LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Hawaii officials worked painstakingly to identify the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/live-updates-maui-fire-hawaii-wildfire-162a9fcdefe648d6bcd6557af70d894f">99 people confirmed killed</a>&nbsp;in wildfires that ravaged Maui and expected to release the first names Tuesday, even as teams intensified the search for more dead in neighborhoods reduced to ash.

A week after a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lahaina-maui-hawaii-wildfires-deaths-survivors-8a8bf7e4257c1cedaa161e4002b3e7fd">blaze tore through historic Lahaina</a>, many who survived have started moving into hundreds of hotel rooms set aside for displaced locals while&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/maui-wildfires-donation-explainer-c06fb5fba22f3878875a26ff6f15564a">donations</a>&nbsp;of food, ice, water and other essentials have poured in.

Crews using cadaver dogs have scoured about 25% of the search area, the police chief said Monday. Gov. Josh Green asked for patience and space to search properly as authorities became overwhelmed with requests to visit&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/ec6e573ffb19e9fed9a8123878a09a5e">the burn area</a>.

“For those people who have walked into Lahaina because they really wanted to see, know that they’re very likely walking on iwi,” he said at a news conference on Maui, using the Hawaiian word for “bones.”

Just three bodies have been identified so far and officials will start releasing names on Tuesday, according to Maui Police Chief John Pelletier, who renewed an appeal for families&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfire-victims-maui-lahaina-67cbaaed21545c1af0f6ee7c582322e3">with missing relatives</a>&nbsp;to provide DNA samples.

Green warned that scores more bodies could be found. The wildfires, some of which have not yet been fully contained, are already the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/maui-deadliest-fires-us-history-507273968474a03bec332f42d10a018b">deadliest in the U.S.</a>&nbsp;in more than a century. Their cause was under investigation.

When asked Tuesday morning by Hawaii News Now if children are among the missing, Green said, “tragically, yes ... When the bodies are smaller, we know it's a child.”

He added that some of the sites being searched “are too much to share or see from just a human perspective.”

Another complicating factor, Green said, is that stormy weather is forecast for the weekend, prompting discussions on how to handle high winds. Officials are mulling whether to “preemptively power down or not for a short period of time, because right now all of the infrastructure is weaker.”

The local power utility&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfires-maui-electricity-power-utilities-c46a106db3c5019ac835ddcb01fde25f">has already faced criticism</a>&nbsp;for not shutting off power as strong winds buffeted a parched area under high risk for fire. It’s not clear whether the utility’s equipment played any role in igniting the flames.

Hawaiian Electric Co. Inc. President and CEO Shelee Kimura said many factors go into a decision to cut power, including the impact on people who rely on specialized medical equipment and concerns that shutting off power in the fire area would have knocked out water pumps.

Green has said the flames on Maui raced as fast as a mile (1.6 kilometers) every minute in one area, fueled by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfires-climate-change-92c0930be7c28ec9ac71392a83c87582">dry grass</a>&nbsp;and propelled by strong winds from a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfire-maui-dora-winds-ec23c16abfbeb6ba689f1a98263720db">passing hurricane</a>.

And he was conflicted about the anticipated storm.

“I want the rain, ironically, but that’s why we’re racing right now to do all the recovery that we can, because winds or heavy rain in that disaster setting, which it’s showing right now, it will make it even harder to get the final determination of who we lost,” Green said.

Authorities have paused a system that had allowed Lahaina residents and others to visit devastated areas with police permits. Kevin Eliason said when he was turned away, the line of cars waiting to get a permit was at least 3 miles (5 kilometers) long.

“It’s a joke,” Eliason said. “It’s just crazy. They didn’t expect, probably, tens of thousands of people to show up there.”

The blaze that swept into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfire-hawaii-lahaina-historic-kindom-capital-396463f6eba6580bfc80d75538b0adf3">centuries-old Lahaina</a>&nbsp;last week destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000. That fire has been 85% contained, according to the county. Another blaze known as the Upcountry fire has been 65% contained.

Even where the fire has retreated, authorities have warned that toxic byproducts may remain, including in drinking water, after the flames&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfires-toxic-fumes-recovery-2a2e25c013c9fce39041718848028c3b">spewed poisonous fumes</a>. That has left many unable to return home.

The Red Cross said 575 evacuees were spread across five shelters on Monday, including the War Memorial Gymnasium in Wailuku. Green said thousands of people will need housing for at least 36 weeks. He said Tuesday that some 450 hotel rooms and 1,000 Airbnb rentals were becoming available.

“We want to get everyone out of all of the shelters by week's end,” he told Hawaii News Now.

President Joe Biden said Tuesday he and first lady Jill Biden will visit Hawaii “as soon as we can” to survey the damage. He said he doesn’t want his presence to interrupt recovery and cleanup efforts. During a stop in Milwaukee to highlight his economic agenda, Biden pledged that “every asset, every asset they need will be there for them.”

More than 3,000 people have registered for federal assistance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that number was expected to grow.

FEMA was providing $700 to displaced residents to cover the cost of food, water, first aid and medical supplies, in addition to qualifying coverage for the loss of homes and personal property.

The Biden administration was seeking $12 billion more for the government’s disaster relief fund as part of its supplemental funding request to Congress.

Green said “leaders all across the board” have helped by donating over a million pounds (454,000 kilograms) of food as well as ice, water, diapers and baby formula. U.S. Marines, the Hawaii National Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard have all joined the aid and recovery efforts.

“When people are hurting, the community steps up and takes care of each other," Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said Monday.

As firefighters battled the flames last week, a flurry of court actions were lodged over water access.

Some state officials say there is not enough for firefighters in central Maui, and blame a recent ruling by an environmental judge. The ruling by Judge Jeffrey Crabtree did not directly affect water supplies to Lahaina, the attorney general's office said Monday.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692131080149.png" alt="&nbsp;More than 190 search and rescue team members are working diligently across Maui to ensure the safety of all affected survivors.-photo FEMA" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;More than 190 search and rescue team members are working diligently across Maui to ensure the safety of all affected survivors.-photo FEMA</figcaption>
 </figure>LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Hawaii officials worked painstakingly to identify the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/live-updates-maui-fire-hawaii-wildfire-162a9fcdefe648d6bcd6557af70d894f">99 people confirmed killed</a>&nbsp;in wildfires that ravaged Maui and expected to release the first names Tuesday, even as teams intensified the search for more dead in neighborhoods reduced to ash.A week after a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lahaina-maui-hawaii-wildfires-deaths-survivors-8a8bf7e4257c1cedaa161e4002b3e7fd">blaze tore through historic Lahaina</a>, many who survived have started moving into hundreds of hotel rooms set aside for displaced locals while&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/maui-wildfires-donation-explainer-c06fb5fba22f3878875a26ff6f15564a">donations</a>&nbsp;of food, ice, water and other essentials have poured in.Crews using cadaver dogs have scoured about 25% of the search area, the police chief said Monday. Gov. Josh Green asked for patience and space to search properly as authorities became overwhelmed with requests to visit&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/ec6e573ffb19e9fed9a8123878a09a5e">the burn area</a>.“For those people who have walked into Lahaina because they really wanted to see, know that they’re very likely walking on iwi,” he said at a news conference on Maui, using the Hawaiian word for “bones.”Just three bodies have been identified so far and officials will start releasing names on Tuesday, according to Maui Police Chief John Pelletier, who renewed an appeal for families&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfire-victims-maui-lahaina-67cbaaed21545c1af0f6ee7c582322e3">with missing relatives</a>&nbsp;to provide DNA samples.Green warned that scores more bodies could be found. The wildfires, some of which have not yet been fully contained, are already the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/maui-deadliest-fires-us-history-507273968474a03bec332f42d10a018b">deadliest in the U.S.</a>&nbsp;in more than a century. Their cause was under investigation.When asked Tuesday morning by Hawaii News Now if children are among the missing, Green said, “tragically, yes ... When the bodies are smaller, we know it's a child.”He added that some of the sites being searched “are too much to share or see from just a human perspective.”Another complicating factor, Green said, is that stormy weather is forecast for the weekend, prompting discussions on how to handle high winds. Officials are mulling whether to “preemptively power down or not for a short period of time, because right now all of the infrastructure is weaker.”The local power utility&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfires-maui-electricity-power-utilities-c46a106db3c5019ac835ddcb01fde25f">has already faced criticism</a>&nbsp;for not shutting off power as strong winds buffeted a parched area under high risk for fire. It’s not clear whether the utility’s equipment played any role in igniting the flames.Hawaiian Electric Co. Inc. President and CEO Shelee Kimura said many factors go into a decision to cut power, including the impact on people who rely on specialized medical equipment and concerns that shutting off power in the fire area would have knocked out water pumps.Green has said the flames on Maui raced as fast as a mile (1.6 kilometers) every minute in one area, fueled by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfires-climate-change-92c0930be7c28ec9ac71392a83c87582">dry grass</a>&nbsp;and propelled by strong winds from a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfire-maui-dora-winds-ec23c16abfbeb6ba689f1a98263720db">passing hurricane</a>.And he was conflicted about the anticipated storm.“I want the rain, ironically, but that’s why we’re racing right now to do all the recovery that we can, because winds or heavy rain in that disaster setting, which it’s showing right now, it will make it even harder to get the final determination of who we lost,” Green said.Authorities have paused a system that had allowed Lahaina residents and others to visit devastated areas with police permits. Kevin Eliason said when he was turned away, the line of cars waiting to get a permit was at least 3 miles (5 kilometers) long.“It’s a joke,” Eliason said. “It’s just crazy. They didn’t expect, probably, tens of thousands of people to show up there.”The blaze that swept into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfire-hawaii-lahaina-historic-kindom-capital-396463f6eba6580bfc80d75538b0adf3">centuries-old Lahaina</a>&nbsp;last week destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000. That fire has been 85% contained, according to the county. Another blaze known as the Upcountry fire has been 65% contained.Even where the fire has retreated, authorities have warned that toxic byproducts may remain, including in drinking water, after the flames&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfires-toxic-fumes-recovery-2a2e25c013c9fce39041718848028c3b">spewed poisonous fumes</a>. That has left many unable to return home.The Red Cross said 575 evacuees were spread across five shelters on Monday, including the War Memorial Gymnasium in Wailuku. Green said thousands of people will need housing for at least 36 weeks. He said Tuesday that some 450 hotel rooms and 1,000 Airbnb rentals were becoming available.“We want to get everyone out of all of the shelters by week's end,” he told Hawaii News Now.President Joe Biden said Tuesday he and first lady Jill Biden will visit Hawaii “as soon as we can” to survey the damage. He said he doesn’t want his presence to interrupt recovery and cleanup efforts. During a stop in Milwaukee to highlight his economic agenda, Biden pledged that “every asset, every asset they need will be there for them.”More than 3,000 people have registered for federal assistance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that number was expected to grow.FEMA was providing $700 to displaced residents to cover the cost of food, water, first aid and medical supplies, in addition to qualifying coverage for the loss of homes and personal property.The Biden administration was seeking $12 billion more for the government’s disaster relief fund as part of its supplemental funding request to Congress.Green said “leaders all across the board” have helped by donating over a million pounds (454,000 kilograms) of food as well as ice, water, diapers and baby formula. U.S. Marines, the Hawaii National Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard have all joined the aid and recovery efforts.“When people are hurting, the community steps up and takes care of each other," Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said Monday.As firefighters battled the flames last week, a flurry of court actions were lodged over water access.Some state officials say there is not enough for firefighters in central Maui, and blame a recent ruling by an environmental judge. The ruling by Judge Jeffrey Crabtree did not directly affect water supplies to Lahaina, the attorney general's office said Monday.

Governor: Children among those lost to fires on Maui

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — HP has failed to shunt aside class-action legal claims that it disables the scanners on its multifunction printers when their ink runs low. Though not for lack of trying.

On Aug. 10, a federal judge ruled that HP Inc. must face a class-action lawsuit claiming that the company designs its “all-in-one” inkjet printers to disable scanning and faxing functions whenever a single printer ink cartridge runs low. The company had sought — for the second time — to dismiss the lawsuit on technical legal grounds.

“It is well-documented that ink is not required in order to scan or to fax a document, and it is certainly possible to manufacture an all-in-one printer that scans or faxes when the device is out of ink,” the plaintiffs&nbsp;<a href="https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/doc1/035122824894">wrote in their complaint</a>. “Indeed, HP designs its all-in-one printer products so they will not work without ink. Yet HP does not disclose this fact to consumers.”

The lawsuit charges that HP deliberately withholds this information from consumers to boost profits from the sale of expensive ink cartridges.

Color printers require four ink cartridges -- one black and a set of three cartridges in cyan, magenta and yellow for producing colors. Some will also refuse to print if one of the color cartridges is low, even in black-and-white mode.

HP declined to comment on the issue, citing the pending litigation. The company’s court filings in the case have generally not addressed the substance of the plaintiff’s allegations.

In early 2022, U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman&nbsp;<a href="https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/doc1/035122742272">dismissed the complaint</a>&nbsp;on legal grounds but did not address the lawsuit's claims. The judge allowed the plaintiffs to amend their claim and resubmit it. On Aug. 10, the judge largely rejected HP's request to dismiss the revised complaint, allowing the case to proceed.

All-in-one inkjet printers generally seem like a bargain compared to the cost of separate devices with scanning, copying and fax functions. For instance, HP currently sells its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-officejet-pro-8034e-all-in-one-printer">all-in-one OfficeJet Pro 8034e</a>&nbsp;online for just $159. But its least expensive standalone scanner, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-scanjet-pro-2000-s2-sheet-feed-scanner">ScanJet Pro s2</a>, lists for $369 — more than twice the cost of the multifunction printer.

Of course, only one of these devices requires printer ink. “Printer ink is wildly expensive,” Consumer Reports states in its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics-computers/printers/buying-guide/">current printer buying guide</a>, noting that consumer ink costs can easily run more than $70 a year.

Worse, a significant amount of ink is never actually used to print documents because it's consumed by printer maintenance cycles. In 2018, Consumer Reports tested hundreds of all-in-one inkjet printers and found that, when used intermittently, many models delivered&nbsp;<a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/printers/the-high-cost-of-wasted-printer-ink/">less than half of their ink to printed documents</a>. A few managed no more than 20% to 30%.

HP isn't alone in facing such legal complaints. A different set of plaintiffs sued the U.S. unit of printer and camera maker Canon Inc. in 2021 for similarly handicapping its all-in-one printers without disclosure. The parties&nbsp;<a href="https://ecf.nyed.uscourts.gov/doc1/123119481077">settled that case</a>&nbsp;in late 2022. Terms were not disclosed.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692124742204.png" alt="The lawsuit charges that HP deliberately withholds this information from consumers to boost profits from the sale of expensive ink cartridges.-Courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>The lawsuit charges that HP deliberately withholds this information from consumers to boost profits from the sale of expensive ink cartridges.-Courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — HP has failed to shunt aside class-action legal claims that it disables the scanners on its multifunction printers when their ink runs low. Though not for lack of trying.On Aug. 10, a federal judge ruled that HP Inc. must face a class-action lawsuit claiming that the company designs its “all-in-one” inkjet printers to disable scanning and faxing functions whenever a single printer ink cartridge runs low. The company had sought — for the second time — to dismiss the lawsuit on technical legal grounds.“It is well-documented that ink is not required in order to scan or to fax a document, and it is certainly possible to manufacture an all-in-one printer that scans or faxes when the device is out of ink,” the plaintiffs&nbsp;<a href="https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/doc1/035122824894">wrote in their complaint</a>. “Indeed, HP designs its all-in-one printer products so they will not work without ink. Yet HP does not disclose this fact to consumers.”The lawsuit charges that HP deliberately withholds this information from consumers to boost profits from the sale of expensive ink cartridges.Color printers require four ink cartridges -- one black and a set of three cartridges in cyan, magenta and yellow for producing colors. Some will also refuse to print if one of the color cartridges is low, even in black-and-white mode.HP declined to comment on the issue, citing the pending litigation. The company’s court filings in the case have generally not addressed the substance of the plaintiff’s allegations.In early 2022, U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman&nbsp;<a href="https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/doc1/035122742272">dismissed the complaint</a>&nbsp;on legal grounds but did not address the lawsuit's claims. The judge allowed the plaintiffs to amend their claim and resubmit it. On Aug. 10, the judge largely rejected HP's request to dismiss the revised complaint, allowing the case to proceed.All-in-one inkjet printers generally seem like a bargain compared to the cost of separate devices with scanning, copying and fax functions. For instance, HP currently sells its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-officejet-pro-8034e-all-in-one-printer">all-in-one OfficeJet Pro 8034e</a>&nbsp;online for just $159. But its least expensive standalone scanner, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-scanjet-pro-2000-s2-sheet-feed-scanner">ScanJet Pro s2</a>, lists for $369 — more than twice the cost of the multifunction printer.Of course, only one of these devices requires printer ink. “Printer ink is wildly expensive,” Consumer Reports states in its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics-computers/printers/buying-guide/">current printer buying guide</a>, noting that consumer ink costs can easily run more than $70 a year.Worse, a significant amount of ink is never actually used to print documents because it's consumed by printer maintenance cycles. In 2018, Consumer Reports tested hundreds of all-in-one inkjet printers and found that, when used intermittently, many models delivered&nbsp;<a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/printers/the-high-cost-of-wasted-printer-ink/">less than half of their ink to printed documents</a>. A few managed no more than 20% to 30%.HP isn't alone in facing such legal complaints. A different set of plaintiffs sued the U.S. unit of printer and camera maker Canon Inc. in 2021 for similarly handicapping its all-in-one printers without disclosure. The parties&nbsp;<a href="https://ecf.nyed.uscourts.gov/doc1/123119481077">settled that case</a>&nbsp;in late 2022. Terms were not disclosed.

HP fails to derail claims it blocks scanners on multifunction printers when ink runs low

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — As children across the U.S. head back to classes and practices for fall sports, four more states are expecting their K-12 schools to keep transgender girls off their girls teams.

Kansas, North Dakota and Wyoming had new laws in place restricting transgender athletes before classes resumed, and a Missouri law takes effect at the end of this month,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-nonbinary-hormone-puberty-missouri-lawmakers-5a8922430ffab9e43cf9b7ce254bff9f">bringing the number of states with restrictions to 23</a>.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cooper-veto-north-carolina-transgender-lgbtq-743112742e4c96d3693a8d59cb317b2b">North Carolina</a>&nbsp;could enact a ban later this month, and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ohio-gender-care-ban-transgender-sports-52136dfab6b29cca547d7e97f0b7c715">Ohio could follow</a>&nbsp;in the fall. A few laws, including ones in Arizona and West Virginia, are on hold because of federal lawsuits.

This year's new restrictions are part of a larger wave of legislation across the U.S. against transgender rights. Republican legislators in some states have banned gender-affirming care for minors, restricted transgender people’s use of school and public restrooms, limited what public schools can teach about gender and sexuality and barred schools from requiring the use of a transgender student's preferred pronouns.

The sports laws have been imposed since 2020, and most are aimed at transgender girls. A majority cover less formal intramural contests organized within a single school’s student body as well as contests among different schools, and some restrict transgender boys as well. Almost all say other students and their parents can sue schools that don’t enforce the restrictions.

Lawmakers expect a child’s earliest birth certificate to determine which sports teams they can join. Principals and coaches are expected to be the enforcers.

“Those are uncomfortable conversations,” said Jeanne Woodbury, interim executive director of the LGBGT+ rights group Equality Arizona. “Everyone is going through that process.”

She added: “For trans kids, it’s never been a walk in the park, but now they have this law to contend with on top of everything else.”

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-college-football-united-states-gay-rights-5814b6365cf8f96b6be49e2d4b72616a">In Oklahoma</a>, where a law has been in place since 2022, athletes or their parents must file an annual affidavit “acknowledging the biological sex of the student at birth.”

Kansas and other states expect school officials to review a child’s earliest birth certificate if questions arise about an athlete’s eligibility.

Bill Faflick, executive director of the Kansas State High School Activities Association, said his state's law has been greeted by a “matter of fact” acceptance in rules seminars for administrators and coaches.

“It has not been met with any resistance and has not been met with any outpouring of support or opposition, one way or the other,” Faflick said.

Even before the laws against transgender girls on girls teams passed, some states largely blocked the practice by handling questions or concerns on a case-by-case level at the school or state athletic association level.

Supporters of the restrictions argue that they’re protecting fair competition and scholarship opportunities for young women that took decades to win. They say that well before puberty, boys have physical advantages over girls in speed, strength and lung capacity.

“It’s a puzzlement to me that more people aren’t feeling sympathy for the girls whose sports careers are ruined,” said Tom Horne, the elected Republican state school superintendent in Arizona, who is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/arizona-transgender-school-sports-law-injunction-2017dce4143c07ad5ff83f3a43639c72">defending his state’s law</a>&nbsp;in federal court.

Doctors, parents, and LGBTQ+ rights advocates counter that boys' physical advantages come with a surge in testosterone during puberty — changes gender-affirming care blocks.

Critics also argue that transgender athletes are so few that schools and associations governing school sports can handle their individual cases without a state law.

For example, in Kansas, the State High School Activities Association recorded 11 transgender athletes during the 2022-23 school year, and three were trans girls. Before Florida’s law took effect in 2021, its High School Athletic Association had cleared 13 transgender students to play in the previous eight years.

Becky Pepper-Jackson appeared to be the only transgender girl seeking to play girls’ sports in West Virginia in 2021 when the then-11-year-old and her mother, Heather Jackson, sued the state over its law.

Because of their lawsuit, the West Virginia law is on hold, and Becky, now a 13-year-old entering eighth grade, threw the discus and the shot put in seven track meets this spring.

The state is trying to persuade a federal appeals court to let it enforce its law, and in a filing last month, it cited the longer distances Becky threw this year as a reason. The state said any time another girl finished behind Becky in either event — more than 180 times — the other athlete had been unfairly “displaced.”

Jackson said the state knows her daughter only “on paper,” and Becky improved by training relentlessly at home with her own equipment.

“As a parent, all we want for our children is for them to be successful and happy, period,” Jackson told The Associated Press. “That should be an opportunity for everybody, every time, everywhere in this country.”

Educators and LGBTQ+ rights advocates argue that transgender kids aren’t the only athletes likely to feel the effects of the laws. Some worry that parents will challenge the right to play of cisgendered girls who are taller or more muscular than their peers — or just a whole lot better.

One of athletes who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-boise-state-university-idaho-education-9d31bbc245bbe0c66a3c88d2cc6a43be">sued Idaho</a>&nbsp;over its 2020 law was a 17-year-old cisgendered girl, listed only as Jane Doe. The lawsuit said she had an “athletic build" and wanted to avoid ”invasive or uncomfortable” gender tests.

“It’s going to create this feeling in some people that, ‘I can go question someone’s gender, and it’s my right to do that,’” said G.A. Buie, executive director of United School Administrators of Kansas, an association representing public school leaders.

Parents, doctors and LGBTQ+ rights advocates say restrictions on transgender athletes are less about sports and more about trying to make transgender kids disappear from society.

“What lawmakers fail to understand is that transgender people, nonbinary people, intersex people, have always been here,” said Anne Lieberman, policy and programs director for Athlete Ally, a group that advocates for transgender athletes. "Unless it is known that a student is trans, it is very hard to keep somebody from playing sports.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692007652976.png" alt="&nbsp;A flag supporting LGBTQ+ rights decorates a desk on the Democratic side of the Kansas House of Representatives during a debate, March 28, 2023, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Children are heading back to classes and fall sports practices, and four more states are expecting their K-12 schools to keep transgender girls off their girls sports teams. Kansas, North Dakota and Wyoming had new laws restricting transgender athletes in place before classes resumed, and a Missouri law takes effect at the end of this month. (AP Photo/John Hanna, File)" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;A flag supporting LGBTQ+ rights decorates a desk on the Democratic side of the Kansas House of Representatives during a debate, March 28, 2023, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Children are heading back to classes and fall sports practices, and four more states are expecting their K-12 schools to keep transgender girls off their girls sports teams. Kansas, North Dakota and Wyoming had new laws restricting transgender athletes in place before classes resumed, and a Missouri law takes effect at the end of this month. (AP Photo/John Hanna, File)</figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN HANNA&nbsp;TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — As children across the U.S. head back to classes and practices for fall sports, four more states are expecting their K-12 schools to keep transgender girls off their girls teams.Kansas, North Dakota and Wyoming had new laws in place restricting transgender athletes before classes resumed, and a Missouri law takes effect at the end of this month,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-nonbinary-hormone-puberty-missouri-lawmakers-5a8922430ffab9e43cf9b7ce254bff9f">bringing the number of states with restrictions to 23</a>.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cooper-veto-north-carolina-transgender-lgbtq-743112742e4c96d3693a8d59cb317b2b">North Carolina</a>&nbsp;could enact a ban later this month, and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ohio-gender-care-ban-transgender-sports-52136dfab6b29cca547d7e97f0b7c715">Ohio could follow</a>&nbsp;in the fall. A few laws, including ones in Arizona and West Virginia, are on hold because of federal lawsuits.This year's new restrictions are part of a larger wave of legislation across the U.S. against transgender rights. Republican legislators in some states have banned gender-affirming care for minors, restricted transgender people’s use of school and public restrooms, limited what public schools can teach about gender and sexuality and barred schools from requiring the use of a transgender student's preferred pronouns.The sports laws have been imposed since 2020, and most are aimed at transgender girls. A majority cover less formal intramural contests organized within a single school’s student body as well as contests among different schools, and some restrict transgender boys as well. Almost all say other students and their parents can sue schools that don’t enforce the restrictions.Lawmakers expect a child’s earliest birth certificate to determine which sports teams they can join. Principals and coaches are expected to be the enforcers.“Those are uncomfortable conversations,” said Jeanne Woodbury, interim executive director of the LGBGT+ rights group Equality Arizona. “Everyone is going through that process.”She added: “For trans kids, it’s never been a walk in the park, but now they have this law to contend with on top of everything else.”<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-college-football-united-states-gay-rights-5814b6365cf8f96b6be49e2d4b72616a">In Oklahoma</a>, where a law has been in place since 2022, athletes or their parents must file an annual affidavit “acknowledging the biological sex of the student at birth.”Kansas and other states expect school officials to review a child’s earliest birth certificate if questions arise about an athlete’s eligibility.Bill Faflick, executive director of the Kansas State High School Activities Association, said his state's law has been greeted by a “matter of fact” acceptance in rules seminars for administrators and coaches.“It has not been met with any resistance and has not been met with any outpouring of support or opposition, one way or the other,” Faflick said.Even before the laws against transgender girls on girls teams passed, some states largely blocked the practice by handling questions or concerns on a case-by-case level at the school or state athletic association level.Supporters of the restrictions argue that they’re protecting fair competition and scholarship opportunities for young women that took decades to win. They say that well before puberty, boys have physical advantages over girls in speed, strength and lung capacity.“It’s a puzzlement to me that more people aren’t feeling sympathy for the girls whose sports careers are ruined,” said Tom Horne, the elected Republican state school superintendent in Arizona, who is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/arizona-transgender-school-sports-law-injunction-2017dce4143c07ad5ff83f3a43639c72">defending his state’s law</a>&nbsp;in federal court.Doctors, parents, and LGBTQ+ rights advocates counter that boys' physical advantages come with a surge in testosterone during puberty — changes gender-affirming care blocks.Critics also argue that transgender athletes are so few that schools and associations governing school sports can handle their individual cases without a state law.For example, in Kansas, the State High School Activities Association recorded 11 transgender athletes during the 2022-23 school year, and three were trans girls. Before Florida’s law took effect in 2021, its High School Athletic Association had cleared 13 transgender students to play in the previous eight years.Becky Pepper-Jackson appeared to be the only transgender girl seeking to play girls’ sports in West Virginia in 2021 when the then-11-year-old and her mother, Heather Jackson, sued the state over its law.Because of their lawsuit, the West Virginia law is on hold, and Becky, now a 13-year-old entering eighth grade, threw the discus and the shot put in seven track meets this spring.The state is trying to persuade a federal appeals court to let it enforce its law, and in a filing last month, it cited the longer distances Becky threw this year as a reason. The state said any time another girl finished behind Becky in either event — more than 180 times — the other athlete had been unfairly “displaced.”Jackson said the state knows her daughter only “on paper,” and Becky improved by training relentlessly at home with her own equipment.“As a parent, all we want for our children is for them to be successful and happy, period,” Jackson told The Associated Press. “That should be an opportunity for everybody, every time, everywhere in this country.”Educators and LGBTQ+ rights advocates argue that transgender kids aren’t the only athletes likely to feel the effects of the laws. Some worry that parents will challenge the right to play of cisgendered girls who are taller or more muscular than their peers — or just a whole lot better.One of athletes who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-boise-state-university-idaho-education-9d31bbc245bbe0c66a3c88d2cc6a43be">sued Idaho</a>&nbsp;over its 2020 law was a 17-year-old cisgendered girl, listed only as Jane Doe. The lawsuit said she had an “athletic build" and wanted to avoid ”invasive or uncomfortable” gender tests.“It’s going to create this feeling in some people that, ‘I can go question someone’s gender, and it’s my right to do that,’” said G.A. Buie, executive director of United School Administrators of Kansas, an association representing public school leaders.Parents, doctors and LGBTQ+ rights advocates say restrictions on transgender athletes are less about sports and more about trying to make transgender kids disappear from society.“What lawmakers fail to understand is that transgender people, nonbinary people, intersex people, have always been here,” said Anne Lieberman, policy and programs director for Athlete Ally, a group that advocates for transgender athletes. "Unless it is known that a student is trans, it is very hard to keep somebody from playing sports.”___

As classes resume, states expect K-12 schools to enforce bans on trans athletes

WASHINGTON —One month ago, the Department of Education and the White House announced that more than 800,000 federal student loan borrowers will have their remaining debt wiped out.

On Monday, President Biden said his administration is delivering on that promise and has already approved over $116 billion in debt cancellation for 3.4 million Americans – "no matter how many lawsuits, challenges, or roadblocks Republican elected officials or special interests put in our way."

In a statement from the White House, Biden said,&nbsp; Because of actions my Administration took, these 804,000 borrowers who have been in repayment for over 20 years will start to see their student debt cancelled.&nbsp; Over 614,000 of them will have all of their remaining federal student loan debt cancelled once this action is complete.

"Monday's actions come on top of all we’ve been able to achieve for students and student loan borrowers in the past few years."&nbsp;

 This includes: achieving the largest increases in Pell Grants in over a decade to help families who earn less than roughly $60,000 a year; fixing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program so that borrowers who go into public service get the debt relief they’re entitled to under the law; and creating the most generous Income-Driven Repayment plan in history, called SAVE. &nbsp;

Borrowers can go to <a href="https://studentaid.gov/">studentaid.gov</a> to apply.

"As I announced earlier this summer in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on our student debt relief plan, we will continue to pursue an alternative path to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible. We will use every tool at our disposal to get student loan borrowers the relief they need to reach their dreams. "

WASHINGTON —One month ago, the Department of Education and the White House announced that more than 800,000 federal student loan borrowers will have their remaining debt wiped out.On Monday, President Biden said his administration is delivering on that promise and has already approved over $116 billion in debt cancellation for 3.4 million Americans – "no matter how many lawsuits, challenges, or roadblocks Republican elected officials or special interests put in our way."<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">For years, student loan borrowers haven&#39;t received forgiveness under their Income-Driven Repayment plans despite making payments for over 20 years. I&#39;m determined to fix it. Today, thanks to my Administration&#39;s actions, 804,000 borrowers will start to see their debt cancelled.&mdash; President Biden (@POTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1691226946816876544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>In a statement from the White House, Biden said,&nbsp; Because of actions my Administration took, these 804,000 borrowers who have been in repayment for over 20 years will start to see their student debt cancelled.&nbsp; Over 614,000 of them will have all of their remaining federal student loan debt cancelled once this action is complete."Monday's actions come on top of all we’ve been able to achieve for students and student loan borrowers in the past few years."&nbsp; This includes: achieving the largest increases in Pell Grants in over a decade to help families who earn less than roughly $60,000 a year; fixing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program so that borrowers who go into public service get the debt relief they’re entitled to under the law; and creating the most generous Income-Driven Repayment plan in history, called SAVE. &nbsp;Borrowers can go to <a href="https://studentaid.gov/">studentaid.gov</a> to apply."As I announced earlier this summer in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on our student debt relief plan, we will continue to pursue an alternative path to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible. We will use every tool at our disposal to get student loan borrowers the relief they need to reach their dreams. "

Biden begins canceling student loan debt for 804,000 borrowers

ATLANTA (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;and 18 allies were indicted in Georgia on Monday over their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state, with prosecutors using a statute normally&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-trump-election-investigation-indictment-rico-willis-2b18a1c1ed6a4ce22b1a2ca88ea861e3">associated with mobsters</a>&nbsp;to accuse the former president, lawyers and other aides of a “criminal enterprise” to keep him in power.

<a href="https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/editorialfiles/2023/08/14/23SC188947_-_CRIMINAL_INDICTMENT.pdf">Click here to read the full</a> indictment

The nearly 100-page indictment details dozens of acts by Trump or his allies to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-investigations-other-charges-b8b064a00caad4306fb54d2f6a320468">undo his defeat</a>, including beseeching Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to find enough votes for him to win the battleground state; harassing an election worker who faced false claims of fraud; and attempting to persuade Georgia lawmakers to ignore the will of voters and appoint a new slate of electoral college electors favorable to Trump.

In one particularly brazen episode, it also outlines a plot involving one of his lawyers to access voting machines in a rural Georgia county and steal data from a voting machine company.

"The indictment alleges that rather than abide by Georgia’s legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia’s presidential election result,” Fulton County District Attorney&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-georgia-election-investigation-fani-willis-indictment-32bfdd2cca9d3184056836b208a78379">Fani Willis</a>, whose office brought the case, said at a late-night news conference.

Other defendants include former White House chief of staff&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/mark-meadows">Mark Meadows</a>; Trump attorney and former New York City Mayor&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/rudolph-giuliani">Rudy Giuliani</a>; and a Trump administration Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, who advanced the then-president's efforts to undo his election loss in Georgia. Other lawyers who supported legally dubious ideas aimed at overturning the results, including John Eastman, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, were also charged.

Willis said the defendants would be permitted to voluntarily surrender by noon Aug. 25. She also said she plans to seek a trial date within six months and that she intends to try the defendants collectively.

The indictment bookends a remarkable crush of criminal cases — four in five months, each in a different city — that would be daunting for anyone, never mind someone like Trump who is simultaneously balancing the roles of criminal defendant and presidential candidate.

It comes just two weeks after the Justice Department special counsel charged him in a vast&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc">conspiracy to overturn the election</a>, underscoring how prosecutors after lengthy investigations that followed the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol have now, two-and-a-half years later, taken steps to hold Trump to account for an assault on the underpinnings of American democracy.

The Georgia case covers some of the same ground as Trump’s recent indictment in Washington, including attempts he and his allies made to disrupt the electoral vote count at the Capitol. But in its sprawling web of defendants — 19 in total — the indictment stands apart from the more tightly targeted case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, which so far only names Trump as a defendant.

In charging close Trump aides who were referenced by Smith only as unindicted co-conspirators, the Georgia indictment alleges a scale of criminal conduct extending far beyond just the ex-president.

The charging document, in language conjuring up the seedy underworld of mob bosses and gang leaders, accuses the former president, his former chief of staff, Trump’s attorneys and the ex-New York mayor of being members of a “criminal organization” and “enterprise” that operated in Georgia and other states.

The indictment capped a chaotic day at the courthouse caused by the brief but mysterious posting on a county website of a list of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-trump-election-investigation-indictment-rico-willis-2b18a1c1ed6a4ce22b1a2ca88ea861e3">criminal charges</a>&nbsp;that were to be brought against the former president. Reuters, which published a copy of the document, said the filing was taken down quickly.

A Willis spokesperson said in the afternoon that it was “inaccurate" to say that an indictment had already been returned but declined to comment further on a kerfuffle that the Trump legal team rapidly jumped on to attack the integrity of the investigation.

Trump and his allies, who have characterized the investigation as politically motivated, immediately seized on the apparent error to claim that the process was rigged. Trump’s campaign aimed to fundraise off it, sending out an email with the since-deleted document embedded.

In a statement after the indictment was issued, Trump's legal team said “the events that have unfolded today have been shocking and absurd, starting with the leak of a presumed and premature indictment before the witnesses had testified or the grand jurors had deliberated and ending with the District Attorney being unable to offer any explanation.”

The lawyers said prosecutors presenting their case “relied on witnesses who harbor their own personal and political interests — some of whom ran campaigns touting their efforts against the accused.”

Many of the 161 acts by Trump and his associates outlined in the Georgia indictment have already received widespread attention. That includes a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-raffensperger-phone-call-georgia-d503c8b4e58f7cd648fbf9a746131ec9">Jan. 2, 2021</a>, call in which Trump urged Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the 11,780 votes needed to overturn his election loss. That call, prosecutors said, violated a Georgia law against soliciting a public official to violate their oath.

It also charges Trump with making false statements and writings for a series of claims he made to Raffensperger and other state election officials, including that up to 300,000 ballots “were dropped mysteriously into the rolls” in the 2020 election, that more than 4,500 people voted who weren’t on registration lists and that a Fulton County election worker,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-2022-midterm-elections-georgia-election-recounts-5cffe294a372eb32dc68588784202314">Ruby Freeman</a>, was a “professional vote scammer.”

Giuliani, meanwhile, is charged with making false statements for allegedly lying to lawmakers by claiming that more than 96,000 mail-in ballots were counted in Georgia despite there being no record of them having been returned to a county elections office, and that a voting machine in Michigan wrongly recorded 6,000 votes for Biden that were actually cast for Trump.

In a statement, Giuliani did not respond directly to any of the allegations but called the indictment an “affront to American democracy” and “just the next chapter in a book of lies.”

Also charged are individuals prosecutors say helped Trump and his allies on the ground in Georgia influence and intimidate election workers.

One man, Stephen Cliffgard Lee, was charged by prosecutors for allegedly traveling to Freeman's home “with intent to influence her testimony.” Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss testified to Congress last year about how Trump and his allies latched onto surveillance footage from November 2020 to accuse both women of committing voter fraud — allegations that were quickly debunked, yet spread widely across conservative media.

Both women, who are Black, faced death threats for several months after the election.

The indictment also accuses Powell and several co-defendants of tampering with voting machines in Coffee County, Georgia, and stealing data belonging to Dominion Voting Systems, a producer of tabulation machines that has long been the focus of conspiracy theories.

According to evidence made public by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot, Trump allies targeted Coffee County in search of evidence to back their theories of widespread voter fraud, allegedly copying data and software.

Besides the two election-related cases, Trump faces a separate federal indictment accusing him of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-documents-maralago-politics-florida-charges-bee867f48da593d351c5a91e87c356a9">illegally hoarding classified documents</a>&nbsp;as well as a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indictment-new-york-florida-hush-money-election-764309dce49f81a50bf9f610ffd5ceb6">New York state case</a>&nbsp;charging him with falsifying business records.

As indictments mount, Trump — the leading Republican candidate for president in 2024 —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-iowa-target-letter-indictment-january-6-13afe5fa279e277aa6a11da46cd1821d">often invokes his distinction</a>&nbsp;as the only former president to face criminal charges. He is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-second-quarter-fundraising-gop-primary-fec-8f988e730c2ce8330b92063ed7225d7a">campaigning and fundraising</a>&nbsp;around these themes, portraying himself as the victim of Democratic prosecutors out to get him.

Republican allies once again quickly rallied to Trump’s defense. “Americans see through this desperate sham,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692093595851.png" alt="Fulton County District Attorney&nbsp;Fani Willis&nbsp;during Monday night's announcement-photo CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Fulton County District Attorney&nbsp;Fani Willis&nbsp;during Monday night's announcement-photo CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>ATLANTA (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;and 18 allies were indicted in Georgia on Monday over their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state, with prosecutors using a statute normally&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-trump-election-investigation-indictment-rico-willis-2b18a1c1ed6a4ce22b1a2ca88ea861e3">associated with mobsters</a>&nbsp;to accuse the former president, lawyers and other aides of a “criminal enterprise” to keep him in power.<a href="https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/editorialfiles/2023/08/14/23SC188947_-_CRIMINAL_INDICTMENT.pdf">Click here to read the full</a> indictmentThe nearly 100-page indictment details dozens of acts by Trump or his allies to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-investigations-other-charges-b8b064a00caad4306fb54d2f6a320468">undo his defeat</a>, including beseeching Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to find enough votes for him to win the battleground state; harassing an election worker who faced false claims of fraud; and attempting to persuade Georgia lawmakers to ignore the will of voters and appoint a new slate of electoral college electors favorable to Trump.In one particularly brazen episode, it also outlines a plot involving one of his lawyers to access voting machines in a rural Georgia county and steal data from a voting machine company."The indictment alleges that rather than abide by Georgia’s legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia’s presidential election result,” Fulton County District Attorney&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-georgia-election-investigation-fani-willis-indictment-32bfdd2cca9d3184056836b208a78379">Fani Willis</a>, whose office brought the case, said at a late-night news conference.Other defendants include former White House chief of staff&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/mark-meadows">Mark Meadows</a>; Trump attorney and former New York City Mayor&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/rudolph-giuliani">Rudy Giuliani</a>; and a Trump administration Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, who advanced the then-president's efforts to undo his election loss in Georgia. Other lawyers who supported legally dubious ideas aimed at overturning the results, including John Eastman, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, were also charged.Willis said the defendants would be permitted to voluntarily surrender by noon Aug. 25. She also said she plans to seek a trial date within six months and that she intends to try the defendants collectively.The indictment bookends a remarkable crush of criminal cases — four in five months, each in a different city — that would be daunting for anyone, never mind someone like Trump who is simultaneously balancing the roles of criminal defendant and presidential candidate.It comes just two weeks after the Justice Department special counsel charged him in a vast&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc">conspiracy to overturn the election</a>, underscoring how prosecutors after lengthy investigations that followed the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol have now, two-and-a-half years later, taken steps to hold Trump to account for an assault on the underpinnings of American democracy.The Georgia case covers some of the same ground as Trump’s recent indictment in Washington, including attempts he and his allies made to disrupt the electoral vote count at the Capitol. But in its sprawling web of defendants — 19 in total — the indictment stands apart from the more tightly targeted case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, which so far only names Trump as a defendant.In charging close Trump aides who were referenced by Smith only as unindicted co-conspirators, the Georgia indictment alleges a scale of criminal conduct extending far beyond just the ex-president.The charging document, in language conjuring up the seedy underworld of mob bosses and gang leaders, accuses the former president, his former chief of staff, Trump’s attorneys and the ex-New York mayor of being members of a “criminal organization” and “enterprise” that operated in Georgia and other states.The indictment capped a chaotic day at the courthouse caused by the brief but mysterious posting on a county website of a list of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-trump-election-investigation-indictment-rico-willis-2b18a1c1ed6a4ce22b1a2ca88ea861e3">criminal charges</a>&nbsp;that were to be brought against the former president. Reuters, which published a copy of the document, said the filing was taken down quickly.A Willis spokesperson said in the afternoon that it was “inaccurate" to say that an indictment had already been returned but declined to comment further on a kerfuffle that the Trump legal team rapidly jumped on to attack the integrity of the investigation.Trump and his allies, who have characterized the investigation as politically motivated, immediately seized on the apparent error to claim that the process was rigged. Trump’s campaign aimed to fundraise off it, sending out an email with the since-deleted document embedded.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Statement from Trump Campaign <a href="https://t.co/1qT1dgdcCA">pic.twitter.com/1qT1dgdcCA</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1691275754179317760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>In a statement after the indictment was issued, Trump's legal team said “the events that have unfolded today have been shocking and absurd, starting with the leak of a presumed and premature indictment before the witnesses had testified or the grand jurors had deliberated and ending with the District Attorney being unable to offer any explanation.”The lawyers said prosecutors presenting their case “relied on witnesses who harbor their own personal and political interests — some of whom ran campaigns touting their efforts against the accused.”Many of the 161 acts by Trump and his associates outlined in the Georgia indictment have already received widespread attention. That includes a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-raffensperger-phone-call-georgia-d503c8b4e58f7cd648fbf9a746131ec9">Jan. 2, 2021</a>, call in which Trump urged Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the 11,780 votes needed to overturn his election loss. That call, prosecutors said, violated a Georgia law against soliciting a public official to violate their oath.It also charges Trump with making false statements and writings for a series of claims he made to Raffensperger and other state election officials, including that up to 300,000 ballots “were dropped mysteriously into the rolls” in the 2020 election, that more than 4,500 people voted who weren’t on registration lists and that a Fulton County election worker,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-2022-midterm-elections-georgia-election-recounts-5cffe294a372eb32dc68588784202314">Ruby Freeman</a>, was a “professional vote scammer.”Giuliani, meanwhile, is charged with making false statements for allegedly lying to lawmakers by claiming that more than 96,000 mail-in ballots were counted in Georgia despite there being no record of them having been returned to a county elections office, and that a voting machine in Michigan wrongly recorded 6,000 votes for Biden that were actually cast for Trump.In a statement, Giuliani did not respond directly to any of the allegations but called the indictment an “affront to American democracy” and “just the next chapter in a book of lies.”Also charged are individuals prosecutors say helped Trump and his allies on the ground in Georgia influence and intimidate election workers.One man, Stephen Cliffgard Lee, was charged by prosecutors for allegedly traveling to Freeman's home “with intent to influence her testimony.” Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss testified to Congress last year about how Trump and his allies latched onto surveillance footage from November 2020 to accuse both women of committing voter fraud — allegations that were quickly debunked, yet spread widely across conservative media.Both women, who are Black, faced death threats for several months after the election.The indictment also accuses Powell and several co-defendants of tampering with voting machines in Coffee County, Georgia, and stealing data belonging to Dominion Voting Systems, a producer of tabulation machines that has long been the focus of conspiracy theories.According to evidence made public by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot, Trump allies targeted Coffee County in search of evidence to back their theories of widespread voter fraud, allegedly copying data and software.Besides the two election-related cases, Trump faces a separate federal indictment accusing him of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-documents-maralago-politics-florida-charges-bee867f48da593d351c5a91e87c356a9">illegally hoarding classified documents</a>&nbsp;as well as a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indictment-new-york-florida-hush-money-election-764309dce49f81a50bf9f610ffd5ceb6">New York state case</a>&nbsp;charging him with falsifying business records.As indictments mount, Trump — the leading Republican candidate for president in 2024 —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-iowa-target-letter-indictment-january-6-13afe5fa279e277aa6a11da46cd1821d">often invokes his distinction</a>&nbsp;as the only former president to face criminal charges. He is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-second-quarter-fundraising-gop-primary-fec-8f988e730c2ce8330b92063ed7225d7a">campaigning and fundraising</a>&nbsp;around these themes, portraying himself as the victim of Democratic prosecutors out to get him.Republican allies once again quickly rallied to Trump’s defense. “Americans see through this desperate sham,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.___

Read the full text of the Trump Georgia indictment document

The nearly 100-page indictment details dozens of acts by Trump or his allies to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-investigations-other-charges-b8b064a00caad4306fb54d2f6a320468">undo his defeat</a>, including beseeching Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to find enough votes for him to win the battleground state; harassing a state election worker who faced false claims of fraud; and attempting to persuade Georgia lawmakers to ignore the will of voters and appoint a new slate of electoral college electors favorable to Trump.

In one particularly brazen episode, it also outlines a plot involving one of his lawyers to tamper with voting machines in a rural Georgia county and steal data from a voting machine company.

Other defendants include former White House chief of staff&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/mark-meadows">Mark Meadows</a>; Trump's personal attorney&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/rudolph-giuliani">Rudy Giuliani</a>; and a Trump administration Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, who advanced the then-president's efforts to undo his election loss in Georgia. Multiple other lawyers who devised legally dubious ideas aimed at overturning the results, including John Eastman, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, were also charged.

Willis said the defendants would be allowed to voluntarily surrender by noon Aug. 25. She also said she plans to ask for a trial date within six months and that she intends to try the defendants as a group.

The Georgia case covers some of the same ground as Trump’s recent indictment in Washington, D.C., including attempts he and his allies made to disrupt the electoral vote count at the U.S. Capitol on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">Jan. 6, 2021</a>. But its sprawling web of defendants — 19 in total — stands apart from the more tightly targeted case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, which so far only names Trump as a defendant.

The charging document, in language conjuring up the seedy operations of mob bosses and gang leaders, accuses the former president of the United States, the former White House chief of staff, Trump’s attorneys and the former mayor of New York as members of a “criminal organization” who were part of an “enterprise” that operated in Georgia and other states.

Many of the 161 acts by Trump and his associates outlined in the Georgia indictment have already received widespread attention. That includes a Jan. 2, 2021, call in which Trump urged Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the 11,780 votes needed to overturn his election loss. That call, prosecutors said, violated a Georgia law against soliciting a public official to violate their oath.

Giuliani, meanwhile, is charged with making false statements for allegedly lying to lawmakers by claiming that more than 96,000 mail-in ballots were counted in Georgia despite there being no record of them having been returned to a county elections office, and that a voting machine in Michigan wrongly recorded 6,000 votes for Biden that were actually cast for Trump. A lawyer who has represented him declined to comment.

Besides the two election-related cases, Trump faces a separate federal indictment accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents as well as a New York state case charging him with falsifying business records.

ATLANTA (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;and 18 allies were indicted in Georgia on Monday over their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state, with prosecutors using a statute normally&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-trump-election-investigation-indictment-rico-willis-2b18a1c1ed6a4ce22b1a2ca88ea861e3">associated with mobsters</a>&nbsp;to accuse the former president, lawyers and other aides of a “criminal enterprise” to keep him in power.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">WATCH: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on indictment of former President Trump <a href="https://t.co/DTQMZkXEWg">pic.twitter.com/DTQMZkXEWg</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1691299495428882432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The nearly 100-page indictment details dozens of acts by Trump or his allies to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-investigations-other-charges-b8b064a00caad4306fb54d2f6a320468">undo his defeat</a>, including beseeching Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to find enough votes for him to win the battleground state; harassing a state election worker who faced false claims of fraud; and attempting to persuade Georgia lawmakers to ignore the will of voters and appoint a new slate of electoral college electors favorable to Trump.In one particularly brazen episode, it also outlines a plot involving one of his lawyers to tamper with voting machines in a rural Georgia county and steal data from a voting machine company.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1691094922366.png" alt="" />
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 </figure>"The indictment alleges that rather than abide by Georgia’s legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia’s presidential election result,” Fulton County District Attorney&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-georgia-election-investigation-fani-willis-indictment-32bfdd2cca9d3184056836b208a78379">Fani Willis</a>, whose office brought the case, said at a late-night news conference.Other defendants include former White House chief of staff&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/mark-meadows">Mark Meadows</a>; Trump's personal attorney&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/rudolph-giuliani">Rudy Giuliani</a>; and a Trump administration Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, who advanced the then-president's efforts to undo his election loss in Georgia. Multiple other lawyers who devised legally dubious ideas aimed at overturning the results, including John Eastman, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, were also charged.Willis said the defendants would be allowed to voluntarily surrender by noon Aug. 25. She also said she plans to ask for a trial date within six months and that she intends to try the defendants as a group.The indictment bookends a remarkable crush of criminal cases — four in five months, each in a different city — that would be daunting for anyone, never mind someone like Trump who is simultaneously balancing the roles of criminal defendant and presidential candidate.It comes just two weeks after the Justice Department special counsel charged him in a vast&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc">conspiracy to overturn the election</a>, underscoring how prosecutors after lengthy investigations that followed the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol have now, two-and-a-half years later, taken steps to hold Trump to account for an assault on the underpinnings of American democracy.The Georgia case covers some of the same ground as Trump’s recent indictment in Washington, D.C., including attempts he and his allies made to disrupt the electoral vote count at the U.S. Capitol on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">Jan. 6, 2021</a>. But its sprawling web of defendants — 19 in total — stands apart from the more tightly targeted case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, which so far only names Trump as a defendant.In charging close Trump aides who were referenced by Smith only as unindicted co-conspirators, the Georgia indictment alleges a scale of criminal conduct extending far beyond just the ex-president.The charging document, in language conjuring up the seedy operations of mob bosses and gang leaders, accuses the former president of the United States, the former White House chief of staff, Trump’s attorneys and the former mayor of New York as members of a “criminal organization” who were part of an “enterprise” that operated in Georgia and other states.The indictment capped a chaotic day at the courthouse caused by the brief but mysterious posting on a county website of a list of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-trump-election-investigation-indictment-rico-willis-2b18a1c1ed6a4ce22b1a2ca88ea861e3">criminal charges</a>&nbsp;that were to be brought against the former president. Reuters, which published a copy of the document, said the filing was taken down quickly.A Willis spokesperson said in the afternoon that it was “inaccurate" to say that an indictment had already been returned but declined to comment further on a kerfuffle that the Trump legal team rapidly jumped on to attack the integrity of the investigation.Trump and his allies, who have characterized the investigation as politically motivated, immediately seized on the apparent error to claim that the process was rigged. Trump’s campaign aimed to fundraise off it, sending out an email with the since-deleted document embedded.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692093790920.png" alt="" />
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 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692093809403.png" alt="" />
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 </figure>In a statement after the indictment was issued, Trump's legal team said “the events that have unfolded today have been shocking and absurd, starting with the leak of a presumed and premature indictment before the witnesses had testified or the grand jurors had deliberated and ending with the District Attorney being unable to offer any explanation.”The lawyers said prosecutors presenting their case “relied on witnesses who harbor their own personal and political interests — some of whom ran campaigns touting their efforts against the accused.”Many of the 161 acts by Trump and his associates outlined in the Georgia indictment have already received widespread attention. That includes a Jan. 2, 2021, call in which Trump urged Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the 11,780 votes needed to overturn his election loss. That call, prosecutors said, violated a Georgia law against soliciting a public official to violate their oath.It also charges Trump with making false statements and writings for a series of claims he made to Raffensperger and other state election officials, including that up to 300,000 ballots “were dropped mysteriously into the rolls” in the 2020 election, that more than 4,500 people voted who weren’t on registration lists and that a Fulton County election worker,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-2022-midterm-elections-georgia-election-recounts-5cffe294a372eb32dc68588784202314">Ruby Freeman</a>, was a “professional vote scammer.”Giuliani, meanwhile, is charged with making false statements for allegedly lying to lawmakers by claiming that more than 96,000 mail-in ballots were counted in Georgia despite there being no record of them having been returned to a county elections office, and that a voting machine in Michigan wrongly recorded 6,000 votes for Biden that were actually cast for Trump. A lawyer who has represented him declined to comment.Also charged are individuals prosecutors say helped Trump and his allies on the ground in Georgia influence and intimidate election workers.One man, Stephen Cliffgard Lee, was charged by prosecutors for allegedly traveling to Freeman's home “with intent to influence her testimony.” Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss testified to Congress last year about how Trump and his allies latched onto surveillance footage from November 2020 to accuse both women of committing voter fraud — allegations that were quickly debunked, yet spread widely across conservative media.Both women, who are Black, faced death threats for several months after the election.The indictment also accuses Powell and several co-defendants of tampering with voting machines in Coffee County, Georgia, and stealing data belonging to Dominion Voting Systems, a producer of tabulation machines that has long been the focus of conspiracy theories.According to evidence made public by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot, Trump allies targeted Coffee County in search of evidence to back their theories of widespread voter fraud, allegedly copying data and software.Besides the two election-related cases, Trump faces a separate federal indictment accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents as well as a New York state case charging him with falsifying business records.As indictments mount, Trump — the leading Republican candidate for president in 2024 —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-iowa-target-letter-indictment-january-6-13afe5fa279e277aa6a11da46cd1821d">often invokes his distinction</a>&nbsp;as the only former president to face criminal charges. He is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-second-quarter-fundraising-gop-primary-fec-8f988e730c2ce8330b92063ed7225d7a">campaigning and fundraising</a>&nbsp;around these themes, portraying himself as the victim of Democratic prosecutors out to get him.Republican allies once again quickly rallied to Trump’s defense. “Americans see through this desperate sham,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter._____

🎥 Fourth indictment: Trump charged in Georgia 2020 election probe

WASHINGTON —The Defense Department&nbsp;<a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3491937/biden-administration-announces-additional-security-assistance-for-ukraine/">announced an additional security assistance package</a>&nbsp;valued at up to $200 million to help Ukraine counter Russia's ongoing war of aggression, according to a media release from the agency.

The package includes critical munitions for U.S.-provided Patriot air defense systems and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, among other items.&nbsp;

The items are being provisioned as part of the $6.2 billion in presidential drawdown authority restored in June following a reevaluation of the total value of items already committed to Ukraine. &nbsp;

The latest round of assistance marks the 44th drawdown of equipment from DOD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.&nbsp;

The package underscores the United States' continued commitment to providing Ukraine with the capabilities it needs to defend its territory.

"Russia started this war and could end it at any time by withdrawing its forces from Ukraine and stopping its brutal attacks," Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said today in a statement. "Until it does, the United States and our allies and partners will stand united with Ukraine for as long as it takes."

The Biden administration has committed more than $43 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's invasion in February 2022.&nbsp;

That assistance has included more than 2,000 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, more than 10,000 Javelin anti-armor systems, and more than 2 million 155-mm artillery rounds, among other items.&nbsp;

The assistance has been provisioned through drawdowns of existing U.S. stocks and through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, the authority under which the U.S. procures capabilities from industry and partners.&nbsp;

In response to the effort to assist Ukraine, the U.S. has ramped up production of key artillery rounds used most by Ukraine in support of its counteroffensive operations and in defending its territory against the invading Russian forces.&nbsp;

Douglas R. Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said last week that the U.S. is currently producing new artillery rounds at a rate of 24,000 per month and is on track to produce in excess of 80,000 rounds per month over the following year.

He said the DOD remains committed to arming Ukraine as the country defends itself against Russia's unprovoked invasion while at the same time maintaining U.S. military readiness.&nbsp;

"The U.S. Army is committed to and will succeed at maintaining our stocks sufficient for training and readiness of the U.S. Army, while also supporting our ally, Ukraine, with what they need, working as part of an international team to make sure that happens," Bush said.&nbsp;

He added that, throughout the war, U.S. equipment has remained highly effective in combat.&nbsp;

"That's the result of decades of work by thousands of people to make sure our equipment is tested well and also that our industry partners produce it, critically, at a high level of quality," Bush said. "Lots of countries can produce. The United States produces the best in terms of quality. I think we are seeing that, and I think that speaks well of our industry partners."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692046689525.png" alt="Weapons bound for Ukraine are loaded onto a C-17 Globemaster III during a security assistance mission at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Aug. 19, 2022.&nbsp;Photo By:Air Force Senior Airman Cydney Lee" />
 <figcaption>Weapons bound for Ukraine are loaded onto a C-17 Globemaster III during a security assistance mission at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Aug. 19, 2022.&nbsp;Photo By:Air Force Senior Airman Cydney Lee</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON —The Defense Department&nbsp;<a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3491937/biden-administration-announces-additional-security-assistance-for-ukraine/">announced an additional security assistance package</a>&nbsp;valued at up to $200 million to help Ukraine counter Russia's ongoing war of aggression, according to a media release from the agency.The package includes critical munitions for U.S.-provided Patriot air defense systems and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, among other items.&nbsp;The items are being provisioned as part of the $6.2 billion in presidential drawdown authority restored in June following a reevaluation of the total value of items already committed to Ukraine. &nbsp;The latest round of assistance marks the 44th drawdown of equipment from DOD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.&nbsp;The package underscores the United States' continued commitment to providing Ukraine with the capabilities it needs to defend its territory."Russia started this war and could end it at any time by withdrawing its forces from Ukraine and stopping its brutal attacks," Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said today in a statement. "Until it does, the United States and our allies and partners will stand united with Ukraine for as long as it takes."The Biden administration has committed more than $43 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's invasion in February 2022.&nbsp;That assistance has included more than 2,000 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, more than 10,000 Javelin anti-armor systems, and more than 2 million 155-mm artillery rounds, among other items.&nbsp;The assistance has been provisioned through drawdowns of existing U.S. stocks and through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, the authority under which the U.S. procures capabilities from industry and partners.&nbsp;In response to the effort to assist Ukraine, the U.S. has ramped up production of key artillery rounds used most by Ukraine in support of its counteroffensive operations and in defending its territory against the invading Russian forces.&nbsp;Douglas R. Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said last week that the U.S. is currently producing new artillery rounds at a rate of 24,000 per month and is on track to produce in excess of 80,000 rounds per month over the following year.He said the DOD remains committed to arming Ukraine as the country defends itself against Russia's unprovoked invasion while at the same time maintaining U.S. military readiness.&nbsp;"The U.S. Army is committed to and will succeed at maintaining our stocks sufficient for training and readiness of the U.S. Army, while also supporting our ally, Ukraine, with what they need, working as part of an international team to make sure that happens," Bush said.&nbsp;He added that, throughout the war, U.S. equipment has remained highly effective in combat.&nbsp;"That's the result of decades of work by thousands of people to make sure our equipment is tested well and also that our industry partners produce it, critically, at a high level of quality," Bush said. "Lots of countries can produce. The United States produces the best in terms of quality. I think we are seeing that, and I think that speaks well of our industry partners."

$43 Billion: U.S. sending Ukraine more military assistance 

LAHAINA, Hawaii  (AP) —The U.S. National Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Coast Guard are assisting with recovery efforts in the communities reeling from fires in Maui, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Monday.

However, no active duty forced are involved yet, Ryder said. That raises questions as to why not — Hawaii is home to tens of thousands of active duty military personnel, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and major Navy and Air Force installations, with ships and aircraft that could assist in flying in supplies or personnel.

Ryder said those forces are ready to provide whatever support is requested by Hawaii, but that rushing in resources too quickly could create additional logistics problems for rescue operations on the ground.

The multi-agency fire response&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-lahaina-wildfire-warnings-sirens-chaos-f4bb9bb77c093ac8ff16440b54ade4a6">has already been stymied</a>&nbsp;by logistical issues and communication challenges, particularly during evacuations when sirens failed to sound and roadblocks hindered residents leaving.

“Indo-Pacom is on a hair trigger to be able to support as necessary,” Ryder said. “Everyone fully understands the pain that people are experiencing right now. We want to do everything we can help. But we also don’t want to contribute to the problem by sending unnecessary capabilities that then will hinder any type of emergency response.”

So far 250 Hawaii Army National Guard and Air National Guard members are assisting recovery operations, Army National Guard helicopters have dropped more than 189,000 gallons of water on the wildfires, the Army Corps of Engineers have sent debris removal teams and power experts and the Army Reserve has provided space to collect and distribute supplies, Ryder said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692046987598.png" alt="Hawaii Guard Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear &amp; high-yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package members assist search &amp; recovery efforts.-image Dept. of Defense" />
 <figcaption>Hawaii Guard Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear &amp; high-yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package members assist search &amp; recovery efforts.-image Dept. of Defense</figcaption>
 </figure>LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) —The U.S. National Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Coast Guard are assisting with recovery efforts in the communities reeling from fires in Maui, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Monday.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lahaina?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Lahaina</a> residents are receiving help from volunteers and the Na Aikane ‘O Maui Cultural Center. Essential supplies — food, water, clothing &amp; basic medicine — have been distributed to 1,000+ survivors, with efforts continuing. Response &amp; recovery efforts: <a href="https://t.co/2b9mAIFLm1">https://t.co/2b9mAIFLm1</a> <a href="https://t.co/5H5AND9qSE">pic.twitter.com/5H5AND9qSE</a>&mdash; FEMA (@fema) <a href="https://twitter.com/fema/status/1690830336224096257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>However, no active duty forced are involved yet, Ryder said. That raises questions as to why not — Hawaii is home to tens of thousands of active duty military personnel, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and major Navy and Air Force installations, with ships and aircraft that could assist in flying in supplies or personnel.Ryder said those forces are ready to provide whatever support is requested by Hawaii, but that rushing in resources too quickly could create additional logistics problems for rescue operations on the ground.The multi-agency fire response&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-lahaina-wildfire-warnings-sirens-chaos-f4bb9bb77c093ac8ff16440b54ade4a6">has already been stymied</a>&nbsp;by logistical issues and communication challenges, particularly during evacuations when sirens failed to sound and roadblocks hindered residents leaving.“Indo-Pacom is on a hair trigger to be able to support as necessary,” Ryder said. “Everyone fully understands the pain that people are experiencing right now. We want to do everything we can help. But we also don’t want to contribute to the problem by sending unnecessary capabilities that then will hinder any type of emergency response.”So far 250 Hawaii Army National Guard and Air National Guard members are assisting recovery operations, Army National Guard helicopters have dropped more than 189,000 gallons of water on the wildfires, the Army Corps of Engineers have sent debris removal teams and power experts and the Army Reserve has provided space to collect and distribute supplies, Ryder said.

Pentagon: Active duty forces yet to be deployed on Maui

By CASEY QUINLAN <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/19/rural-hospitals-gird-for-unwinding-of-pandemic-medicaid-coverage/">States Newsroom</a>

Consumers are getting some relief from higher prices as core inflation, which excludes food and energy, continues to show signs of cooling — an encouraging sign for the U.S. economy, according to economists.

The Department of Labor’s report on Thursday showed the consumer price index rose&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm#cpi_pressa.f.1">0.2%</a>&nbsp;in July, in line with&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-05/world-economy-latest-us-inflation-may-reassure-fed">expectations</a>, and 3.2% in the past year compared to 3% in June. Despite that slight uptick, economists say that it’s still good news for the economy overall and for consumers.

This is the second month core inflation has reached pre-pandemic levels, according to an&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/mtkonczal/status/1689622719367716864">analysis</a>&nbsp;of Department of Labor data by the Roosevelt Institute.

“We now have two straight months of low, honestly, quite normal levels of inflation,” Kitty Richards, acting executive director of the progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative, told States Newsroom. “That’s a huge drop from last summer’s peak. And that is something that we should be celebrating, especially given that it has happened in the context of growing real wages and a job market that is still really delivering for American workers. I’m really glad to see that in the inflation report.”

Food prices increased 0.2% from June to July and 4.9% from July 2022. However, egg prices, which families have been complaining about at the checkout line, are falling. Milk prices have also continued to decline. Frozen fish and other seafood prices also fell in July after increasing a bit in June.

David Ortega, a food economist who is an associate professor at Michigan State University, said food price inflation is starting to moderate.

“A 3.6% increase in grocery prices is a welcome relief from what we saw last year. We were talking about double-digit increases, year-over-year for grocery prices,” he said. “They peaked in August [of 2022]. There’s signs that things are moderating and, and they’re definitely improving.”

But it’s still important to consider that these changes, while promising, are not necessarily affecting the average American’s experience of prices at the supermarket in a big way, he cautioned.

“If you talk to consumers, people are like, ‘Things are still expensive at the grocery store.’ And that’s correct because inflation is the rate of increase in prices over a period of time,” he said. “Just because the rate of increase starts to come down, it doesn’t mean that prices are coming down or that things are necessarily getting cheaper. It just means that they’re not increasing in price as quickly.”

Some factors still adding inflationary pressures include climate change and Russia’s war in Ukraine, Ortega said.

“We’ve seen some of those factors start to improve and in some cases, not really be much of a problem like in the case of bird flu for egg prices. But we still have some factors at play that are still adding inflationary pressures ….,” he said. “That’s why inflation has been very persistent. And there’s also a demand story that we’ve seen, especially in the data that we have for last year, that consumer spending on food has been pretty strong.”

Thursday’s inflation numbers have implications for the Federal Reserve’s efforts to bring inflation down to its 2% target. In July, the Fed raised interest rates by 0.25% to the highest it has been in&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/interest-rate-hike-july-2023-how-much-higher-federal-reserve-rcna96210#:~:text=Federal%20Reserve%20raises%20interest%20rates%20by%200.25%25&amp;text=The%20Federal%20Reserve%20announced%20Wednesday,inflation%20in%20the%20U.S.%20economy.">22 years</a>.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said in a July press conference that the Fed was waiting to see whether the June CPI report, as well as other economic data, was a blip before deciding to pause the raising of interest rates. Fed&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/fomcminutes20230614.pdf">meeting details</a>&nbsp;show that officials wanted to see how interest rate hikes, as well as the spring bank collapses, were affecting the economy before making another policy decision.

Powell said the Fed would be watching this CPI report and the following one to see if there is a trend in the moderation of inflation as it considers its next decision.

“Between now and the September meeting, we get two more job reports, two more CPI reports,,” he said. “… All that data I recited we will be looking at all that and making that assessment then. Really, we did have that one good reading but it is just one reading as everybody knows and we’ve seen this borne in the data. Many forecasts call for inflation to remain low but we just don’t know until we see it in the data.”

Shelter also continues to have a significant effect on inflation. It made up 90% of the increase this month according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But there is additional context to consider for shelter data since it is a lagging indicator, Richards said.

“Affordability of housing is a huge concern for Americans. … The data is really telling us shelter costs in the CPI lag by up to a year and market data, which is much more current, shows that housing costs have cooled dramatically since last summer,” she said. “… What that means is that inflation right now is actually lower than the CPI headline number.”

Richards said that because prices for all items without shelter is only 1% for the past 12 months, the Fed may take that data into consideration in September when it makes its next call on interest rates.

“That’s good news. But we also need to start to ask whether the Fed continuing to pursue a 2% CPI inflation target aggressively has a real risk of overshooting.”

There’s only so much effect the Fed can have on demand for food, however, Ortega said.

“The raising of interest rates has little effect on demand for food, especially at the grocery store because food is a necessity. … That may make it more difficult for people to go out and eat at restaurants or maybe not splurge as much when they go to the grocery store. But that is not going to have that significant of an effect on the overall prices and, and what we’re seeing with overall inflation.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/1/1642689710083.jpeg" alt="Food prices overall increased a tad in July over the previous month, but seafood, eggs and milk prices all declined, according to the Department of Labor’s consumer price index. Photo by Cole Rife" />
 <figcaption>Food prices overall increased a tad in July over the previous month, but seafood, eggs and milk prices all declined, according to the Department of Labor’s consumer price index. Photo by Cole Rife</figcaption>
 </figure>By CASEY QUINLAN <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/19/rural-hospitals-gird-for-unwinding-of-pandemic-medicaid-coverage/">States Newsroom</a>Consumers are getting some relief from higher prices as core inflation, which excludes food and energy, continues to show signs of cooling — an encouraging sign for the U.S. economy, according to economists.The Department of Labor’s report on Thursday showed the consumer price index rose&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm#cpi_pressa.f.1">0.2%</a>&nbsp;in July, in line with&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-05/world-economy-latest-us-inflation-may-reassure-fed">expectations</a>, and 3.2% in the past year compared to 3% in June. Despite that slight uptick, economists say that it’s still good news for the economy overall and for consumers.This is the second month core inflation has reached pre-pandemic levels, according to an&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/mtkonczal/status/1689622719367716864">analysis</a>&nbsp;of Department of Labor data by the Roosevelt Institute.“We now have two straight months of low, honestly, quite normal levels of inflation,” Kitty Richards, acting executive director of the progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative, told States Newsroom. “That’s a huge drop from last summer’s peak. And that is something that we should be celebrating, especially given that it has happened in the context of growing real wages and a job market that is still really delivering for American workers. I’m really glad to see that in the inflation report.”Food prices increased 0.2% from June to July and 4.9% from July 2022. However, egg prices, which families have been complaining about at the checkout line, are falling. Milk prices have also continued to decline. Frozen fish and other seafood prices also fell in July after increasing a bit in June.David Ortega, a food economist who is an associate professor at Michigan State University, said food price inflation is starting to moderate.“A 3.6% increase in grocery prices is a welcome relief from what we saw last year. We were talking about double-digit increases, year-over-year for grocery prices,” he said. “They peaked in August [of 2022]. There’s signs that things are moderating and, and they’re definitely improving.”But it’s still important to consider that these changes, while promising, are not necessarily affecting the average American’s experience of prices at the supermarket in a big way, he cautioned.“If you talk to consumers, people are like, ‘Things are still expensive at the grocery store.’ And that’s correct because inflation is the rate of increase in prices over a period of time,” he said. “Just because the rate of increase starts to come down, it doesn’t mean that prices are coming down or that things are necessarily getting cheaper. It just means that they’re not increasing in price as quickly.”Some factors still adding inflationary pressures include climate change and Russia’s war in Ukraine, Ortega said.“We’ve seen some of those factors start to improve and in some cases, not really be much of a problem like in the case of bird flu for egg prices. But we still have some factors at play that are still adding inflationary pressures ….,” he said. “That’s why inflation has been very persistent. And there’s also a demand story that we’ve seen, especially in the data that we have for last year, that consumer spending on food has been pretty strong.”<h2>Housing costs lagging</h2>Thursday’s inflation numbers have implications for the Federal Reserve’s efforts to bring inflation down to its 2% target. In July, the Fed raised interest rates by 0.25% to the highest it has been in&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/interest-rate-hike-july-2023-how-much-higher-federal-reserve-rcna96210#:~:text=Federal%20Reserve%20raises%20interest%20rates%20by%200.25%25&amp;text=The%20Federal%20Reserve%20announced%20Wednesday,inflation%20in%20the%20U.S.%20economy.">22 years</a>.Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said in a July press conference that the Fed was waiting to see whether the June CPI report, as well as other economic data, was a blip before deciding to pause the raising of interest rates. Fed&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/fomcminutes20230614.pdf">meeting details</a>&nbsp;show that officials wanted to see how interest rate hikes, as well as the spring bank collapses, were affecting the economy before making another policy decision.Powell said the Fed would be watching this CPI report and the following one to see if there is a trend in the moderation of inflation as it considers its next decision.“Between now and the September meeting, we get two more job reports, two more CPI reports,,” he said. “… All that data I recited we will be looking at all that and making that assessment then. Really, we did have that one good reading but it is just one reading as everybody knows and we’ve seen this borne in the data. Many forecasts call for inflation to remain low but we just don’t know until we see it in the data.”Shelter also continues to have a significant effect on inflation. It made up 90% of the increase this month according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But there is additional context to consider for shelter data since it is a lagging indicator, Richards said.“Affordability of housing is a huge concern for Americans. … The data is really telling us shelter costs in the CPI lag by up to a year and market data, which is much more current, shows that housing costs have cooled dramatically since last summer,” she said. “… What that means is that inflation right now is actually lower than the CPI headline number.”Richards said that because prices for all items without shelter is only 1% for the past 12 months, the Fed may take that data into consideration in September when it makes its next call on interest rates.“That’s good news. But we also need to start to ask whether the Fed continuing to pursue a 2% CPI inflation target aggressively has a real risk of overshooting.”There’s only so much effect the Fed can have on demand for food, however, Ortega said.“The raising of interest rates has little effect on demand for food, especially at the grocery store because food is a necessity. … That may make it more difficult for people to go out and eat at restaurants or maybe not splurge as much when they go to the grocery store. But that is not going to have that significant of an effect on the overall prices and, and what we’re seeing with overall inflation.”

Consumers seeing relief in some food prices as inflation continues to slow

By the Nebraska Press Association&nbsp;

LINCOLN, Neb. – A delegation of 12 nutritionists and buyers from different feed-producing companies in Mexico were in the Midwest and Nebraska last week to gain a better understanding of the U.S. ethanol sector. In conjunction with the DDGS Symposium, the delegation visited Nebraska to see U.S. corn production areas, visit ethanol plants and meet with potential business partners.

During their visit to Nebraska, the group was provided with an overview of Nebraska’s agricultural and ethanol industries before they traveled to Friend and visited Bruntz Farms. At the farm, the delegation discussed and was introduced to American agriculture including irrigated and non-irrigated corn, soybeans and feeding cattle.

“This opportunity provides benefits for not only the trade team, but me as we learn from one another,” said David Bruntz, farmer from Friend. “With Mexico being our No. 1 customer when it comes to corn and distillers grains, it is vital to for us to understand their needs and to emphasize on why U.S. grown corn is highly regarded. We work together, and this in-person tour delivers the best interaction possible for deep-rooted relationships.”

During the remainder of the group’s visit to Nebraska, they toured POET Ethanol, an ethanol processing plant in Fairmont, Green Plains, an ethanol plant in York, and met with Viterra in Omaha.

“We’re honored to continue to grow our relationships with buyers from across the world,” said Jay Reiners, Chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board. “Nebraskan grown agriculture products are some of the highest quality. We must continue to tell our stories in farming, trade and an excellent product. What we grow matters and ensuring we have worldwide buyers for our crops is important as we can’t utilize all the corn we produce in Nebraska.”

The visit from the Mexican delegation was an offshoot of an event held earlier in the week, DDGS Symposium in Des Moines, Iowa. The event was organized and hosted by the U.S. Grains Council to bring together teams from across the globe to experience American agriculture and its advantages. The Nebraska Corn Board is funded through a producer checkoff investment of ½-cent-per-bushel checkoff on all corn marketed in the state and is managed by nine farmer directors. 

The mission of the Nebraska Corn Board to increase the value and sustainability of Nebraska corn through promotion, market development and research.

By the Nebraska Press Association&nbsp;LINCOLN, Neb. – A delegation of 12 nutritionists and buyers from different feed-producing companies in Mexico were in the Midwest and Nebraska last week to gain a better understanding of the U.S. ethanol sector. In conjunction with the DDGS Symposium, the delegation visited Nebraska to see U.S. corn production areas, visit ethanol plants and meet with potential business partners.During their visit to Nebraska, the group was provided with an overview of Nebraska’s agricultural and ethanol industries before they traveled to Friend and visited Bruntz Farms. At the farm, the delegation discussed and was introduced to American agriculture including irrigated and non-irrigated corn, soybeans and feeding cattle.“This opportunity provides benefits for not only the trade team, but me as we learn from one another,” said David Bruntz, farmer from Friend. “With Mexico being our No. 1 customer when it comes to corn and distillers grains, it is vital to for us to understand their needs and to emphasize on why U.S. grown corn is highly regarded. We work together, and this in-person tour delivers the best interaction possible for deep-rooted relationships.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692026834542.png" alt="Mexican nutritionists and buyers discuss crop conditions with Dave Bruntz, farmer from Friend, Nebraska." />
 <figcaption>Mexican nutritionists and buyers discuss crop conditions with Dave Bruntz, farmer from Friend, Nebraska.</figcaption>
 </figure>During the remainder of the group’s visit to Nebraska, they toured POET Ethanol, an ethanol processing plant in Fairmont, Green Plains, an ethanol plant in York, and met with Viterra in Omaha.“We’re honored to continue to grow our relationships with buyers from across the world,” said Jay Reiners, Chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board. “Nebraskan grown agriculture products are some of the highest quality. We must continue to tell our stories in farming, trade and an excellent product. What we grow matters and ensuring we have worldwide buyers for our crops is important as we can’t utilize all the corn we produce in Nebraska.”The visit from the Mexican delegation was an offshoot of an event held earlier in the week, DDGS Symposium in Des Moines, Iowa. The event was organized and hosted by the U.S. Grains Council to bring together teams from across the globe to experience American agriculture and its advantages. The Nebraska Corn Board is funded through a producer checkoff investment of ½-cent-per-bushel checkoff on all corn marketed in the state and is managed by nine farmer directors. The mission of the Nebraska Corn Board to increase the value and sustainability of Nebraska corn through promotion, market development and research.

 Nebraska Corn Board Hosts Mexico Trade Team

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gone was the helicopter, but&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;over the weekend renewed his reputation for defying norms and creating a mega-celebrity’s spectacle at the Iowa State Fair.

Trump, in fewer than two hours on the steaming fairgrounds in Des Moines, attracted thousands of sweating, chanting supporters to his stops at the Iowa Pork Producers tent, a baby farm animal exhibit and a popular Grand Concourse pub.

All the while, Trump not-so-subtly tried to set himself apart from Florida Gov.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ron-desantis" target="_blank">Ron DeSantis</a>, Trump’s main rival with more than five months until&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iowa-caucuses-2024-new-hampshire-primary-republican-election-ab362c03166a97c50a4db87c3bb494d9" target="_blank">Iowa’s leadoff caucuses</a>&nbsp;and who was on the fairgrounds at the same time.

Just as DeSantis and his family were wrapping up their day at the fair, meeting with Iowa Republican leaders and activists, Trump descended into the huge scrum of backers accompanied by about a dozen Florida U.S. House members, a shot at DeSantis who is making an aggressive pitch to Iowa Republicans.

Trump spoke little to the public in his short time at the fair, except to talk individually to some fairgoers. However, he repeated during remarks to hundreds crammed into the fair favorite “Steer and Stein” the disproven claim that the 2020 election was “rigged,” and that “we got millions and millions more votes.”

Instead, while most candidates seeking caucus support tout Iowa political endorsements, Trump spent most of his public remarks introducing Florida lawmakers who traveled with him to Iowa. The effort, Trump aides said, demonstrates feelings of those who know DeSantis best, but also clearly stoke outrage among those who feel the former president has been persecuted with the two federal indictments he now faces.

“So to all my friends in Iowa when you see them come for this man, know that they are coming for this movement, and they are coming for all of us,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.

Before taking his three children to ride bumper cars and the Ferris wheel, DeSantis boasted about the delegation of state lawmakers in Iowa that flanked him when reporters asked about the Florida representatives surrounding Trump.

“I think it’s fine to bring folks in from Washington, but I think Iowans really are more concerned about the people in their communities,” he said.

DeSantis and other candidates at the fair called out Trump for his criticism of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kim-reynolds" target="_blank">Gov. Kim Reynolds</a>, who has taken a pledge of neutrality and hosted a series of one-on-one conversations that most GOP candidates accepted but Trump declined.

“That’s just how he operates, to attack one of the best governors in the country,” DeSantis said. “I think as Republicans we should be thankful and proud to see other Republicans doing well.”

Most candidates effused praise on Reynolds throughout their appearances at the fair and enjoyed her company on walks around the fairground or flipping pork burgers.

Former Vice President Mike Pence said he was “for Governor Kim Reynolds before it was cool.” Business entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy encouraged fairgoers to give her a round of applause.

Trump also sought to soothe tension between him and Reynolds Saturday even though he didn’t appear with her. But in addressing the drama with Reynolds, Trump repeated his claim that he was responsible for her election. Trump campaigned with Reynolds during her 2018 bid, which she won narrowly. She won reelection by a much larger margin in 2022.

“I have a very nice relationship with her,” he said. “I got her elected.”

For Trump’s team, there was not a trace of concern in the air — given the concentration of supporters, the range of ages and the sea of Make America Great Again hats — about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc" target="_blank">Trump’s indictment this month on federal felony changes he worked to overturn the 2020 election</a>&nbsp;in the run-up to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege" target="_blank">violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol</a>&nbsp;on Jan. 6, 2021.

Stopping briefly to talk to reporters, he declined to say whether he would comply with a protective order by the judge overseeing the election conspiracy case, limiting what the former president can publicly say about evidence in the investigation as he campaigns.

“I’ll have to take a look at the order,” Trump said. “The whole thing is a fake — it was put out by Biden, because they can’t win an election the fair way.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gone was the helicopter, but&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;over the weekend renewed his reputation for defying norms and creating a mega-celebrity’s spectacle at the Iowa State Fair.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">WATCH: (from Saturday) Former President Trump: &quot;We don&#39;t take plea deals because I did nothing wrong. It&#39;s called election interference.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Ch2w7InRnm">pic.twitter.com/Ch2w7InRnm</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1690737890425200640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Trump, in fewer than two hours on the steaming fairgrounds in Des Moines, attracted thousands of sweating, chanting supporters to his stops at the Iowa Pork Producers tent, a baby farm animal exhibit and a popular Grand Concourse pub.All the while, Trump not-so-subtly tried to set himself apart from Florida Gov.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ron-desantis" target="_blank">Ron DeSantis</a>, Trump’s main rival with more than five months until&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iowa-caucuses-2024-new-hampshire-primary-republican-election-ab362c03166a97c50a4db87c3bb494d9" target="_blank">Iowa’s leadoff caucuses</a>&nbsp;and who was on the fairgrounds at the same time.Just as DeSantis and his family were wrapping up their day at the fair, meeting with Iowa Republican leaders and activists, Trump descended into the huge scrum of backers accompanied by about a dozen Florida U.S. House members, a shot at DeSantis who is making an aggressive pitch to Iowa Republicans.Trump spoke little to the public in his short time at the fair, except to talk individually to some fairgoers. However, he repeated during remarks to hundreds crammed into the fair favorite “Steer and Stein” the disproven claim that the 2020 election was “rigged,” and that “we got millions and millions more votes.”Instead, while most candidates seeking caucus support tout Iowa political endorsements, Trump spent most of his public remarks introducing Florida lawmakers who traveled with him to Iowa. The effort, Trump aides said, demonstrates feelings of those who know DeSantis best, but also clearly stoke outrage among those who feel the former president has been persecuted with the two federal indictments he now faces.“So to all my friends in Iowa when you see them come for this man, know that they are coming for this movement, and they are coming for all of us,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.Before taking his three children to ride bumper cars and the Ferris wheel, DeSantis boasted about the delegation of state lawmakers in Iowa that flanked him when reporters asked about the Florida representatives surrounding Trump.“I think it’s fine to bring folks in from Washington, but I think Iowans really are more concerned about the people in their communities,” he said.DeSantis and other candidates at the fair called out Trump for his criticism of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kim-reynolds" target="_blank">Gov. Kim Reynolds</a>, who has taken a pledge of neutrality and hosted a series of one-on-one conversations that most GOP candidates accepted but Trump declined.“That’s just how he operates, to attack one of the best governors in the country,” DeSantis said. “I think as Republicans we should be thankful and proud to see other Republicans doing well.”Most candidates effused praise on Reynolds throughout their appearances at the fair and enjoyed her company on walks around the fairground or flipping pork burgers.Former Vice President Mike Pence said he was “for Governor Kim Reynolds before it was cool.” Business entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy encouraged fairgoers to give her a round of applause.Trump also sought to soothe tension between him and Reynolds Saturday even though he didn’t appear with her. But in addressing the drama with Reynolds, Trump repeated his claim that he was responsible for her election. Trump campaigned with Reynolds during her 2018 bid, which she won narrowly. She won reelection by a much larger margin in 2022.“I have a very nice relationship with her,” he said. “I got her elected.”For Trump’s team, there was not a trace of concern in the air — given the concentration of supporters, the range of ages and the sea of Make America Great Again hats — about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc" target="_blank">Trump’s indictment this month on federal felony changes he worked to overturn the 2020 election</a>&nbsp;in the run-up to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege" target="_blank">violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol</a>&nbsp;on Jan. 6, 2021.Stopping briefly to talk to reporters, he declined to say whether he would comply with a protective order by the judge overseeing the election conspiracy case, limiting what the former president can publicly say about evidence in the investigation as he campaigns.“I’ll have to take a look at the order,” Trump said. “The whole thing is a fake — it was put out by Biden, because they can’t win an election the fair way.”Asked later whether he would agree to plead guilty to lesser charges, Trump called the reporter “a wise guy.” “We don’t do plea deals,” he said.In 2015, as the emerging Republican presidential nominee, Trump commanded attention at the fair by offering children rides on his personal helicopter. In suit and tie, the then-TV celebrity and New York real estate executive cut a far different figure than candidates typically in jeans and cowboy boots.In just as brazen style Saturday, Trump’s Boeing 757 circled the fairgrounds ahead of his landing just as DeSantis was manning the grill at the Iowa Pork Producers tent.It was one of several episodes this year in Iowa where Trump has sought to outshine DeSantis while both were in the state. DeSantis trails Trump in national and Iowa polls but is viewed still early in the race as his strongest potential challenger and has recently accelerated his Iowa outreach in an attempt to land an early blow against the former president who remains extremely popular within the GOP base.Cheers of “Trump, Trump, Trump” erupted at the three stops the former president made — in a blue suit, but this time in an open-collared shirt — trudging shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.Though so much of Trump’s stop was out of the ordinary, at the pork tent, he bowed to state fair protocol.He held a pork chop on a stick up to the crowd and waved it.