy Reid had very little to say about missing All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones on Monday. What he did say carried some weight.

Jones, who is entering the final year of his fouryear, $80 million contract, skipped the entirety of the Chiefs’ offseason program and has so far held out all of training camp while trying to secure a new long-term deal. And with their first preseason game now less than a week away, Reid indicated that even superstars such as Jones are missing something by missing camp.

“I don’t know when he’ll be here,” Reid said after Monday’s padded practice on the campus of Missouri Western State University, “but I will tell you that any work he can get is important. It’s a fast game.”

Jones could conceivably hold out the entire preseason, or even the regular season, though it’s unclear what he would gain by that decision. He was evidently fine with relatively modest

fines for missing the Chiefs’ mandatory minicamp, and appears to be willing to part with $50,000 daily fines for each day he misses in training camp.

But under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, the fines increase substantially to an entire game

check — about $1.1 million in Jones’ case — for each preseason and regular-season game that he is absent.

The Chiefs are likewise in a bind without Jones on the field.

He was easily their most disruptive pass rusher last season, piling up 15 1/2

sacks and then dominating throughout their playoff run to the Lombardi Trophy. And that was with Frank Clark, who was released to free up some salary cap space, and fellow pass rusher Carlos Dunlop sharing the field and taking some of the

See CHIEFS | Page B3

Crest’s Nick McAnulty, center in red, talks to the Lancers during a timeout. COURTESY PHOTO

Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones celebrates after he recovered a fumble against the Dallas Cowboys on Nov. 21, 2021. TAMMY LJUNGBLAD/GETTY IMAGES/TNS

Pac-12 could not adjust to changing media scene

Projects Technician

Biden designates historic Grand Canyon monument

TUSAYAN, Ariz. (AP)

— President Joe Biden will use his visit to Arizona on Tuesday to formally announce a national monument designation for the greater Grand Canyon, making Native American tribes’ and environmentalists’ decadeslong vision to preserve the land a reality.

Biden is expected to announce plans for a new national monument to preserve about 1,562 square miles just outside Grand Canyon National Park, national climate adviser Ali Zaidi confirmed. It will mark the Democratic president’s fifth monument designation.

Tribes in Arizona have been pushing Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to create a new national monument called Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni. “Baaj Nwaavjo” means “where tribes roam,” for the Havasu-

pai people, while “I’tah Kukveni” translates to “our footprints,” for the Hopi tribe.

Arizona is a key battleground state that Biden won narrowly in 2020, becoming the first Democrat since Bill Clinton in 1996 to carry it. And it’s one of only a few genuinely competitive states heading into next year’s election. Winning Arizona would be a critical part of Biden’s efforts to secure a second term.

Later Tuesday, Biden will fly to New Mexico, considered safe for Democrats in 2024, and he will visit the Republican stronghold of Utah as part of his western swing later in the week.

Campaign politics aside, tribes and environmentalists for decades have been trying to safeguard the land north and south of Grand Canyon National Park, while Republican lawmakers and the min-

ing industry tout the economic benefits and raise mining as a matter of national security.

The designation is a reminder of a “new era” in which collaboration and stewardship with tribes is valued, said U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet secretary.

“It will help ensure that indigenous people can continue to use these areas for religious ceremonies, hunting and gathering of plants, medicines and other materials, including some found nowhere else on Earth,” said Haaland, who recently visited the Havasupai Indian Reservation. “It will protect objects of historic and scientific importance for the benefit of tribes, the public and for future generations.”

Biden arrived Monday evening at Grand Canyon National Park Airport and was greeted

by Democratic congressmen Raúl Grijalva and Ruben Gallego. Biden embraced them when he got off Air Force One, and the trio chatted for a few minutes. Grijalva, who serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, has repeatedly introduced legislation to create the monument.

The president will be speaking in an area that is between Pinyon Plain Mine, which is being developed and has not opened, and Red Butte, a site culturally significant to the Havasupai and Hopi tribes.

Representatives of various northern Arizona tribes have been invited to attend Biden’s remarks.

The Interior Department, reacting to concerns over the risk of contaminating water, enacted a 20-year moratorium on the filing of new mining claims around the national park in 2012.

Buescher wins 2nd straight NASCAR Cup race

BROOKLYN, Mich.

(AP) — Chris Buescher has earned half of his four career NASCAR Cup Series victories in a stunning, nine-day stretch of success.

Buescher won his second straight NASCAR Cup Series race by holding off points-leader Martin Truex late in the FireKeepers 400 on Monday and is surging with his top performances toward the end of the regular season.

“It’s certainly very good timing as we head into the playoffs in a few short weeks,” said the 30-year-old Buescher, who was in the No. 17 Ford for RFK Racing.

Buescher, who won last week at Richmond, led 52 of the 200 laps. With 12 laps left, Truex challenged him with door-to-door driving before sparks were seen

under his No. 19 Toyota and he faded.

“I felt like we were a little better, but it is just really hard to pass the leader on equal tires,”

Truex said. Truex made a savvy move in the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing to win Stage 2. Shortly after pitting, he went

high before dropping low to surge past Daniel Suarez and finished second to earn a 57-point lead over Denny Hamlin in the standings.

Chiefs

“He was a rocket most of the day and for Chris to hold him off is really impressive,” said Brad Keselowski, who was proud of his fourthplace finish as a driver and win as a part-owner of RFK Racing.

Hamlin was third followed by Keselowski and Kyle Larson.

Buescher gave Ford its ninth straight victory at Michigan to extend the longest winning streak by a manufacturer at a track that has hosted Cup races since 1969.

“To be here in Ford’s backyard and get this done and have so many Ford folks with us here, it is a special weekend,” he said. “You always have a little more on your shoulders here.” The race was sus-

Pac 12: Collapse benefits Big 12 and Big 10

Continued from B1

a dramatic way two points: Football drives college athletics, and there are limits to what the media market will pay for content.

“I think this was a factor of timing and potential media partners not being willing to provide the right fees that the conference and the institutions wanted,” said Tag Garson, senior vice president of properties for Wasserman, a media company that represents broadcasters, coaches and executives and also consults with teams and leagues. “It’s also about the changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics, and making sure that schools are set up for the most success possible in the long term.”

Media rights have far surpassed ticket sales and donor contributions as the main revenue driver for athletic programs.

According to a database run by the Knight Commission and Syracuse University, 19% of the Pac-12’s revenue in 2012 — the year after Utah and Colorado joined the conference — came from media rights, NCAA conference distributions and bowl games ($123.08 million). Donor contributions led the way (26%, or $168.55 million) followed by ticket sales (20%, $134.63 million).

In 2022, that figure jumped to $399.89 million, or 35%, which was more than ticket sales and donor contributions combined (32% or $370.90 million).

Many speculated a new Pac-12 rights deal would be done by this year’s basketball tournament, but when that didn’t happen, concerns about the conference’s future began to ramp up.

During football media day on July 21, Kliavkoff said media rights negotiations were going well and that no announcement was made to keep the focus on the field.

The league did eventually come to a proposed deal with Apple that was similar to the one MLS signed with the tech giant last year. In that case, MLS covers most of production costs.

A person familiar with the Apple deal told AP on condition of anonymity that it guaranteed yearly payouts of between $23-25 million to each Pac-12 member school, with escalators based on subscriptions to the Pac-12 package.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the deal have not been publicized.

If the service got to 2.5 million subscribers, the yearly payout would have jumped to $30 million, the person said, comparable with the Big

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12’s average payout of $31.7 million per school during the length of its agreed upon extension with ESPN and Fox.

If Pac-12 subscriptions approached 3.7 million, the payout would jump to about $50 million per school, the person said. That would have put the conference not far behind the Big Ten and SEC, and well ahead of the Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference in annual media rights revenue. The deal also did not guaranteed any games would be distributed to linear networks, though it was possible.

The lack of certainty about money and exposure ended up being too much to overcome.

Washington President Ana Mari Cauce noted during a conference call last weekend that the deal had an out clause after two years.

“When you have a deal that people are saying that one of the best aspects are that you can get out of it in two years, that tells you a lot,” Cauce said. “This was about national visibility for our players. Being on linear TV so they can be seen and have national exposure.”

The person familiar with the deal clarified the conference could walk away after Year 3 if deal did not deliver that $30 million payout in Year 2.

Because that would

not have been known until the end of Year 2, it would have logistically been too late to move before Year 3. But if the conference opted out after Year 3 all schools would also have been able to back out of the five-year grant of rights the conference was requiring.

That could have made all the Pac-12 schools essentially free agents again after the 2026-27 school year.

Kliavkoff inherited an ultimately untenable situation from Scott, including a television network that consists of seven channels and that couldn’t get a distribution deal with DirecTV. According to Sports Business Journal, ESPN offered a lifeline in 2019 to partner with the conference on the network along with extending the rights, only to be rebuffed by Scott.

The Pac-12’s struggles to move forward after Southern California and UCLA announced they were leaving for the Big Ten made things worse.

At that point, the best the Pac-12 could hope for was getting a deal that would have resulted in the same payouts as its current one, which would have left league schools lagging in revenue behind other Power Five programs.

“When you see a con-

ference like the Pac-12 eroding, it makes it harder to decide that’s where I want to put my money,” Garson said. “It’s certainly not to the same level that I have before. It becomes a massive challenge.”

While Kilavkoff was trying to deal with the problems, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark was aggressive. Yormark, who came in last August, reached an extension with ESPN and Fox with two years left on his conference’s deal.

The league’s performance on the biggest stages has also been a hindrance. “The Conference of Champions” has long been far from that in football and men’s basketball, the two sports that bring in the most revenue.

Only two teams have qualified for the College Football Playoff, with Washington being the most recent in 2016. Since the CFP started in 2014, the conference is 4-9 in New Year’s Six games. Over the past two seasons, it was 3-11 in bowl games.

The title drought in men’s basketball dates back to 1997, when Arizona won it all. UCLA was the last league team to play in a final in 2006.

And though the late Saturday night window for football remains an intriguing spot for networks, ESPN and Fox

Continued from B1

attention away from him.

The Chiefs signed Charles Omenihu to help replace the veteran duo, but he was recently suspended for the first six games of the regular season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy; he was arrested in January, when Omenihu was a member of the 49ers, and accused by a woman claiming to be his girlfriend of domestic violence.

Reid said the Chiefs were expecting a suspension and “we’ll work through it.” But that means relying more heavily on second-year pro George Karlaftis, who had six sacks as a rookie, and first-round draft pick Felix Anudike-Uzomah to rush the passer.

“They’ve handled it well,” said Reid, who had not yet decided how much starters and backups will play on Sunday in New Orleans. “We’ll see how it works out during the preseason and who steps up. We know we have bodies, though.”

The Chiefs did get some positive news along the defensive line Monday when Turk Wharton, who had been rehabbing after surgery to repair a torn ACL, worked into some of the padded team periods for the first time in camp.

“I’m just preparing to get back fully healthy,” Wharton said, “and continue to take my strides so I can play.”

NOTES: DE Mike Danna (calf) returned to practice after missing three sessions. ... Omenihu continued to practice Monday, and he is eligible to play during the preseason, but his suspension will begin with Week 1 of the regular season. ... CB L’Jarius Sneed missed his fifth practice with knee inflammation. “It swells,” Reid said. “We’re trying to keep the swelling down.”

Chris Buescher, driver of the #17 Fastenal Ford, leads the field during the NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling 235 at Daytona International Speedway. CHRIS GRAYTHEN/GETTY IMAGES/TNS

See BUESCHER | Page B4

Chase Young feels ‘explosive’ 2 years out from tearing ACL

ASHBURN, Va. (AP)

— When Chase Young stepped on the field for the first practice of Washington Commanders training camp late last month, the brace was off his surgically repaired right knee.

Now the heat is on for Young to return to form in a contract year.

The 2020 No. 2 overall pick who won the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year honor is now nearly two years removed from a torn ACL that derailed his NFL career and is ready to roll. After the team didn’t pick up his fifth-year option, Young is in shape to try to earn another deal and live up to lofty expectations.

“I feel myself,” Young said. “I feel good and I’m running around and I’m feeling explosive again.”

It has been a while since Young looked explosive in game action. Even before the injury in November 2021, the Ohio State product was off to a slow start to his sophomore season with 1 1/2 sacks in eight-plus games.

Surgery was complicated, involving grafting part of Young’s left patellar tendon to repair the tear on the other side. He and his team of medical professionals inside and outside the team took a very cautious approach to recovery and rehab that caused him to miss the vast majority of 2022.

Coach Ron Rivera acknowledged it was very tough to hold Young back. Still, the Commanders knew it would be difficult to get Young back as a feared pass rusher last season.

“It was almost kind of a pie in the sky that he would be who he is,” Rivera said. “(We realized) it’s just going to be a matter of time. He had to work through those things (and) we were hoping he would get back soon, but it just didn’t work and that’s all part of it.”

Young played just 115 snaps over the final three games of the season, the last of which came after Washington was eliminated from playoff contention. The

Commanders even without Young ranked third in the league on defense, led by fellow defensive linemen Montez Sweat, Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne.

The patience is paying off with Young, now 24, flashing some strong moves in camp and showing the benefit of time and experience.

McAnulty: Ready to lead

Continued from B1

everything I’d like to run,” McAnulty said. “Defensively, there’s so many more holes and it’s just about covering up those holes. One-onone tackling is so important in eight-man.”

Every year, McAnulty takes some of his players to the Kansas City Chiefs training camp practices so they can

soak in what a professional football training camp looks and feels like.

Though the Lancers lost a number of seniors to graduation in the spring, McAnulty is optimistic about the younger players he already sees stepping up in practice. “We’re excited. We’re going to have brand

new starters all over the place,” McAnulty said. “The kids are really excited and hungry for these opportunities. Most of them haven’t gotten an extended period of playing time at the varsity level.”

The Lancers kick off the season with a jamboree at Oswego on Friday, Aug. 25.

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“Chase looks real good,” Sweat said. “He’s starting to be more of a pro. He’s always been a pro, but I think ever since the injury as far as the cold tub and the pre-practice (routine) and the treatments after practice and just things and stuff like that, that’s why I think he’s upped his game a lot.” Young and Sweat worked out on Ohio State’s campus during

the offseason, working with Buckeyes associate coach Larry Johnson. Young said it was about going back to “fine-tune the little things.” He also talked to Buffalo Bills linebacker Von Miller and Baltimore Ravens receiver Odell Beckham Jr. about coming back from an ACL tear. That just gave him more confidence about what’s to come. “They said: ‘We just

bounce back. That’s just what we do,” Young said. “That’s my plan, and I guess y’all are just going to see what happens.”

The Commanders would love for Young to follow Payne’s path to a productive season. After they decided not to pick up Payne’s fifth-year option, the 2018 firstround pick out of Alabama led the team with a career-high 11 1/2 sacks.

Washington signed Payne to a $90-million, four-year contract. With big-money commitments to Payne and Allen already on the books, it might be tough to pay up to keep Sweat — also on the verge of free agency — and Young, but it’s a gamble the team is hoping works out this season.

Rivera likes what he sees so far.

“It’s good to see Chase moving around the way he did,” Rivera said. “He’s lightyears ahead of where he was last training camp. I think that’s a big deal for us.”

Buescher: Wins second straight

Continued from B3

pended Sunday due to rain, which delayed the start and later led to a red-flag stoppage that lasted 19-plus hours before the race resumed under cloudy skies the next day.

Two of the top didn’t make it to Monday. Many of the fans that filled the stands and the infield on Sunday, giving the track one of its biggest crowds in years, did not return to see the end of the race.

William Byron and Kyle Busch, who have a combined seven wins this year, were knocked out of the competition on the first day of the twoday race. Busch spun out and hit a wall after making side-byside contact with Ryan Blaney early in the race and Byron ran into a

wall without anyone around him shortly after Truex won the first stage.

“I put myself in a bad spot,” Busch said. “I really hate that I did that.”

WHO’S HOT Buescher became the first Cup driver to win consecutive races since Byron had victories at Las Vegas and Phoenix in March. He’s the first RFK driver to have consecutive victories since 2010, and the first to win multiple times in a year for the organization since 2017. “I kind of like being an underdog and under the radar,” said Scott Graves, Buescher crew chief. “But I also know with a couple wins, it’s hard to hide.”

WHO’S NOT

Chase Elliott lost control after just 34

laps Sunday due to a tire failure.

“It was really early in the day to have a tire blow like that,” the Hendrick Motorsports star said. “It was really weird. It’s a bummer, but not surprised. Add it to the list.”

Elliott missed six Cup races with a broken left tibia that he suffered in a March 3 snowboarding accident.

The 2020 Cup champion, winless this year, is No. 22 in points and likely needs to win one of the last three races in the regular season to earn a spot in the playoffs.

UP NEXT

The series shifts to the Indianapolis Road Course — where Tyler Reddick won last year — for the Verizon 200 on Sunday.

Crest head football coach Nick McAnulty helps out Lancer Holden Barker.

COURTESY PHOTO

Ohio State defensive end Chase Young at the 2020 NFL Draft Combine. DOUG LESMERISES/CLEVELAND.COM

Do I really need to tip business owners?

Adapted from an online discussion.

Dear Carolyn: I find myself feeling really annoyed at people who are in a private business who request tips on top of services for which they already receive the full, immediate and ample payment. This is happening now with some house cleaners. They stated a certain amount for the job. Then when I went to pay online there was a long list of tipping options from 5 percent to 30 percent or none.

Of course, I feel terrible checking the “none” box. But it will not let you go on to paying until you have checked something. I checked none. Am I terrible? These two women work together and keep all the profits and are well paid. Once upon a time, tipping was for people who were employees and being paid a base rate. Like waitpersons, for example. Or people who do nails. I tip generously in those situations.

I am not sure why this bothers me so much. Perhaps it is because for many years I worked as a therapist and I never would expect a tip on top of my rate. If a carpenter or electrician comes to my house and fixes something I just pay their stated rate. Just like the house cleaners, they are making good money as owners of their businesses.

I never tip the doctor or chiropractor after my visit. I had a friend who was a massage therapist who had her own business

Carolyn Hax

Tell Me About It

and did not take tips. But recently I went for a massage, and she (the sole owner) expected a tip in addition to her already ample price. Gosh, this just really annoys me. Am I living in the past? Should I just get with it? — Tipping Point

Tipping Point: General answer is either tip or own your “none.” I cannot really help you with the changingworld thing. The tip screen could just come with the off-the-shelf payment software. To bypass the guilt mechanism, frame it as deciding how much you are willing to spend not to feel cheap, starting with $0 and working your way up.

Specifically, though, reading between the

lines, people inviting tips provide in-person services of the sort that got shut down by the coronavirus, are cuttable from family budgets, are not cost-buffered by insurance, and are fully exposed to another global shock. Doctors and electricians kept working, after all, but house cleaners and massage therapists did not. The latter cannot raise prices much without driving off customers. They may still be feeling that income loss. So if you are able to leave a tip, then seeing it as a good deed and, selfishly, a way to keep these businesses open and available to you, might temper your resentment a bit.

Re: Tips: Why not just tell Tipping Point they are a cheapskate in actual words and be done with it? — Seriously?

Seriously?: Because

Public notice

(Published in The Iola Register Aug. 2, 2023) IN THE THIRTY-FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT DISTRICT COURT, ALLEN COUNTY, KANSAS CIVIL DEPARTMENT

EMPRISE BANK, a banking corporation, Plaintiff, vs. BRIAN SILCOX, a/k/a Brian Ray Silcox

Defendant. Pursuant to Chapter 60 of K.S.A.

Case No. AL-2023-CV-000024

Title to Real Estate Involved

NOTICE OF SHERIFF’S SALE THE STATE OF KANSAS TO ALL PERSONS CONCERNED: By virtue of an Order of Sale issued out of the District Court of Allen County, Kansas, in the above entitled action, I will, on the 23rd day of August, 2023, at 10:00 A.M., at the South entrance, main floor of the Allen County Courthouse, 1 North Washington, in the City of Iola, Allen County, Kansas offer for sale at public auction and sell to the highest bidder for cash in

that is not what I said. TP wants to leave zero tip but feels bad about it. Therefore, TP has only two choices: 1. Feel bad. 2. Leave tip. So the math is, how much is TP willing to spend not to feel bad? __ 0% __ 5% __ 10% __ 15% __ 20% __ 25% __ 30%. Whether TP “should” feel bad, and I happen not to think so, is beside the point.

Re: Tipping: I understand why TP is annoyed, but maybe the cleaning women are reluctant to raise their base rate. You could pretend they quoted you the rate plus 5 percent and pay them that.

by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

hand all of the right, title and interest of the Defendant(s) above named in and to the following described real property located in Allen County, Kansas: Lots One (1) and Two (2), Block Eight (8), Remsberg’s Addition to the City of Gas, Allen County, Kansas, commonly known as 530 North Main, Gas, Kansas 66742 Said real property is levied on as the property of the Defendant above named and will be sold without appraisement to satisfy said Order of Sale. Defendantowner is granted a three (3) month redemption period from date of sale.

NOTICE

This is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose.

Bryan J. Murphy, Sheriff Allen County, Kansas

Karl R. Swartz, #12532 MORRIS, LAING, EVANS, BROCK & KENNEDY, CHARTERED 300 North Mead, Suite 200 Wichita, KS 67202 (316) 262-2671 Attorneys for Plaintiff (8) 2, 9, 16

by Tom Armstrong HI AND LOIS by Chance Browne

ZITS

BEETLE

by Mort Walker

by Chris Browne

BLONDIE by Young and Drake

MARVIN

MUTTS by Patrick McDonell

Candles and flowers lie on the location where a 29-year-old Greek soccer fan has died after overnight clashes between rival supporters in Athens, Greece.

THANASSIS STAVRAKIS/AP PHOTO

Fan killed in Greece during clashes between rival supporters

NEA PHILADELPHIA, Greece (AP) — A 29-year-old soccer fan was killed in fierce overnight clashes between rival supporters in the Greek capital, prompting European football governing body UEFA to postpone a Champions League qualifying game between AEK Athens and Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday.

Eight fans were also injured in the extensive clashes outside AEK’s stadium in the northern suburb of Nea Philadelphia, while Greek police said they had made 88 arrests, mostly of Croatian supporters.

Amateur video of the incident showed chaotic scenes, with fans hurling flares and petrol bombs and clashing with wooden bats.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic called his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis to express his condemnation of the violence, with the Croatian government describing the clashes as “horrific.”

Fans gathered at the site of the fan’s death Tuesday, leaving flowers, church candles and black-and-yellow AEK soccer scarves at the makeshift roadside shrine. Players from AEK, which won the Greek league last season, also visited the site.

Doctors said the victim — identified only by his first name, Michalis — died from stab wounds.

Gianni Infantino, president of world soccer governing body FIFA, expressed his “deepest condolences” to the family and friends of the victim.

“There is absolutely no place for violence in football, on or off the field, or in society. Alongside everyone at

After 2-year layoff, Simone Biles dominates at the US Classic

By WILL GRAVES The Associated Press

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (AP) — Simone Biles spent two years trying to distance herself from those strange days in Tokyo and all the outside noise that came along with it.

She dove into therapy and slowly — very slowly — returned to training even though she wavered on whether she was really up for a third Olympics and all of the pressure and expectations that come with it when you’re considered the greatest of all time.

FIFA, I stand with all those affected by this tragic incident and call on the relevant authorities to ensure appropriate action is taken,” Infantino wrote in an online post.

Near the makeshift shrine, police cordoned off an area to gather evidence, pulling a wooden bat and other items from a dumpster.

After the fan’s death, Greek authorities had requested that all supporters should be excluded from the match between at the Opap Arena.

Dinamo fans were officially already excluded under a previous ruling by UEFA.

AEK fan Kyriakos Mantzakidis, who runs a sports blog, said police should have prevented scores of Croatian fans from traveling to Athens.

“This was a murderous attack against ordinary people. Many of the people gathered in this area were not soccer fans,” Mantzakidis said. “It is a failure of the government to plan properly ... it was a good decision to postpone the game. The atmosphere was too tense.”

Seven Greek police officers were suspended pending an internal investigation, government officials said, while a senior public prosecutor launched an official inquiry into the deadly clashes.

UEFA says what was going to be the second leg in Zagreb next Wednesday will now be the first leg. The second leg will be held in Athens on Friday 18th or Saturday 19th.

“UEFA deplores in the strongest possible terms the appalling incidents that took place in Athens last night and resulted in the loss

of a life,” it said in a statement. “While expressing our deepest sympathy to the family of the victim, to AEK Athens FC and its fans, we would like to reiterate that violence has no place in our sport and we expect that those responsible for this terrible act be arrested and consigned to justice in the shortest delay.

“Following yesterday’s violence and in consultation with the local authorities, UEFA has decided that the conditions for the match between AEK Athens FC and GNK Dinamo to go ahead tonight are not met.”

UEFA and Greek authorities had anticipated problems in the Greek capital city with back-to-back nights of Champions League qualifying games involving visiting fans with a reputation for disorder.

As a result, UEFA had requested that no tickets should be sold to visiting fans for both the AEK-Dinamo game on Tuesday and the Panathinaikos-Marseille match on Wednesday.

Croatian media reports said that some 200 fans had traveled to Athens, likely as ordinary tourists, despite the soccer ban.

Dinamo has a far right fan group, which calls itself the Bad Blue Boys.

The clashes came in the week before Manchester City and Sevilla fans come to Athens for the UEFA Super Cup game -- the traditional season-opener between the title holders of the Champions League and Europa League. The game is being played at the Olympiakos stadium near the port city of Piraeus.

Dutch Country

It wasn’t until midspring that she committed to training seriously after talking about it over margaritas with her coaches.

It wasn’t until late June that she committed to Saturday night’s U.S. Classic. And it wasn’t until she stepped onto the podium and heard the shrieks of support and the sea of handmade signs that the noise she’d been grappling with for 732 days finally fell silent.

She was back in her safe space. Back in front of a crowd. Back in control. Back to being the Simone Biles — albeit a more mature, married, 26-yearold version — who has spent a decade redefining her sport.

Confidence growing with every rotation, Biles soared to victory in her first meet since the Tokyo Games. Her all-around score of 59.100 was five points better than runner-up Leanne Wong. And made all the more remarkable by the fact she didn’t really pour herself into preparing until after her wedding to Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens in late April.

“I feel really good about where I am right now, mentally and physically,” Biles said. “I still think there are some things to work on in my routines, but for the first meet back, I would say it went pretty well. I’m very shocked. Surprised.”

She posted the best score on three of four events, turning what is typically a tune-up meet for the U.S. Championships into a showcase that she remains — when she’s at or near her best — a singular

force in her sport. The only time she seemed out of place at the NOW Arena was when she was introduced. She scrambled from one side of the floor to the other, unsure of where she was supposed to go.

The moment passed. Minutes later she raised her hands and saluted the judges. Then it was the same as it ever was for the most decorated female gymnast in history.

Rocking a blackand-white bedazzled leotard and a silicone wedding band she bought from Amazon to wear while she competes, Biles electrified a packed house that roared with every spin, every flip, and yes, twist.

While she admitted she is still a little nervous while doing the twisting elements in her routines, she certainly looked comfortable during two hours that offered a taste of what could come in the run-up to Paris next summer.

Wearing No. 231 and sporting — at least before she began competing — a necklace bearing “Owens” in tribute to her husband, she seemed equal parts relaxed and energized.

She began on uneven bars, not far from a sign featuring a goat (a symbol for “Greatest of All Time”) that read “Simone Freaking Biles.” She wasn’t perfect, nearly stalling near the end of her routine. She muscled up and stayed on and when she hit her dismount, she cut her eyes off to the side as if to say “sheesh.”

Her score of 14.000 was the third best of the competition and a signal of things to come. She was as solid and steady as ever on balance beam, where she won a bronze in Tokyo after a week of uncertainty, a medal she’s described as one of the sweetest of her career.

While never officially closing the door on Paris, at one point she was convinced her career was over. She’s spent most of the last 24 months preparing for her wedding and planning the rest of her life.

Still, the lure of the gym tugged at her, though she’s taking a more muted approach to her comeback than

in 2018 or in the run-up to Tokyo in 2021.

At the moment, she’s letting her gymnastics do most of the talking. And it spoke loud and clear.

She was dynamic on floor exercise, where her tumbling passes have long been showstoppers. While she and her coaches have tweaked her routines a bit to better take advantage of the sport’s updated Code of Points, she still does some of the most challenging gymnastics in the sport typically with seemingly effortless ease.

Biles kept all three of her tumbling passes on the floor inbounds, something that was a problem at times in 2021. Her score of 14.900 included a start value of 6.8, a massive amount of difficulty. No other athlete, many of whom grew up idolizing her, had a start value higher than 5.9.

She finished with a Yurchenko double-pike vault, a roundoff onto the table followed by two back flips with her hands clasped behind her knees. It’s a vault she toyed with in 2021 hoping to pull off in Tokyo.

It never happened. It still might in Paris. She hopped a little bit after landing as the arena exploded, her 15.400 more than a full point better than any of the other 30-plus athletes managed.

The Classic is considered a warm-up of sorts. The U.S. Championships are later this month, with the world championships coming in October and the Olympics less than a year out.

She’s trying not to get too far ahead. Making it a point to enjoy what she called the “little wins.”

“I knew I could come back and hopefully have a shot,” she said. “It’s just about really taking care of my body right now. So that’s what we’re to. It’s working.”

There is plenty of time to refine things.

To expand. To build. Biles’ all-around score Saturday was higher than what she posted at the same meet in 2018. What followed back then was two years of historic dominance.

More may be on the way.