The Iola Register, Aug. 17, 2023

Marion Co. attorney returns seized items

First day greetings

Wednesday morning as they arrived for the first day of classes for the 2023-24

Iola Elementary School students were greeted with high-fives by Iola High School football players

Chanute eliminates property tax levy

By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

CHANUTE — Chanute City

By JOHN HANNA and JIM SALTER The Associated Press

MARION, Kansas (AP)

— The prosecutor in Marion County said Wednesday that police should return all seized material to a weekly newspaper that was raided by officers in a case that has drawn national scrutiny of press freedom.

Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey said his review of police seizures from the Marion County Record found “insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between

See SEIZED | Page A3

County changes course in ambulance purchase

By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register

Iola’s EMS chief asked county commissioners to reconsider its plan for buying a new ambulance. Commissioners last week agreed to join a waiting list for an available Ford Transit that could be used as an ambulance transfer unit. The vehicle is smaller than a regular ambulance, but it could be available more quickly and at a lower price.

Todd Newman

Commissioners have taken a previously unheard of approach to funding the city’s 2024 budget, by eliminating property taxes as a revenue source for the general fund.

In what City Manager Todd Newman described as a “big night” in the city’s history, commissioners approved the new spending plan by doing away with an ad valorem tax levy of 36 mills.

The maneuver will save the owner of a $100,000 house roughly $400 annually, Newman estimated.

To make up for the $2.2 million in lost revenue, commissioners subsequently approved a 1-cent-perkilowatt-hour increase in

Terry Call, the county’s former EMS director who retired but returned to help the county with zoning and other issues, said it could take years before a full-sized ambulance becomes available because of supply shortages.

Iola’s EMS director, Michael Burnett, met with commissioners this week to share his thoughts about the county’s plan.

An ambulance contract between the city and county says it’s the county’s responsibility to provide ambulances and related equipment.

Burnett said he is concerned the Transit would not be a good fit. Burnett said his research found the

Landfill tire disposal issue still unresolved

By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register

County leaders are still researching options for tire disposal but said they anticipate changing the current policy in some way.

Commissioners have been weighing options for waste tire disposal after Public Works director Mitch Garner and an engineer reported the landfill has nearly

reached its limit for tire collection. Most of that comes from FMS/United Tire, a tire recycling company owned by Shane Lamb of DeSoto.

The county asked Lamb to stop dumping tire waste at the landfill until the matter is resolved.

Between February and July, United Tire dumped nearly 2,000 tons of shredded tires. The next largest customer dumped just 67

tons in the same time period.

Garner also noted United Tire, located in Allen County, pays a county rate of $5.50 per ton. Tires from outside the county are charged $130 per ton.

Commissioner Jerry Daniels said the policy that lays out those charges predates Garner, but he assumes the

See TIRES | Page

school year. Below at left, Iola elementary pupils and their parents toured the school Tuesday evening for an open house. At bottom right, fourth-grade teacher Anna Mitchell, left, visits with incoming student Reedha Desai, right, and her mother, Sima. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS (ABOVE) AND RICHARD LUKEN

Michael Burnett, left, and Terry Call discuss the difficulties in buying a new ambulance Tuesday at the Allen County Commission meeting. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS

Farm bill likely to keep Congress busy in September

By ASHLEY MURRAY Kansas Reflector

WASHINGTON — The roundtables, listening sessions and appearances at farm shows have largely wrapped up and lawmakers tasked with reauthorizing the nation’s agriculture and nutrition programs are comparing notes and beginning to draft the massive, multi-year farm bill.

The 2018 version expires Sept. 30, just as many urgent priorities compete for floor time in Congress — namely the government funding bills that, if not passed by Oct. 1, could mean a partial government shutdown.

The expansive agricultural and food policy bill covers farmer safety net programs, conservation and sustainability incentives, international trade, rural area development, and food and nutrition programs for low-income earners — the last of which by far accounts for the largest portion of the bill. The legislation is one of Congress’ omnibus packages, meaning it’s made up of numerous provisions from many lawmakers.

Staff working on the respective House and Senate agriculture committees expect a roughly $1.5 trillion price tag over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office baseline scores for SNAP and mandatory farm programs.

Both parties have rallied around ways to make the government safety net more reliable for farmers facing rising production costs. Differences surface when discussing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP, or food stamps, and how to spend conservation and climate dollars earmarked in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act.

While the outlook for when the farm bill reaches the floor is “murky,” committee leadership “has committed to bipartisanship,” said a Republican House aide knowledgeable about Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson’s negotiations. The aide did not want to be identified because of ongoing discussions.

Thompson, of Pennsylvania, chairs the House Committee on Agriculture.

Some worry that despite Thompson’s goal for bipartisanship, the omnibus to continue America’s farm and food programs will become another battleground for far-right lawmakers.

If Congress does not

pass a final farm bill by the end of September, lawmakers will likely will enact program extensions as they have in the past. Aides say the situation becomes more worrisome if lawmakers cannot finish the omnibus by the end of the calendar year.

“Once it leaves his committee it’s at the mercy of the Rules Committee and right now the Freedom Caucus is — not just with the farm bill, and not just with the agriculture appropriations — but pretty much every bill going through, (they have) some of their unrealistic demands on required amendments,” said Chandler Goule, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers.

“I’m worried it’s going to not only stall the farm bill, but it’s also going to make the farm bill a partisan bill, which is not good for anyone in agriculture,” he said.

Food assistance

Nutrition initiatives were added to the farm bill in the early 1970s, expanding the scope of the legislation that previously focused on support for certain commodities, including corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton, dairy and others.

Nutrition programs are projected to comprise 84% of the 2023 farm bill, compared to the 76% in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, the official name of the most recent omnibus. The increase reflects pandemic-related spending and an adjustment to benefits meant to better reflect grocery store prices.

While the farm bill authorizes policy, a separate agriculture appropriations process greenlights the dollars for farmers and SNAP, as well as the Food and Drug Administration. Talks to advance the funding bill collapsed before lawmakers left for August recess as far-right conservatives pushed to ban the avail-

ability of mifepristone, the abortion pill.

Cutting SNAP funding in the agriculture appropriations bill is also a target for the GOP-led House.

Among the Republican proposals are “right-sizing” funding to reflect pre-pandemic levels and adjusting the administration’s Thrifty Food Plan, which increased benefits to match healthy food prices.

Another proposal

Democrats are criticizing is limiting state waivers that allow certain adults to be exempt from work requirements because of labor market conditions. Currently 13 states, the District of Columbia and two territories have statewide waivers.

They include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Another 16 states have partial waivers in certain areas.

The GOP already moved the needle this year on SNAP work requirements when House Leader Kevin McCarthy of California won a provision in the debt ceiling deal to increase the work rules age ceiling from 49 to 55 for adults without dependents.

As for the farm bill

debate, “Mr. Thompson has been clear: he is not interested in further debate of the age of someone participating in a work requirement,” the GOP aide said.

Democrats are warning McCarthy and GOP leadership that inserting the SNAP debate into the farm bill process could hamper progress.

“The continued threat of making additional changes to SNAP eligibility and benefits is not helpful and even undermines Chairman Thompson as he works with his Democratic and Republican membership to bring a bipartisan farm bill out of the Agriculture Committee,” wrote the committee’s ranking member, David Scott of Georgia, in an Aug. 7 letter co-signed by two dozen Democratic colleagues.

Aside from work rules, the GOP would like to see some policy changes in the farm bill’s SNAP title, including more resources directed toward fraud prevention and “health and wellbeing,” or restricting what people can buy with SNAP benefits, according to the Agriculture Committee.

The United Council on Welfare Fraud, a group representing state and county investigators, met with GOP lawmakers multiple times this year ahead of farm bill negotiations to push for

Town left without police

GOODHUE, Minn.

(AP) — A small Minnesota town will soon be without a police department, an exodus spurred by low pay for the chief and his officers.

Goodhue Police Chief Josh Smith and one other officer are still on the force, but only until their resignations become official on Aug. 23, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Smith submitted his resigna-

more robust prevention of underground SNAP benefits trading and complex retail skimming schemes that strip benefits from recipients’ EBT cards.

“You have legitimate people who go to buy milk and groceries for their children and they have a zero balance on their card,” said Dawn Royal, the group’s director and past president.

“In recognizing that there are legitimate victims, the government decided to reissue benefits on those cards to the victims up to twice and that’s great, right. So now mom can buy milk for her children and that’s great, but they (the government) did nothing to prevent it,” she said.

The USDA spends less than 1% on fraud prevention and prosecution, according to the group.

Farmer safety net

Another major area of concern for the farm bill among GOP leaders is updating guidelines that trigger risk protection programs for several commodities, including wheat, corn, soybeans, rice, peanuts, sugar and dairy.

Farmers and lawmakers maintain the prices — referred to as reference prices — are outdated. Despite market fluctuations, severe drought or natural disasters, the protections aren’t set in motion until crop prices drop to a certain level.

“Everything we’re doing on the farm now costs a whole lot more money when it comes to planting the crop. But the reference prices for when some type of disaster program would kick in haven’t changed. So it’s much more costly to put a crop in and to protect that crop,” said Josh Gackle, a North Dakota soybean farmer and vice president of the

American Soybean Association.

Prices have to dip to $8.50 per bushel before government coverage begins. Gackle says in North Dakota it costs him $12 per bushel to produce the crop.

“The data that was used (for reference prices) goes back to 2012. The world is very different now than it was in 2012,” Sen. John Boozman told Agri-Pulse in an April interview.

“So I can tell you, there is not going to be a farm bill that I vote for that doesn’t take care of the safety nets,” continued the Arkansas Republican who is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

Boozman is also eyeing “producer focused” policies in the trade title of the bill, said Patrick Creamer, the committee’s communications director for the minority.

The senator wants to focus on “things that really impact farmers, whether it’s market access overseas or research to help increase their crop yields,” Creamer said.

Democrats agree that farmer safety net programs are falling short. However, they want expanded protection for crops — like apples, for example — that are outside of the major commodities.

“Both program crops and specialty crops have to have some kind of safety net and access to whether it’s (for) conservation research, anything that will make those farmers profitable and able to stay in business,” said a Democratic House aide who did not want to be identified because of ongoing negotiations.

The Senate returns Sept. 5. The House returns Sept. 12.

tion at a City Council meeting Aug. 9, while another full-time officer and five part-time employees resigned Friday after learning that Smith was stepping down.

“This is heartbreaking to us,” Goodhue Mayor Ellen Anderson Buck said Monday night after an emergency council meeting. Goodhue, in southeastern Minnesota, has about 1,300 residents.

A farmer harvests corn Oct. 17, 2020, near Slater, Iowa. (PERRY BEEMAN/IOWA

Iola City Council approves bucket truck purchase

By TIM STAUFFER The Iola Register

Iola council members agreed Monday to purchase a new electric distribution bucket truck — but they’ll have to wait a while before they can show it off. About two-and-a-half years, in fact.

Jim Baker, electric distribution superintendent for the city, presented the council with four bids for a new bucket truck, a pressing need given that the truck to be replaced is 19 years old now.

Two vendors presented bids that did not meet the minimum bid specifications. That left members to decide between Altec Industries

of St. Joseph, Mo. and ABM Equipment of Hopkins, Minn. Baker recommended the bid from Altec for a Freightliner utility truck. While a tad more expensive, Altec’s road service is much better in Kansas than that of ABM Equipment, said Baker, which more than compensated for the extra cost. The council unanimously approved the Altec bid at a cost of $296,745 and expects the bucket truck to be delivered by April 2026.

Baker hopes it could be here by the end of 2025. The new vehicle will have a 60-foot working height and will join three other bucket trucks, each with 40-, 45- and 60-foot booms.

ON A personal note, Baker recently celebrated 40 years of employment with the City of Iola.

The official anniversary was Aug. 8. “The city has been very good to me,” Baker told the Register. “I enjoy working for it, and I enjoy what I do. Hopefully I get a couple more years out of it.”

Several others were recognized for employment milestones at Monday’s meeting. Jason Franklin (18 years), Doug Clark (17 years), Tim Francis (16 years), John Ross (15 years), Tammy Womelsdorf (13 years), and Jason Bauer (11 years) have all been with the City for over a decade.

Seized: Marion Co. attorney returns items to newspaper

Continued from A1

this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized.”

“As a result, I have submitted a proposed order asking the court to release the evidence seized. I have asked local law enforcement to return the material seized to the owners of the property,” Ensey said in a news release.

Even without the computers, cellphones and other office equipment taken in a police raid, the new edition of the Record made it to

newsstands Wednesday after a frenzied scramble by the newspaper’s small staff.

“SEIZED … but not silenced,” read the front-page headline in 2-inch-tall typeface.

Police raids on Friday of the newspaper’s offices, and the home of editor and publisher Eric Meyer put the paper and the local police at the center of a national debate about press freedom, with watchdog groups condemning the police actions.

The attention contin-

ued Wednesday — with TV and print reporters joining the conversation in what is normally a quiet community of about 1,900 residents.

The raids — which the publisher believes were carried out because the newspaper was investigating the police chief’s background — put Meyer and his staff in a difficult position. Because their computers were seized, they were forced to reconstruct stories, ads and other materials. Meyer also blamed stress from the raid at

his home on the death Saturday of his 98-yearold mother, Joan, the paper’s co-owner.

As the newspaper staff worked late into Tuesday night on the new edition, the office was so hectic that Kansas Press Association Executive Director Emily Bradbury was at once answering phones and ordering in meals for staffers.

Bradbury said the journalists and those involved in the business of the newspaper used a couple of old

computers that police didn’t confiscate, taking turns to get stories to the printer, to assemble ads and to check email. With electronics scarce, staffers made do with what they had.

“There were literally index cards going back and forth,” said Bernie Rhodes, the newspaper’s attorney, who was also in the office. “They had all the classified ads, all the legal notices that they had to recreate. All of those were on the computers.”

At one point, a cou-

ple visiting from Arizona stopped at the front desk to buy a subscription, just to show their support, Bradbury said. Many others from around the country have purchased subscriptions since the raids. An office manager told Bradbury that she’s having a hard time keeping up with demand.

The raids exposed a divide over local politics and how the Record covers Marion, which sits about 150 miles southwest of Kansas City.

County: Discusses options for potential ambulance buy

Continued from A1

vehicles have gasoline engines and have an average lifespan of about 150,000 miles. A transfer unit can reach that point in a year, Burnett said.

Commissioner Jerry Daniels said he preferred a diesel engine.

But a new ambulance could cost nearly $350,000 and delivery could be two or three years out.

Burnett offered another option: Instead of buying a new ambulance, they could send an older unit to a manufacturer to be refurbished. The price tag would be closer to $200,000 and the units would work just as well as a new unit, Burnett said.

Even that process could take up to two years, Burnett said. He asked commissioners if they were willing to be put on a waiting list. When the company is ready, they’ll send an older unit. The remounting process

could take about three months.

Commissioners liked Burnett’s solution and told him to join the waiting list. If something changes, they can always remove their name from the list.

Tires: Landfill rate debated

Continued from A1

large difference in charges was intended to deter out-of-county customers from dumping tires at the landfill in order to minimize the amount collected.

Garner has been researching how other landfills collect and charge for tire collection.

Meanwhile, commissioners agreed to pursue options to create a “monofill” at the landfill property that would be designated for tire collection. It does not need to meet stringent environmental concerns and it’s better to keep tires separated from other waste, an engineer reported.

Commissioner Bruce Symes said he supports

some sort of plan that would limit or set a different fee structure based on the amount of tires dumped. He said he did not blame Lamb for the problem but the current situation is not sustainable.

“We can’t continue to accept the quantity of tires from outside Allen County while trying to be a good manager of our landfill,” he said.

Lamb’s business is at the site of the former Lehigh Cement Plant on the south side of Iola.

Symes said he supports establishing a monofill site as well as a policy change, something fellow commissioners echoed. The landfill will need to obtain a permit from the state before setting

up a monofill site.

He also noted the state requires tires be shredded a certain way, and landfill crews will begin inspecting and rejecting tires that don’t meet those specifications. If the landfill allows tires that are not properly shredded, the state could fine or shut down the landfill.

Garner also plans to set aside a place to dump electronic equipment but will need a permit for that, too. Lithium ion batteries found in rechargeable electronics such as computers, phones and even toys are more likely to start a fire and should be kept out of regular garbage.

Garner also plans a public education campaign on the matter.

Housing conference

Patty Sanborn with SEK Inc. alerted commissioners to a housing conference planned in November.

SEK Inc. was formed in 1957 by a group of businessmen in several counties who wanted to bring industry to the region. It represents 12 counties.

“Now, industry is not the problem,” Sanborn said. “It’s workforce development, housing and child care.”

The group started a housing coalition to address the matter at the state level. They also found city and county leaders often do not have the time it takes to thoroughly research and pursue housing development.

To that end, the coalition is organizing a housing conference Nov. 14-15 in Independence. They will discuss issues such as land banks, Moderate-Income Hous-

ing programs, tax credits for developers, rural housing incentives and housing needs analysis.

Lt. Gov. David Toland, an Iola native, is the guest speaker.

IN OTHER news, commissioners: Agreed to allow a group of business leaders to have more movie nights on the courthouse lawn, on Sept. 8 and Oct. 6.

Learned the county and state should be eligible for reimbursement for expenses incurred in the cleanup of a July 14 storm. Allen County had to exceed $55,000 in damages; the state had to exceed $5.2 million to qualify for federal reimbursement, Allen County Emergency Management director Jason Trego said. Expenses just from the City of Iola exceeded the county’s threshold, Trego said.

Agreed to allow Road

and Bridge director Mark Griffith to seek an annual fuel contract. His department purchased new fuel tanks that can hold significantly more gasoline for county vehicles, so it makes sense to bid once a year instead of each time the tanks are filled, he said.

Griffith also asked if his department could buy a new vehicle to use as a winter snow plow and salt spreader to clear smaller road sections. Currently, the department shares a truck with the noxious weed department.

It’s outfitted with a sprayer and related equipment in the summer, then changed out for the winter.

With earlier weed spraying in March, those needs could overlap. Commissioner Bruce Symes said he would rather stick with the current system but Griffith could explore options.

Patty Sanborn of SEK Inc., speaks Tuesday with Allen County Commissioners. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS

Iola electric distribution superintendent Jim Baker speaks at Monday’s City Council meeting. Baker celebrates his 40th anniversary as a city employee this month. REGISTER/TIM STAUFFER

Chanute: Removes tax levy

Continued from A1

electric rates.

Newman estimated the higher electric rates — expected to cost the average customer about $10 more a month — will bring in about $1.6 million annually.

“That doesn’t fund the entire difference,” Newman noted, but brings it close enough that commissioners can tap further into utility reserves to supplement the general fund.

“$2.2 million sounds like a lot,” Newman added, “but in reality, it’s only about 2% to 3% of our

total budget.”

The maneuver is possible, Newman explained, because Chanute owns its major utilities — electric, water, gas and now fiber-optic cable.

“All of them contribute to the general fund,” he said. “That’s a huge advantage for cities like us.”

Commissioners at first were wary of Newman’s proposal, which took shape following a budget workshop earlier this year.

The initial idea was to phase out the property taxes over a three- to

five-year period. “But as we worked along, the commissioners favored a plan to give immediate savings instead of saving a little from year to year,” he said.

Newman also noted property taxes aren’t eliminated entirely from the city’s spending plan. Commissioners retained an 8-mill levy to fund the Chanute Public Library.

That means the owner of a $100,000 home will spend about $92 annually to support the library.

Commissioners of Chanute eliminated most of its property tax collections to fund its 2024 budget, while increasing electric rates. GOOGLE MAPS

Opinion A5

~ Journalism that makes a difference

A ‘Silent Cal’ sounds pretty good these days

By MITCH DANIELS Guest opinion for The Washington Post

It’s common for American presidents to grow in our estimation over time. Decisions once deemed unwise can look wiser or prescient with the perspective of decades. Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ulysses S. Grant are among those presidents whose reputations have risen over the years.

One president is among the most deserving but least likely to enjoy a positive reputational upgrade, and that’s unfortunate.

As we reached this month’s centennial of Calvin Coolidge’s accession to the presidency, upon the death of Warren G. Harding, a nation drowning in debt and in serious need of a cultural course correction could do much worse than to examine the life of the quiet man

from Massachusetts. We live in a time when the leadership of both parties, in the face of brutal arithmetic of which they cannot pretend to be less than fully aware, continues to drive the federal government and its safety net programs off a cliff of debt, at the bottom of which awaits not only an economic but also a social crisis.

Coolidge, who limited government employees to one pencil at a time, summed up his policy in 1924 as “I am for economy. After that I am for more economy. At this time and under these circumstances that is my conception of serving the people.”

Note the first two clauses: Coolidge was not a blinders-on ideologue. He endeavored to identify the right approach for the situation before him. In his day, he took that to mean reducing the national debt, and he did, by

one-third. Would that we had him counting the pencils today.

Similarly, Coolidge is misremembered as a soulless, humorless materialist. The caricature was built on misquotes — he said not “The business of America is business” but “The chief business of the American people is business,” a crucial distinction. Forgotten are statements like “Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshiped.”

His taciturnity masked a gentle wit, which prompted an amusing fiction about Coolidge that later came to be regarded as fact: To a dinner companion who had supposedly bet she could get him to say more than two words, he was said to have replied, “You lose.”

Coolidge presided over nearly six years of booming prosperity, although some debate continues about wheth-

er his policies contrib uted to the subsequent crash and depression. Where one wishes most for another Coolidge is where we are least like ly to find one, in the realm of persona, style and personal conduct.

We’re mired in a hotdog, look-at-me, dancein-the-end-zone world. Success in public ca pacities seems reliant not on the quality of officeholders’ ideas or effectiveness, but on their cleverness and audacity in sound bites, tweeting and the other “performative” arts. It’s hard to imagine any one more countercul tural, less in sync with today’s zeitgeist, than Silent Cal.

Having again this year endured the ab surd spectacle that is the modern State of the Union ritual, one yearns for another Coolidge who, reject ing Woodrow Wilson’s “innovation” of march ing up to Congress for a PR stunt disguised as a speech, returned the nation temporarily to the traditional practice of simply sending a written report.

A heuristic device that I have found rarely misleads is to take a politician’s statement that begins “I am humbled and honored” to mean its opposite. Coolidge’s life bespoke not false modesty but an authentic humility, the virtue that enhances wisdom through the recognition of how much one does not know, and protects liberty by reminding its possessors that they should be careful before ordering others about how to live their lives. Coolidge’s funeral in 1933 — a modest affair, as requested by his wife, reflecting how

China’s young, restless and jobless

U.S. stocks took a header on Tuesday after fresh economic data showed a continued softening in China’s economy. Another reason for investor unease is the Chinese government’s suspension of youth unemployment data, which comes amid a Communist Party campaign to limit transparency.

China’s collapsing real-estate bubble is raising investor worries about financial contagion as Country Garden, one of its largest developers, edges toward default. Press reports said Monday that trust companies affiliated with one of China’s largest financial firms, Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, missed payments owed to clients.

But unknown risks are usually more worrisome than those that are known.

In recent months Beijing has been tightening the clamp on economic information shared with the public. A newly amended counterespionage law criminalizes sharing sensitive economic information. For “sensitive,” read negative. Not surprisingly, Chinese economic analysts have become tight-lipped.

Domestic law firms have been told by securities reg-

ulators to censor negative language about China from investor disclosures. Rather than discuss “adverse changes” in the economy, companies are to describe it as “evolving.” The Orwellian wordplay would be comically Communist if it didn’t bespeak a government-wide campaign to limit access to material economic information.

That’s also how to read Beijing’s decision to stop publishing the youth unemployment rate while it does what the government calls “further optimization” and research on the statistic. China’s official youth unemployment rate has doubled since 2019 to 21.3% amid President Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid policy and regulatory crackdown on its tech industry and others that threaten the Communist Party’s political control.

China’s major tech companies have shed more than $1 trillion in market value and laid off hundreds of thousands of workers over the past two years. For years the government boosted favored industries like real estate and electric vehicles, but these are now deflating. Several hundred EV startups have gone bust in the past few years.

Many young, highly educated Chinese who can’t find jobs in their chosen fields have dropped out of the labor force, which they describe as “lying flat.” One Peking University economist estimated that youth unemployment would have hit 46.5% this spring if the millions of workers who have stopped looking for work had been counted.

The government is telling college graduates to settle for lower-paying, blue-collar jobs. “The more ambitious you are, the more down to earth you need to be,” the Communist Party’s People’s Daily said last month. The censorship of unemployment data is aimed at preserving social stability amid a growing class of educated, disillusioned and restless young people who could become a source of political unrest.

But the price of this lack of transparency is less confidence in Chinese financial markets. Especially in times of economic weakness, a lack of transparency can feed financial panics. The government is trying to attract more foreign investment, but it’s giving investors another reason to run away.

— Wall Street Journal

he had lived — consisted of two hymns, zero speeches or eulogies, and lasted 22 minutes.

Grant’s image, like Coolidge’s, was disfigured by his earliest historians — in Grant’s case mainly Southerners who sought to create the romantic fiction of the Lost Cause and needed villains for that narrative. For Coolidge, the detractors were New Deal writers eager to justify unprecedented expansions of central authority and disparage advocates of limited government and freedom of enterprise.

Time, as well as brilliant Grant biographers such as Ron Chernow and Jean Edward Smith,

have rectified many people’s views of the 18th president. Perhaps Amity Shlaes’s masterly 2013 biography, “Coolidge,” along with a new documentary film marking the centennial, will trigger a similar reevaluation of our 30th. Improbable as it is, given the dominant prejudices and cultural predilections of our time, America would benefit greatly from the arrival of another “great refrainer” on the national stage.

About the author: Mitch Daniels is a senior adviser to the Liberty Fund, president emeritus of Purdue University and a former governor of Indiana.

Gov. Kemp’s reality test

One myth that Democrats and the press continue to peddle about Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election is that it came close to succeeding. But as the latest indictment in Georgia shows, it never really had a chance.

The frantic, bumbling efforts of the alleged Trump conspirators were stymied at every turn—by Republican officeholders. Former Vice President Mike Pence refused to stop the counting of electoral votes. The scheme to have states choose alternative slates of electors in favor of Donald Trump in states won by Joe Biden failed miserably in every state.

In Georgia, the stalwarts included Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who were privately leaned on and publicly denounced by Mr. Trump.

On Tuesday after the new indictment, Mr. Kemp didn’t gloat but he did get to the heart of the political matter for Republicans: “The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen. For nearly three years now, anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward—under oath— and prove anything in a court of law. Our elections in Georgia are secure, accessible, and fair and will continue to be as

long as I am governor. The future of our country is at stake in 2024 and that must be our focus.”

Mr. Kemp will take abuse from the Trump chorus, but he’s right and deserves credit for saying it. Meanwhile on Tuesday, Mr. Trump promised he will soon have an “Irrefutable REPORT” proving he won in 2020. GOP voters may think the indictments against Mr. Trump are partisan. But if they want to lose again in 2024, they’ll dive down Mr. Trump’s 2020 rabbit hole instead of facing Mr. Kemp’s reality.

— Wall Street Journal

President Calvin Coolidge in front of the White House in Feb. 26, 1925. (LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION)

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. (ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/GETTY IMAGES/TNS)

slow response fueled America’s deadliest wildfire in a century

By RONG GONG-LIN II RICHARD WINTON

E. PETRI

blown to the southwest, acting like a fiery dagger to the heart of historic Lahaina, which has precious few escape routes.

“The ignition is probably in the worst possible spot,” said Neil Lareau, an assistant professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Nevada-Reno. It flared in densely packed neighborhoods, providing ample fuel.

Once the homes were torched, they acted like a flammable runway as embers followed the winds downhill to the shoreline.

“In many ways, you’re creating a carpet of fuel if you’re having hometo-home propagation of fire,” UC Merced climatologist John Abatzoglou said.

Maui County officials recognized the wildfire risks — but it appears little was done to prepare, records and interviews show.

In 2018, one of the most destructive fires in state history struck

that data urged atten tion to human-caused risks, such as aboveground power lines that can spark in windy conditions.

The Maui County Hazard Mitigation Plan warns of past windstorms, including a prior record in Maui of 83 mph. “Extreme wind is recognized as a regular occurrence in Maui County,” the report said. “All of Maui County is vulnerable to high windstorms due to the topography and movement of weather fronts through the area. During a time of extreme heat and high winds, the wildfire threat would significantly increase.”

A map of Maui in the hazard plan shows Lahaina in an area of high wildfire risk. In 2018, winds helped spread fires in the western part of the island — including in the Lahaina area — with gusts so strong that air support had to be grounded, accord-

book on Aug. 8, the day the blaze began, firefighters had roughly nine hours from when

the fire ignited until “an apparent flareup” that led to the destructive race toward downtown Lahaina.

Firefighters have not said what happened during that crucial span. Nor have officials explained why citywide evacuations weren’t ordered as soon as the first flames were reported in Lahaina, at 6:37 a.m., despite warnings days earlier about high fire weather danger.

Maui was suffering such severe fire weather conditions that firefighters noted, a “fire can be a mile or more from your house, but in a minute or two, it can be at your house.”

Green said Monday in a news conference that he wished officials could go back in time and have the island’s sirens sound a warning about the fire. But, he added, “typically, when sirens go off, they’re for tsunami warnings. ... They’re because we’re worried a large storm is going to come, and people historically would immediately go upcountry.”

Green said one complicating factor of warning residents was that “multiple fires” were occurring on Maui, not only the Lahaina fire.

IN CALIFORNIA, after numerous deadly fire seasons, officials have

shed their reluctance to issue widespread evacuation notices amid fire weather warning signs. In 2020, Sonoma County became a model of emergency response, preparing for evacuations even before a wildfire was reported.

The Lahaina fire moved so swiftly, there aren’t many who survived. “We’re not treating more first-, second-, third-degree burns, because the fire was so perilous that it took lives — it didn’t leave survivors,” Green said in an interview with CBS News.

The blaze shares many similarities with the Oakland-Berkeley hills fire of 1991, which killed 25 people and is California’s third deadliest in modern times. The fire occurred next to a hilly wildland area, northeast of heavily populated neighborhoods with limited exit routes; firefighters thought they had it under control nearly a day before a flareup erupted.

In the 1991 blaze, fire crews were so confident they had resolved the initial fire that they left overnight. When they returned in the morn-

ing — concerned about the worst fire weather in years — they found a few hot spots, but by mid-morning, again decided they were under control. Some of the fire engines were to be sent away minutes before hot spots flared and the flames spun out of control, whipped by Diablo winds, the local name for Santa Ana winds, according to a government report by the U.S. Fire Administration.

That report questioned why an evacuation hadn’t been ordered earlier, especially given that fire weather conditions were present. The Fire Administration suggested that “most fire codes would have required an area with these fire characteristics to be evacuated. It was compared to a neighborhood with spilled gasoline flowing in the gutters.”

“Fire departments should always anticipate ‘worst case’ scenarios and develop plans and procedures to address those situations,” the report said.

Hawaii’s attorney general has launched an investigation into the overall response to Maui’s wildfire.

and ALEXANDRA

Buildings still smolder days after a wildfire gutted Lahaina on Friday in Maui, Hawaii. LOS ANGELES TIMES/ROBERT GAUTHIER/TNS

Maui

Kaupo Lahaina

Sports Daily B

Chiefs dealing with injury bug at camp

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP)

— The Kansas City Chiefs decided to place tight end Jody Fortson on season-ending injured reserve on Tuesday, then proceeded to lose to injuries three wide receivers who were competing for a job when they returned to practice following their preseason opener.

The Chiefs have had high hopes that Fortson, a former college wide receiver, could develop into a pass-catching tight end to pair with Travis Kelce. But the perennial training camp star has been slowed by injuries when the regular season rolls around, missing most of the 2021 season with a torn Achilles tendon and time last year with elbow and quad injuries.

He has appeared in 19 games with 14 catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns over the past two years.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs lost wide receivers Nikko Remigio to a dislocated shoulder, Justyn Ross to knee and hamstring troubles and Ihmir Smith-Marsette to a groin injury as they began their final week of camp at Missouri Western State University.

Remigio, an undersized undrafted free agent out of Fresno State, had been perhaps the biggest surprise of camp, and his solid performance in Sunday’s preseason loss in New Orleans might have given him a boost toward sticking around — if not on the 53-man roster, then at least on the practice squad, where he could continue to devel-

See CHIEFS | Page B3

Thursday, August 17, 2023

Red Devils primed for another run

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

Allen Community College

cross country head coach Vince DeGrado believes this year’s Red Devil squad has what it takes to reach the national championship.

The Red Devils have been in a lull the past two years, following a decorated 2020 campaign where they finished as the NJCAA Division II National runner-up, the highest finish for any sports program at Allen.

“Trying to get them to understand that consistently doing things correctly, not expecting to be successful, and then adding those up gives you a better chance of being successful,” DeGrado said. “Just because you do all the right things doesn’t mean you’re going to win.”

Allen has eight men and two women on the team.

Expected to lead the pack are returners Prince Ntozo, Ethan Ramos and Nathan Canterberry. Ntozo hails from Kansas City while Ramos comes from Texas and Canterberry is from Florida.

DeGrado believes in a culture where his runners are aiming for conference, regional and national championship titles as well as keep-

ing a focus on improving.

“I’m not going to sacrifice our training and progression for a conference championship,” said DeGrado. “It’s different from other sports in that the end goal is a trophy and a national championship, a conference championship, but the training never really stops.

“It’s not necessarily about winning. I want to see us get better,” said DeGrado.

The longtime coach is focused on bringing an abundance of runners back to the school and creating another powerhouse program.

“This time next year the plan is to have 30-35 runners, male and female, with a half mile of space for the track side,” said DeGrado. “It’s the first time in 19 years I actually have a vision and I’m excited I get to do it.”

DEGRADO has been with Allen for 15 years.

DeGrado has been named Cross Country Coach of the Year by the NJCAA 14 times. DeGrado credits his wife, Martha, for her motivation and enthusiasm for his success.

“There have been some championships in my career and she’s (Martha) earned them more than anyone,” DeGrado said. “She got me to stop focusing on things I can’t control and to figure out what’s in front of me. It’s helped me step back and look at things differently.”

In 2013, DeGrado led Allen to its first conference championship since 1986. Since

then, DeGrado has helped lead the Red Devils to eight straight Jayhawk East Conference titles and were threetime defending Region 6 champions at one point as well.

DeGrado also coached at Cowley Community College from 2008 to 2011. He holds a number of accomplishments at both schools.

In his time at Cowley, DeGrado helped the Tigers to eight men’s Jayhawk Conference titles, one Region 6 men’s Outdoor Championship title and a relay national championship in the 4x800-meter relay. He’s also coached over 100 All-American athletes.

“One of my biggest messages to the kids is not getting instant gratification, Don’t get mad at the results you didn’t earn,” said DeGrado. “Don’t get mad at the results because you didn’t put anything in. You might put in all the work and you’re still not the best, that’s OK.”

Allen begins its season at the Augustana Midwest Twilight in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Friday, Sept. 2 at 10 a.m.

USA Basketball’s coaching staff is star-studded at World Cup

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The players and coaches on USA Basketball’s roster for the World Cup that starts next week are in possession of a combined 16 NBA championship rings.

The breakdown of those rings: Coaches 15, Players 1.

Make no mistake, there are some rising star players on this U.S. roster: Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Brandon Ingram and Jaren Jackson Jr. have already been All-Stars, Jalen Brunson should be one soon, Jackson Jr. is the reigning NBA defensive player of the year and Paolo Banchero is the NBA rookie of the year.

But the biggest names in terms of star power might be the guys who’ll wear polo shirts, not jerseys. The U.S. assembled an All-Star coaching staff for this tournament, with Golden State’s Steve

Kerr leading a group that has the Los Angeles Clippers’ Tyronn Lue, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and Gonzaga’s Mark Few as his assistants.

“It’s kind of cool to step away from our regular teams and come to another team setting where we all have to figure it out on the fly and

figure it out fast,” said U.S. forward Bobby Portis, who won a championship with Milwaukee in 2021. “Steve Kerr does a great job of putting us in position to be our best and use our strengths to the best of our ability. I love everything he does, and we have a hell of a coaching staff

“Mark Few, obviously he’s done a hell of a job at Gonzaga. Tyronn Lue, a hell of an NBA player and NBA coach. And then Erik Spoelstra, I think his resume kind of speaks for itself.”

Kerr is a nine-time NBA champion; five as a player, four as a coach with the Warriors. Spoelstra has three rings, two as a head coach with the Heat. Lue has three rings; two as a player, one as Cleveland’s coach. Few’s worst season in 24 years at Gonzaga was a 23-11 year in 2006-07, and he’s guided the

Zags to 14 top-10 finishes in the AP Top 25 poll.

There are several coaches that have NBA or North American ties that are leading teams in the tournament. It’s an impressive group, though none have the credentials of those on the U.S. staff — who should end up in the Basketball Hall of Fame. But first, they’ll chase gold at the World Cup, with the U.S. set to play all its games in the Philippines while other early games also take place in Japan and Indonesia.

“I bet if you asked Erik and Ty and Mark why we’re doing this, they’d say something similar. We love what we do,” Kerr said. “We’re so lucky to do what we do. This is a unique and different experience than coaching in the NBA. For me, I didn’t want to one day say ‘I could

See TEAM USA | Page B3

Allen cross country head coach Vince DeGrado patrols the home course. COURTESY PHOTO

Allen Community College runners in 2021 included Elka Billings (26), who was named an NJCAA female cross country athlete of the week. Behind Billings were Allen’s Rachel Bycroft and McKenna Esfeld. PHOTO BY: VINCE DEGRADO

United States head coach Steve Kerr, fourth from left, speaks with assistant coach Erik Spoelstra, third from left, during the first half of an exhibition basketball game against Puerto Rico, Monday, Aug. 7. JOHN LOCHER/AP PHOTO

NELSON

RICK NELSON 620-365-9520

$33,280 - $37,720

Instructor

Biology, Plumbing and Accounting

For a detailed description of all open positions and instructions for submitting your application, visit our website at www.neosho.edu/Careers.aspx

NCCC is an EOE/AA employer.

Sonic

America

Public notices help expose:

• fraud in government!

• dishonest businesses!

?

• unfair competitive practices!

Find out about these and much more in your local newspaper. Participate in Democracy.

Read your Public No ces.

Rescuers recover 33 bodies from Myanmar jade mine

BANGKOK (AP) —

The bodies of 33 people have been recovered from a landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar and rescuers are searching for at least three people believed to be missing, a rescue official said Wednesday.

In the landslide on Sunday in Hpakant, the center of the world's largest and most lucrative jade mining district, earth and debris from several mines slid about 1,000 feet down a cliff into a lake below, carrying more than 35 miners with it.

About 150 rescuers using five small boats have recovered the bodies from the muddy lake in Manna village in Hpakant, a remote mountainous town in Kachin state about 600 miles north of Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, the leader of a local rescue team said. He said at least three people were feared missing. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared arrest by the military-installed government. The corpses were covered with green plastic

sheets and placed in a row on the bank of the lake as relatives came to carry them away for cremation. All of the victims were men.

A miner who lost two relatives said local authorities provided about 700,000 kyats ($330) per victim as a contribution toward the cost of funerals.

Landslides occur several times a year in Hpakant's jade mines.

In July 2020, at least 162 people died in a landslide in the same area, and 113 were killed in a November 2015 accident.

Most victims are independent miners who settle near giant mounds of discarded earth excavated by heavy machinery used by mining companies.

They scavenge for bits of jade and usually work and live in abandoned mining pits at the base of the mounds, which become particularly unstable during the rainy season.

Most scavengers are unregistered migrants from other areas, making it hard to determine exactly how many people are missing after such accidents.

Messi scores again; Inter Miami tops Philadelphia 4-1

CHESTER, Pa. (AP)

— Lionel Messi keeps scoring goals, and Inter Miami keeps winning games.

Messi ripped a shot from 30 yards past three Philadelphia defenders in the 20th minute that made fans who paid a record price for soccer tickets in the Philly area rejoice, and Inter Miami beat the Union 4-1 in a Leagues Cup semifinal on Tuesday night.

Major League Soccer is Messi’s league now.

Messi exchanged jerseys with fellow Argentinian and Union forward Julián Carranza, then skipped out on the traditional postgame interview and instead saved his message for his 483 million Instagram followers.

“We worked our way to the finals and we made it!!! We’re still on the last step,” he wrote.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner scored his ninth goal in six matches with his new team in front of a crowd that pushed 20,000 fans, with ticket prices soaring past $1,000 on the secondary market.

There were few complaints.

Certainly not from three Union season-ticket holders who ditched the home team’s garb for a night and traded it for Messi gear. Or fans that lined up for Messi jerseys — authenticity not guar-

anteed — and the ones hungry at a food truck for Messi fries.

And certainly not from the Union, who, of course wanted to win, but otherwise stuffed the coffers and received more worldwide attention on one night than in any game they’ve played in their history.

Fans erupted when the 36-year-old Messi was introduced and went wild again when he scored past diving goalkeeper Andre Blake. Messi ran with his arms extended and then punched his fist in the air as he leapt in celebration.

The rest was almost incidental.

Jordi Alba and Josef Martinez also scored in the first half for Miami,

and David Ruiz scored in the second. Miami will play in the Leagues Cup championship game Saturday against Nashville, which beat Mexican club Monterrey 2-0 later Tuesday night.

Alejandro Bedoya scored in the second half for Philadelphia.

“They’re only going to get better. That Miami team is gonna go,” Union coach Jim Curtin said. “Their ownership is going to spend like crazy. They’re going to make them the best team in the league. They might already be the best team in the league. That’s coming and I don’t think anything’s stopping them.”

Union principal owner Jay Sugarman

told The Associated Press there was no real consideration given to moving the game from Subaru Park to Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Eagles. While the football stadium would have packed in another 40,000-plus fans, Sugarman said told him the game would stay put.

Philly native and Hall of Fame boxer Bernard Hopkins struck the 6-foot drum that welcomed the team to the field and Sixers center and NBA MVP Joel Embiid, who played soccer as a child in Cameroon, showed interest in the game.

“Make sure y’all show love to the (goat) in our city tonight but let’s first get this dub #DOOP

Team USA: Coaches make difference at World Cup

Continued from B1

have done that and said no.’ This is six weeks of my offseason. Maybe right now that sounds like a lot, but years from now, that six weeks is going to seem like nothing. ... “We’ll remember this for the rest of our lives.”

Kerr is enormously popular, given his role on the Chicago title teams as a player and the following the Warriors have. Spoelstra might have more fans than anyone in the Philippines; the Heat are a huge brand there and his mother hails from that country. Lue has the panache that comes from playing with or coaching some of the biggest names in basketball: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Jason Kidd, Kawhi Leonard among them. All have different backgrounds, different styles, and it works.

“It’s kind of funny,” Lue said. “You have all these different coaches and the terminology is so different. We might call a double drag ‘77’ or ‘delay,’ Steve calls it ‘open,’ Mark calls it ‘zoom’ … it’s all the same action. We just find ourselves laughing more times than not, but when guys are talking, guys are really listening. There’s a lot of respect around that room.”

The players are the on-court stars. The coaches might be the rock stars. And there are far more people involved than just Kerr and his assistants. Jeff Van Gundy is helping run the scouting, the highly regarded Chip Engelland is with the team to aid with shooting, a Basketball Hall of Famer in Grant Hill is the managing director and longtime USA Basketball executive Sean Ford — who past

U.S. coaches like Mike Krzyzewski and Gregg Popovich still rave about — might know as much about the FIBA game as anyone.

“One of the best things about USA Basketball, and it’s true whether you’re a player or whether you’re a staff member, is it’s about the program,” Spoelstra said. “And it’s about sacrificing, it’s about being a part of it and doing whatever we need to do collectively to come back with gold. I’ve admired Steve for a long time, and how he conducts himself and his sustained success.

I’ve really admired Ty Lue and his journey and the success that he’s had and how he operates. And Mark and I go way back … two guys from Oregon, and it’s been great to reconnect.”

It just sort of happened that this team doesn’t have any War-

riors, Heat or Clippers players on it. The 12 players come from 10 NBA teams, and while everyone knows each other from being on opposite sides of the court during the season these weeks together give the players the chance to learn how other coaches think – and vice versa.

For the next month or so, it’s one team with one goal, and the coaches are setting that tone.

“I just love being around great minds,” said Haliburton, Indiana’s standout guard. “You can see guys’ wheels turning sometimes. I can look at Spo and Ty when we’re doing defensive stuff and it’s like I can see the inside of their brain just spinning. That’s so cool to me. I’ve had great games against all these coaches, but I want to earn their respect here too”

#Philly,” he wrote on social media.

Inter Miami already played in Chester before Messi had signed, leaving Union officials to study the Leagues Cup field like an NCAA Tournament bracket once it was announced.

“You try not to, but of course we were like, if we do this, and they do this,” Sugarman said, laughing. “We hope we’re playing in front of a worldwide audience tonight. It’s a chance for the Philadelphia Union to put on the best show we can against one of the best teams and best players.”

The Union fell well short of that standard.

“I think there is a little bit of, we were too excited, maybe

we showed a little too much respect,” Curtin said. “We got punished by a good team. We got humbled a bit.”

Led by the rabid supporters group called “Sons of Ben,” the Messi game sold out in less than 10 minutes and the price exploded this week on the secondary market. River End seats that normally go for $43 spiked to more than a grand, and the average price of $556 was the highest in Union history. An hour or so before the game, tickets in the lower level were still going for $450 and up.

“People love Messi,” Inter Miami defender Sergii Kryvtsov said. All around the world and especially Tuesday outside the stadium,

Chiefs: Injured in camp

Continued from B1

op. “He’s been killing it,” said fellow wide receiver Rashee Rice, the Chiefs’ second-round draft pick out of SMU. “He’s going to show everybody why he should have been drafted.”

Remigio was hurt when he landed on his shoulder while making a spectacular catch down the sideline. He spent several minutes on the field, then more time in the trainers’ tent, before he got into a cart and was driven to the locker rooms.

It wasn’t clear when Ross and Smith-Marsette were hurt, though neither of their injuries appeared to be serious.

If Remigio has been the surprise of camp, Ross has been the feel-good story. He missed an entire season at Clemson to have a procedure on a potentially career-ending spinal condition, missed time later in his college career to a foot injury, then missed all of last season after undergoing a follow-up surgery to address the foot problem.

So when Ross caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Shane Buechele against the Saints, it meant far more to him than just another late-game TD catch in an otherwise meaningless first presea-

son game.

“That’s the good part of the story,”

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said with a smirk, “and he came out healthy. That’s a positive thing.”

The Chiefs had been relatively healthy throughout training camp. Their biggest losses have been wide receiver Kadarius Toney, who had knee surgery in late July but could be back early in the season, and L’Jarius Sneed, who has been managing swelling in his knee but who Reid has said could be ready for the opener against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 7.

NOTES: When asked whether there was any update on DT Chris Jones, whose holdout over a new contract has stretched past the first preseason game, Reid replied: “No.” ... CB Nic Jones was seeing a specialist Tuesday to treat a fractured hand. FS Mike Edwards also missed practice with some swelling in his ankle. ... The Chiefs waived CB Anthony Witherstone. They signed LB Olakunle Fatukasi and CB Duron Lowe to fill his and Fortson’s roster spots. ... WR Richie James did more work with the first-team offense Tuesday. The special teams ace had two catches for 44 yards and a touchdown against the Saints.

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) celebrates after scoring a goal against Charlotte FC. MATIAS J. OCNER/MIAMI HERALD/TNS

See MESSI | Page B4

‘Blind Side’ star Oher sues the Tuohy family

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

(AP) — Michael Oher, the former NFL tackle known for being the inspiration for the movie “The Blind Side,” filed a petition Monday in a Tennessee probate court accusing Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of lying to him by having him sign papers making them his conservators rather than his adoptive parents nearly two decades ago.

In the petition filed Monday in Shelby County Probate Court, Oher asks for the conservatorship to be terminated along with asking for a full accounting of the money earned off the use of his name and story. He also asks to be paid what he is due along with interest.

He accuses the Tuohys of enriching themselves at his expense by continuing to “falsely and publicly” represent themselves as his adoptive parents “to the date of the filing of this petition.”

“Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he learned that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy family, in fact provided him no familial relationship with the Tuohys,” according to the petition.

Oher, who has never been a fan of the movie about his life, also asks in the petition that the Tuohys be sanctioned and required to pay both compensatory and punitive damages determined by the court.

Steve Farese, a lawyer for the Tuohys, told The Associated Press they will file an answer to the allegations in court but declined to comment further. He was among three attorneys served on behalf of the Tuohys on Monday.

Leigh Anne Tuohy did not immediately respond to an email sent via her personal website.Her husband told The Daily Memphian the conservatorship was done to satisfy the NCAA as Oher considered Tuohy’s alma ma-

ter Mississippi for college.

Sean Tuohy said he and his wife would end the conservatorship if that’s what Oher wants.

“We’re devastated,” Tuohy said. “It’s upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children. But we’re going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16.”

The movie was nominated for an Oscar, and Sandra Bullock won the Academy Award for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy.

Oher accuses the Tuohys of never taking legal action to assume custody from the Tennessee Department of Human Services before he turned 18. The conservatorship paperwork was filed months after Oher turned 18 in May 2004.

He moved in with the Tuohys just before his senior year of high school and says he was told to call them “Mom” and “Dad.” Oher says in the petition he was encouraged to call the attorney who filed the conservatorship paperwork “Aunt Debbie” Branan.

Oher also alleges the Tuohys had him sign paperwork almost immediately after he moved in as part of the adoption process. Oher says he was “falsely advised” that it would be called a conservatorship because he was already 18 but the intent was adoption.

“At no point did the Tuohys inform Michael that they would have ultimate control of all his contracts, and as a result Michael did not understand that if the Conservatorship was granted, he was signing away his right to contract for himself,” according to the petition.

A BOOK based on Oher’s life was released in September 2006. The author, Michael Lewis, was described in the petition as a childhood friend of Sean Tuohy’s. The petition alleges Oher’s conservators began contract negotiations for movie rights.

The petition alleges

a deal was reached to pay the Tuohys, plus children Sean Jr. and Collins, $225,000 plus 2.5% of future defined net proceeds hinging on Oher’s signature. A contract titled “Life Story Rights Agreement” was “purportedly signed by Michael Oher” and dated April 20, 2007, according to the petition.

The petition says Oher believes the signature is similar to his own but that he “at no time ever willingly or knowingly signed this document and that nobody ever presented this contract to him with any explanation that he was signing such a document.”

In the petition, Oher asks for a full accounting of his assets and how they were used considering his life story produced millions of dollars and he received nothing for the rights to something that would not have existed without him.

Oher was the 23rd overall pick in the 2009 draft, and spent his first five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. He played eight NFL seasons, including 2014 when he started 11 games for the Tennessee Titans.

He started 110 games and won a Super Bowl with the Ravens. He also finished second in the voting to Percy Harvin of Minnesota for The Associated Press NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Oher, 37, last played in 2016. He was released in 2017 by Carolina.

Nearly two years ago, supporters cheered when Britney Spears was freed from her conservatorship. The ruling came after Spears publicly demanded the end of the arrangement, which had prevented her from making her own medical, financial and personal decisions since 2008.

Spears’ high-profile battle put a spotlight on efforts that advocates across the United States have launched raising questions that such strict controls result in more harm than protection.

Messi: Scores yet again

Continued from B3

where it was Messi Mania for the superstar, who led Argentina to the World Cup title last year and has essentially become a one-man 1992 Dream Team.

Angel Pagan and her family, of Vineland, New Jersey, all wore Messi shirts — even though they are Union season-ticket holders. They love Messi so much, their youngest son is named Lionel in his honor. She upgraded her tickets for the game to sit closer to the field and said only they were “very, very expensive.”

“We didn’t care what it cost,” she said. “It’s Messi.”

Under Curtin, in his 10th season, the Union blossomed into one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference and

Cuba in Little League World Series for first time

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — Little League has been hosting its World Series in Williamsport since 1947, yet it will be welcoming a new guest when the tournament starts Wednesday — Cuba.

Bayamo Little League beat Habana del Este Little League 6-2 to become the first Cuban team to qualify for the tournament back in March.

And the club from Bayamo sure is happy to have made it. Walking into a Little League-sponsored picnic Monday at a college across the Susquehanna River, the Cubans entered with a player draped in the Cuban flag, the only team to carry one to the event. They play their first game Wednesday against Japan.

“We are very proud to be here representing Cuba,” manager Vladimir Vargas said through a translator. “We have many teams that want to be here, and we are the ones. It is an awesome thing for us.”

It hasn’t been an easy feat to make it to Williamsport both on and off the field for the Cubans.

Little League expanded from 16 teams to 20 teams in 2022, part of which meant adding Puerto Rico, Panama and Cuba in a rotation where each region gets an automatic berth for a team in the tournament two out of every three years. In the third year, they compete to make the LLWS in their larger region. This year, the top Cuban team

clinched their first Supporters’ Shield trophy — awarded to the MLS team with the best regular-season record — in 2020. A season ago, the Union fell to LAFC in the MLS Cup.

NBA superstar Kevin Durant, now with the Phoenix Suns, thought enough of the Union’s potential to buy a stake in the team.

The Union’s path — and all other teams’ — to an MLS championship suddenly seems complicated by Messi’s arrival.

“This is a fantastic league with a growing fanbase, but you always need that match to really light it,” Sugarman said. “Messi is the match.”

was a lock to make the tournament.

While Cold War tensions kept Cuba out of the LLWS for decades, when Little League officials reached out more recently, the Cubans responded by bringing about 700 teams under the banner of Little League.

Still, even with Havana and Miami just 228 miles apart, this is the first time the Cuban players and coaches have set foot on U.S. soil.

“We are very proud to be here,” Cuba’s team captain, Edgar Torrez, said through a translator. “This is a good experience for us. The best moment so far was just seeing the field that we are going to get to play on.”

The Cubans don’t have an easy task in their first appearance, taking on Japan, which was the last international team to win it all in 2017. The Japanese also have won the tournament five times since 2010, about the closest thing to a dynasty the LLWS has had in that time.

“We have seen a couple videos of their games, but Japan is always a tough team,” Vargas said. “We are going to play the way we did in Cuba — to win.”

On the field, Bayamo Little League finished its national tournament run with a record of 8-2, losing the first game of the best-of-three series in the second round and in the championship.

Bayamo Little League downed teams with their bats, scor-

ing at least five runs in each of the three games in the championship series.

The Japanese squad the Cubans are playing isn’t the same Tokyo-based team to win it all in 2017, but it’ll be no easy match as Musashi Fuchu Little League went undefeated in its region.

Japan manager Toyo Hirooka has been to the Little League World Series before. He visited 10 years ago to cheer on his son, who was on the Japan team in 2013. That team was one of three Japanese clubs in the span of four years to win it all. It’s Hirooka’s first time back to the United States since.

“We just want to win here,” Hirooka said through a translator. “The same as before.”

The winner of the Cuba-Japan game moves on to face Mexico, which has an opening-round bye. The loser drops into the elimination bracket. Mexico made it to the semifinals on the international side of the bracket last year but was beaten by Curacao, which in turn lost 13-3 to Hawaii in the final.

This year, that champion from Honolulu didn’t make it to Pennsylvania after it was knocked off by Northern California, and then Southern California took the West Region beating Northern California, 3-1. The Cubans, meanwhile, will get some added motivation by

See CUBA | Page B6

The Cuba Region champion Little League team from Bayamo, Cuba in downtown Williamsport, Pa. GENE J. PUSKAR/AP PHOTO

by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

by Mort Walker

by Chris Browne

by Young and Drake

by Patrick McDonell

by Tom Armstrong

by Chance Browne

Failed marijuana tests nearly end slugger Singleton’s career

HOUSTON (AP) —

In 2018, Jon Singleton requested his release from the Houston Astros after being suspended 100 games following a third failed marijuana test while in the minors, choosing to walk away from baseball rather than face the suspension and everything that came with it.

“I just didn’t want to play baseball anymore,” he told The Associated Press earlier this month. “I knew I had to serve 100 games, and serving 100 games with this organization and the position I was in was not going to be a good thing for me. It was going to take me down a dark road. So, at that point, I just wanted to be done with baseball and kind of get away from everything.”

A year later, marijuana was removed from MLB’s banned substances list. It would be a couple more years before the left-handed slugger returned to organized baseball in the Mexican League.

He returned to the majors for the first time since 2015 this season, first with Milwaukee and now back with the Astros. The former top prospect, now 31, wonders what his career could have been if marijuana — currently legal in 23 states — was taken off the banned substances list sooner.

“I definitely think the way things are handled now, my career would have definitely been a lot different,” he said. “From the way the players see things, the way staff sees things, the way it’s even handled in the commissioner’s office, my career definitely would have been a lot different.”

He’s looking to find success in the majors for the first time this season and is getting extended playing time at first base with José Abreu out with an injury. Singleton starred for the Astros in his first home game Friday night with two homers and a career-high five RBIs. His career to this point has been noteworthy mostly because of his repeated marijuana suspensions.

His first positive test came in June 2012 and the second in December of that year. He was suspended 50 games for each of those and spent a month in a rehabilitation center after the second one.

Before the 2014 season, he shared his struggles with marijuana in a candid interview with the AP.

“At this point it’s pretty evident to me that I’m

a drug addict,” he said then. “I don’t openly tell everyone that, but it’s pretty apparent to myself. I know that I enjoy smoking weed, I enjoy being high and I can’t block that out of my mind that I enjoy that.”

Despite his suspensions, the Astros signed him to a $10 million, five-year contract that summer just before he made his major league debut June 3. At that time, major league players were not tested for marijuana.

He was unable to replicate his minor league success in the majors and played in just 114 games for the Astros in 2014 and 2015. He was soon back in the minors — and subject to marijuana testing again.

He spent 2016 in Triple-A and was in Double-A the entire 2017 season before being slapped with his last suspension.

The stigma of his positive tests dogged him for years, and he said many made assumptions about him because of them.

“People thought I was a bad person. I had bad character,” he said. “People didn’t think I deserved the success I had, the money that I had. I was definitely vilified.”

Though plenty of others were suspended for positive drug tests, Singleton felt like the poster child for baseball’s ban on minor league marijuana use.

“I was definitely made an example of,” he said. “But I’m just glad that things have changed for the better now.”

The suspensions took a toll on his mental health. At the time of his last one, Singleton said he simply “wasn’t in a good spot.” He used the time away from baseball to work on himself and focus on being a good father to his young daughter.

Cuba: At LLWS

Continued from B4

even getting to play in front of their families in South Williamsport.

“I am even going to be playing better,” Edgar said. “I am happy for my family.”

NO MORE BUNK

BEDS Little League said it’s made a change to the sleeping arrangements this year after a player was injured in a fall from the top bunk of one of the beds in 2022.

“There were a lot of things I did, from going to therapy, to consistently working out and changing my diet,” he said. “There’s a lot of different things I did in life that contributed to me becoming a different person.”

SINGLETON said the biggest thing that helped him during that stretch was therapy.

“It helped me work

through a lot,” he said. “It helped me work through anxiety, it helped me work through depression, helped me work through substance abuse.”

Back then, Singleton felt like people wouldn’t even consider the possible benefits of marijuana. “I think a lot of that is people were so close-minded when it comes to things like

that,” he said. “So, they were not even open to the idea of this being something that can help someone. But everyone has their own opinions. Everyone’s life is affected differently by everything. So, it’s something I can’t really be mad at.”

He believes attitudes on the subject have shifted in the last few years amid a wave of states decriminalizing and legalizing marijuana.

“I definitely get the vibe from the players to the coaching staff that this is not really an issue that anyone’s worried about,” he said. “They’ve all moved forward from it.”

Astros manager Dusty Baker told the AP that while he doesn’t know Singleton well yet, he’s not at all concerned about his past. He said Rick Sweet, who manages Milwaukee’s Triple-A team, called him after Singleton signed with the Astros to say that “he was one of the best guys that he ever had in his life.”

“I’m not here to judge anybody on past

crimes that are no longer crimes, because we could all be judged on past crimes,” Baker said. “But who are we to judge each other?”

Baker said he had a talk with Singleton when he arrived in Houston but declined to give details of the interaction. He said everyone has a past and that he deals with players based on his interactions with them and nothing else.

“I tell everybody when they come to my team, everybody comes with a jacket, which is a reputation,” Baker said. “And it’s up to you to enhance that jacket or delete the jacket and I’m willing to give you another shot.”

And while Singleton said marijuana is no longer a big part of his life and that he only uses it “sparingly” now, he’s glad that players aren’t penalized for it anymore.

“I think it helps a lot of people, a lot of people can handle the daily stress better, whether it’s with CBD or marijuana,” he said. “So, I think it helps a lot.”

Meet Kevin!

Kevin is a 6-year-old cat who we named after a character from the Movie UP. He is litterbox trained and good with kids, cats, and dogs; he is very playful and a ectionate. Kevin's adoption fee is $50 which includes his neuter, up-to-date shots, deworming, ea treatment, nail trim and a microchip.

Meet Hansel!

Hansel is a loving one-and-a-half-year-old Husky mix. He is housebroken and good with kids and dogs but may chase cats. Hansel enjoys being active and is looking for a family who loves to run, hike, and occasionally just relax. Hansel's adoption fee is $100 which includes his neuter, up-to-date shots, deworming, ea treatment, bath, nail trim and a microchip.

For more information about Kevin and Hansel, contact: adoptions@acarf.org • acarf.org/adoptables • 620-496-3647

Now there will be single, one-level beds for the players to sleep on, removing the bunk beds completely from the dormitories on the South Williamsport campus where the teams stay. Two teams, one from the United States and one from the international bracket, are generally paired in each dormitory so the players get to meet kids from another nation.

The Houston Astros’ Jon Singleton reacts to striking out in the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Thursday, June 19, 2014. WILL VRAGOVICH/TAMPA BAY TIMES/MCT