GENOA, Neb. (AP) — Archeologists resumed digging Tuesday at the remote site of a former Native American boarding school in central Nebraska, searching for the remains of children who died there&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-science-health-education-native-americans-86e005cc1f631fe1f3e52592af60aa52">decades ago</a>.

The search for a hidden cemetery near the former Genoa Indian Industrial School in Nebraska gained renewed interest after the discovery of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/canada-456d8b4077bf2b86b5ed1d608bf97b63">hundreds of children’s remains</a>&nbsp;at other Native American boarding school sites across the U.S. and Canada since 2021, said Dave Williams, the state's archeologist whose team is digging at the site.

The team hasn't found human remains yet, Williams said, but the dig only began on Monday and is expected to last through the week.

Birds called into the sun- and wind-filled space as excavators worked within the confines of an orange fence and yellow caution tape. They sifted steadily through dirt and tossed water away while Native American leaders and community members watched intently from the sidelines.

“I came today to witness the dig because I had an aunt who died here, Mildred Lowe, in 1930, and she never came home. So I’m here to find out if they find any bones and how we’re going to go about identifying and all of that,” said Carolyn Fiscus, a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.

Fiscus added: “As a tribal member and elder and grandma, I’m interested. I’ve got a lot of spiritual and emotional investment in this. And my mom too, who’s now passed away. That’s why I’m here.”

The school was part of a national system of more than&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-education-native-americans-cbd724ae4e423c788089ef98cec4315a">400 Native American boarding schools</a>&nbsp;that attempted to assimilate Indigenous people into white culture by separating children from their families, cutting them off from their heritage and inflicting physical and emotional abuse.

Newspaper clippings, records and a student’s letter indicate at least 86 students died at the school in Genoa, most due to diseases such as tuberculosis and typhoid. At least one death was blamed on an accidental shooting.

Researchers identified 49 of the children killed but have not been able to find names for 37 students. The bodies of some of those children were returned to their homes but others are believed to have been buried on the school grounds at a location long forgotten.

Judi Gaiashkibos, a member of the Ponca Tribe and the executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs, whose mother attended the school in the late 1920s, has been involved in efforts to find the cemetery for years. She said it’s difficult to spend time in the community where many Native Americans suffered, but that the search can help to heal and bring the children’s voices to the surface.

Williams, the archeologist, said finding the cemetery could provide some peace and comfort to people who have suffered for years, not knowing what happened to their relatives who were sent to boarding schools but never came home.

The school, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) west of Omaha, opened in 1884 and at its height was home to nearly 600 students from more than 40 tribes across the country. It closed in 1931 and most buildings were demolished long ago.

In an effort to find the cemetery, dogs trained to detect the odor of decaying remains searched the area last summer and indicated there could be a burial site in a narrow piece of land bordered by a farm field, railroad tracks and a canal. In November, ground-penetrating radar showed an area that was consistent with graves, but there will be no guarantees until researchers finish digging, Williams said.

If the dig reveals human remains, the State Archeology Office will continue to work with the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs to decide on next steps. They could rebury the remains in the field and create a memorial or exhume and return the bodies to tribes.

Last year, the U.S. Interior Department — led by Secretary Deb Haaland, a member of Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico and the first Native American Cabinet secretary — released a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/education-native-americans-cultures-congress-1052724fc31b28f7addae7f5b2e50830">first-of-its-kind report</a>&nbsp;that named hundreds of schools the federal government supported to strip Native Americans of their cultures and identities.

At least 500 children died at some of the schools, but that number is expected to reach into the thousands or tens of thousands as research continues.

“I hope they find the cemetery so that we can do ceremony and lay our spiritual relatives to rest. So they know we know they’re here, and they’re ok,” Fiscus, of the Winnebago Tribe, said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689103801901.jpeg" alt="Archeological technician Makenzie Coufal clears soil away as workers dig for the suspected remains of children who once attended the Genoa Indian Industrial School, Tuesday, July 11, 2023, in Genoa, Neb. The mystery of where the bodies of more than 80 children are buried could be solved this week as archeologists dig in a Nebraska field that a century ago was part of a sprawling Native American boarding school. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)" />
 <figcaption>Archeological technician Makenzie Coufal clears soil away as workers dig for the suspected remains of children who once attended the Genoa Indian Industrial School, Tuesday, July 11, 2023, in Genoa, Neb. The mystery of where the bodies of more than 80 children are buried could be solved this week as archeologists dig in a Nebraska field that a century ago was part of a sprawling Native American boarding school. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)</figcaption>
 </figure>GENOA, Neb. (AP) — Archeologists resumed digging Tuesday at the remote site of a former Native American boarding school in central Nebraska, searching for the remains of children who died there&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-science-health-education-native-americans-86e005cc1f631fe1f3e52592af60aa52">decades ago</a>.The search for a hidden cemetery near the former Genoa Indian Industrial School in Nebraska gained renewed interest after the discovery of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/canada-456d8b4077bf2b86b5ed1d608bf97b63">hundreds of children’s remains</a>&nbsp;at other Native American boarding school sites across the U.S. and Canada since 2021, said Dave Williams, the state's archeologist whose team is digging at the site.The team hasn't found human remains yet, Williams said, but the dig only began on Monday and is expected to last through the week.Birds called into the sun- and wind-filled space as excavators worked within the confines of an orange fence and yellow caution tape. They sifted steadily through dirt and tossed water away while Native American leaders and community members watched intently from the sidelines.“I came today to witness the dig because I had an aunt who died here, Mildred Lowe, in 1930, and she never came home. So I’m here to find out if they find any bones and how we’re going to go about identifying and all of that,” said Carolyn Fiscus, a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.Fiscus added: “As a tribal member and elder and grandma, I’m interested. I’ve got a lot of spiritual and emotional investment in this. And my mom too, who’s now passed away. That’s why I’m here.”The school was part of a national system of more than&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-education-native-americans-cbd724ae4e423c788089ef98cec4315a">400 Native American boarding schools</a>&nbsp;that attempted to assimilate Indigenous people into white culture by separating children from their families, cutting them off from their heritage and inflicting physical and emotional abuse.Newspaper clippings, records and a student’s letter indicate at least 86 students died at the school in Genoa, most due to diseases such as tuberculosis and typhoid. At least one death was blamed on an accidental shooting.Researchers identified 49 of the children killed but have not been able to find names for 37 students. The bodies of some of those children were returned to their homes but others are believed to have been buried on the school grounds at a location long forgotten.Judi Gaiashkibos, a member of the Ponca Tribe and the executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs, whose mother attended the school in the late 1920s, has been involved in efforts to find the cemetery for years. She said it’s difficult to spend time in the community where many Native Americans suffered, but that the search can help to heal and bring the children’s voices to the surface.Williams, the archeologist, said finding the cemetery could provide some peace and comfort to people who have suffered for years, not knowing what happened to their relatives who were sent to boarding schools but never came home.The school, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) west of Omaha, opened in 1884 and at its height was home to nearly 600 students from more than 40 tribes across the country. It closed in 1931 and most buildings were demolished long ago.In an effort to find the cemetery, dogs trained to detect the odor of decaying remains searched the area last summer and indicated there could be a burial site in a narrow piece of land bordered by a farm field, railroad tracks and a canal. In November, ground-penetrating radar showed an area that was consistent with graves, but there will be no guarantees until researchers finish digging, Williams said.The process is expected to take days.If the dig reveals human remains, the State Archeology Office will continue to work with the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs to decide on next steps. They could rebury the remains in the field and create a memorial or exhume and return the bodies to tribes.Last year, the U.S. Interior Department — led by Secretary Deb Haaland, a member of Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico and the first Native American Cabinet secretary — released a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/education-native-americans-cultures-congress-1052724fc31b28f7addae7f5b2e50830">first-of-its-kind report</a>&nbsp;that named hundreds of schools the federal government supported to strip Native Americans of their cultures and identities.At least 500 children died at some of the schools, but that number is expected to reach into the thousands or tens of thousands as research continues.“I hope they find the cemetery so that we can do ceremony and lay our spiritual relatives to rest. So they know we know they’re here, and they’re ok,” Fiscus, of the Winnebago Tribe, said.

Dig resumes for children's remains at former Nebraska boarding school 

NEW YORK (AP) —Bank of America must reimburse customers more than $100 million and pay $150 million in fines for “double-dipping” on overdraft fees, withholding reward bonuses on credit cards and opening accounts without customer consent.

It is one of the highest financial penalties in years against Bank of America, which has largely spent the last 15 years trying to clean up its reputation and market itself to the public as a bank focused on financial health and not on overdraft fee income.

BofA will need to refund $100 million to customers, pay $90 million in penalties to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and $60 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. “Bank of America wrongfully withheld credit card rewards, double-dipped on fees, and opened accounts without consent,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, in a statement. “These practices are illegal and undermine customer trust."

Bank of America had a policy of charging customers $35 after the bank declined a transaction because the customer did not have enough funds in their account, the CFPB said. The agency determined that the bank double-dipped by allowing fees to be repeatedly charged for the same transaction.

BofA has been cutting down on its reliance on overdraft fee revenue for more than a decade, and cut how much it charges customers for an overdraft to $15 last year. Brian Moynihan, the bank's CEO and chairman, told The Associated Press in 2022 that under these new policies,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/brian-moynihan-92e3aa312012c9d4bc54720bb2b5ba60">overdraft fee income was down 90% from 2021</a>. The bank said that it voluntarily reduced overdraft fees and eliminated all non-sufficient fund fees in the first half of last year.

Bank of America also offered people cash rewards and bonus points when signing up for a card, but the CFPB said the bank illegally withheld promised credit card account bonuses.

The CFPB also found that, since at least 2012, Bank of America employees illegally applied for and enrolled consumers in credit card accounts without their knowledge or authorization. It is a similar charge that was made against Wells Fargo, which paid billions in fines after it was determined that the San Francisco bank&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/b5fd960b22a95d5968f6781f786ac754">opened millions of unauthorized bank accounts</a>&nbsp;in order to meet unrealistic sales goals.

In 2014 the CFPB ordered Bank of America to pay $727 million for illegal credit card practices. Last year it was ordered to pay a $10 million civil penalty over unlawful garnishments. Also in 2022, the CFPB and OCC fined Bank of America $225 million and required it to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in redress to consumers for botched disbursement of state unemployment benefits at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689083961974.png" alt="Photo courtesy Bank of America" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Bank of America</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) —Bank of America must reimburse customers more than $100 million and pay $150 million in fines for “double-dipping” on overdraft fees, withholding reward bonuses on credit cards and opening accounts without customer consent.It is one of the highest financial penalties in years against Bank of America, which has largely spent the last 15 years trying to clean up its reputation and market itself to the public as a bank focused on financial health and not on overdraft fee income.BofA will need to refund $100 million to customers, pay $90 million in penalties to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and $60 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. “Bank of America wrongfully withheld credit card rewards, double-dipped on fees, and opened accounts without consent,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, in a statement. “These practices are illegal and undermine customer trust."Bank of America had a policy of charging customers $35 after the bank declined a transaction because the customer did not have enough funds in their account, the CFPB said. The agency determined that the bank double-dipped by allowing fees to be repeatedly charged for the same transaction.BofA has been cutting down on its reliance on overdraft fee revenue for more than a decade, and cut how much it charges customers for an overdraft to $15 last year. Brian Moynihan, the bank's CEO and chairman, told The Associated Press in 2022 that under these new policies,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/brian-moynihan-92e3aa312012c9d4bc54720bb2b5ba60">overdraft fee income was down 90% from 2021</a>. The bank said that it voluntarily reduced overdraft fees and eliminated all non-sufficient fund fees in the first half of last year.Bank of America also offered people cash rewards and bonus points when signing up for a card, but the CFPB said the bank illegally withheld promised credit card account bonuses.The CFPB also found that, since at least 2012, Bank of America employees illegally applied for and enrolled consumers in credit card accounts without their knowledge or authorization. It is a similar charge that was made against Wells Fargo, which paid billions in fines after it was determined that the San Francisco bank&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/b5fd960b22a95d5968f6781f786ac754">opened millions of unauthorized bank accounts</a>&nbsp;in order to meet unrealistic sales goals.In 2014 the CFPB ordered Bank of America to pay $727 million for illegal credit card practices. Last year it was ordered to pay a $10 million civil penalty over unlawful garnishments. Also in 2022, the CFPB and OCC fined Bank of America $225 million and required it to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in redress to consumers for botched disbursement of state unemployment benefits at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.---------

BofA hit with $250M in fines for 'double-dipping' fees, fake accounts

By Paul Hammel <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/02/08/state-approved-use-of-pesticide-coated-seed-corn-for-ethanol-plant-a-decade-ago/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — State Sen. Tom Brewer, after his third trip to the battlefield in Ukraine, says the Ukrainians can win, but “it’s going to take them a while.”

“Now they walk with a lot more swagger,” Brewer said.

“They believe they can win because they think they’re in a much better position, whether it be their passion to win, their morale, their knowledge, their equipment … all of that is working to their advantage,” he said.

“That wasn’t true a year ago — a year ago they didn’t know if they would survive as a country.”

The decorated U.S. Army veteran, who was wounded twice during deployments to Afghanistan, spoke on Friday, less than a week after returning from a trip to Ukraine.

The trip included visits with Ukrainian military leaders in Kyiv, a few days near the Zaporizhia nuclear complex, and a precarious stop in the trenches near the war-torn city of Bahkmut.

“The place is just medieval,” the 64-year-old senator said.

Trees have been shredded into leafless trunks by months of artillery and rifle fire; dozens, maybe hundreds, of bodies of Russians remain unclaimed on the no-man’s land between the Ukrainian and Russian fronts.

Brewer said his first two trips,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/07/04/retired-solider-nebraska-state-senator-sees-no-quit-in-ukrainian-forces/">in June</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/10/06/nebraska-sen-brewer-headed-back-to-ukraine-this-time-to-take-bibles-evacuate-elderly/">November of 2022</a>, were mostly for church and humanitarian reasons, delivering aid to citizens still living in the war zone, giving E-Bibles and support to wounded soldiers and talking to the Ukrainian officials he could.

This trip, he said, mainly focused on visits to the front, where they slept in basements as refuge from the thud of artillery fire.

As he’s said before, it’s important that an American visits the battlefield — so Ukrainian soldiers can see and thank someone from the U.S. for their help — but it’s also important to discover if the billions in dollars of American aid and military goods are being used and used properly.

“A lot of the time forward, it’s just understanding what’s going on,” Brewer said. “How is the American taxpayer dollar being used?”

Once he gets settled, he said, he will prepare what the military calls a “trip report,” which — as in the past — he will share with Nebraska’s congressional delegation and other federal officials.

“You must get pretty close to understand what’s going on and see what’s effective,” Brewer said. “But you also don’t want to get so close that you get blown up.”

“I think we walked that tightrope probably as close as you want to,” he added. “There were days that were pretty hairy.”

He traveled with a friend, Noah Philson of Elmwood, as well as a Lincoln television reporter, John Grinvalds, and a Ukrainian driver/interpreter he didn’t want to identify for fear of reprisals against his family.

Last year, the Ukrainians were fighting mostly with old Russian equipment, but now they’re using modern German tanks, state-of-the-art American artillery and longer-range missiles — better equipment than the Russians use.

He said the delivery of U.S. “cluster bombs” — which are banned by many countries — and longer-range rockets are “game changers” that will help the Ukrainians break through the trench- and mine-infested lines built up by the Russians, and disrupt supply lines and ammunition deliveries.

Brewer dismissed criticism of the cluster bombs, saying that it was “different” because the Ukrainians were using them on their own land and will be responsible for cleaning up any unexploded ordnance that might threaten Ukrainian civilians. Plus, he said, Russia has been using its own cluster bombs, and he said the Russian bombs’ failure rate is much higher than U.S. bombs, 20% compared to about 4%.

Brewer was at the front for the firing of M777 howitzer cannon that can launch an artillery shell guided to a target by a drone, which “paints” a target with a laser beam. He showed a reporter a video of the shell striking a Russian ammunition dump, sending trails of sparks flying in all directions.

“This is a drone war,” he said, with drones hitting targets, guiding missile strikes and providing real-time observation of the battlefield.

The American military, he said, may later regret not having observers in Ukraine to learn what they are about drone warfare.

Among their stops was the flooded city of Kherson, inundated when the Russians blew up a huge dam spanning the Dnipro River.

The inundated streets, Brewer said, reminded him of his deployment to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit with one difference: The Russians continued to shell Kherson even as rescue teams sought to evacuate flood victims.

“It just seems to be about as cruel as you could get,” he said.

Now, Brewer said, the big worry is whether the Russians will do something else considered unthinkable: blowing up the nuclear reactors at Zaporizhzhia.

The word is that the Russians have rigged the plant with explosives, he said. If the six nuclear reactors at Zaporizhzhia blew up there — compared to only one at Chernobyl — it could create a radioactive nightmare that could spread to nearby countries, Brewer said.

“If we start having countries in NATO being affected by the actions of the Russians, is that considered an attack on a NATO country?” he asked.

And what if Russia resorts to using tactical nuclear weapons, Brewer added. How will NATO respond? How will the United States?

"There’s a lot of really big issues that need to be addressed,” he said.

Brewer said while the Ukrainian offensive hasn’t advanced as quickly and as far as initially anticipated, it is progressing. The Ukrainians can’t afford to lose as many soldiers as the Russians, so, he said, they are advancing judiciously, probing for weaknesses in the Russian front.

America, and Europe, should stay the course, according to Brewer.

“They’re going to survive as a country,” he said. “The question is will they be forced into some kind of a truce and have give up a good share of their country, or can they take back their territory?”

Brewer said he doesn’t see the Ukrainians giving up until they recapture all the land taken by Russia.

“We are giving a lot of treasure, but not blood — in Afghanistan we gave both&nbsp;blood and treasure — to see them maintain a democracy, and they’re fighting like tigers to keep it.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689078686574.png" alt="State Senator Tom Brewer, third from left, said that few Americans visit the front, so when Ukrainian soldiers see one, they are eager to embrace and thank Americans for their aid in fighting the war. (Courtesy of Noah Philson)" />
 <figcaption>State Senator Tom Brewer, third from left, said that few Americans visit the front, so when Ukrainian soldiers see one, they are eager to embrace and thank Americans for their aid in fighting the war. (Courtesy of Noah Philson)</figcaption>
 </figure>By Paul Hammel <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/02/08/state-approved-use-of-pesticide-coated-seed-corn-for-ethanol-plant-a-decade-ago/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — State Sen. Tom Brewer, after his third trip to the battlefield in Ukraine, says the Ukrainians can win, but “it’s going to take them a while.”“Now they walk with a lot more swagger,” Brewer said. “They believe they can win because they think they’re in a much better position, whether it be their passion to win, their morale, their knowledge, their equipment … all of that is working to their advantage,” he said.“That wasn’t true a year ago — a year ago they didn’t know if they would survive as a country.”<h2>‘Medieval’ battlefield</h2>The decorated U.S. Army veteran, who was wounded twice during deployments to Afghanistan, spoke on Friday, less than a week after returning from a trip to Ukraine.The trip included visits with Ukrainian military leaders in Kyiv, a few days near the Zaporizhia nuclear complex, and a precarious stop in the trenches near the war-torn city of Bahkmut.“The place is just medieval,” the 64-year-old senator said.Trees have been shredded into leafless trunks by months of artillery and rifle fire; dozens, maybe hundreds, of bodies of Russians remain unclaimed on the no-man’s land between the Ukrainian and Russian fronts.Brewer said his first two trips,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/07/04/retired-solider-nebraska-state-senator-sees-no-quit-in-ukrainian-forces/">in June</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/10/06/nebraska-sen-brewer-headed-back-to-ukraine-this-time-to-take-bibles-evacuate-elderly/">November of 2022</a>, were mostly for church and humanitarian reasons, delivering aid to citizens still living in the war zone, giving E-Bibles and support to wounded soldiers and talking to the Ukrainian officials he could.This trip, he said, mainly focused on visits to the front, where they slept in basements as refuge from the thud of artillery fire.As he’s said before, it’s important that an American visits the battlefield — so Ukrainian soldiers can see and thank someone from the U.S. for their help — but it’s also important to discover if the billions in dollars of American aid and military goods are being used and used properly.“A lot of the time forward, it’s just understanding what’s going on,” Brewer said. “How is the American taxpayer dollar being used?”Once he gets settled, he said, he will prepare what the military calls a “trip report,” which — as in the past — he will share with Nebraska’s congressional delegation and other federal officials.“You must get pretty close to understand what’s going on and see what’s effective,” Brewer said. “But you also don’t want to get so close that you get blown up.”<h2>‘Pretty hairy’</h2>“I think we walked that tightrope probably as close as you want to,” he added. “There were days that were pretty hairy.”He traveled with a friend, Noah Philson of Elmwood, as well as a Lincoln television reporter, John Grinvalds, and a Ukrainian driver/interpreter he didn’t want to identify for fear of reprisals against his family.Last year, the Ukrainians were fighting mostly with old Russian equipment, but now they’re using modern German tanks, state-of-the-art American artillery and longer-range missiles — better equipment than the Russians use.He said the delivery of U.S. “cluster bombs” — which are banned by many countries — and longer-range rockets are “game changers” that will help the Ukrainians break through the trench- and mine-infested lines built up by the Russians, and disrupt supply lines and ammunition deliveries.Brewer dismissed criticism of the cluster bombs, saying that it was “different” because the Ukrainians were using them on their own land and will be responsible for cleaning up any unexploded ordnance that might threaten Ukrainian civilians. Plus, he said, Russia has been using its own cluster bombs, and he said the Russian bombs’ failure rate is much higher than U.S. bombs, 20% compared to about 4%.<h2>‘A drone war’</h2>Brewer was at the front for the firing of M777 howitzer cannon that can launch an artillery shell guided to a target by a drone, which “paints” a target with a laser beam. He showed a reporter a video of the shell striking a Russian ammunition dump, sending trails of sparks flying in all directions.“This is a drone war,” he said, with drones hitting targets, guiding missile strikes and providing real-time observation of the battlefield.The American military, he said, may later regret not having observers in Ukraine to learn what they are about drone warfare.Among their stops was the flooded city of Kherson, inundated when the Russians blew up a huge dam spanning the Dnipro River.The inundated streets, Brewer said, reminded him of his deployment to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit with one difference: The Russians continued to shell Kherson even as rescue teams sought to evacuate flood victims.“It just seems to be about as cruel as you could get,” he said.Now, Brewer said, the big worry is whether the Russians will do something else considered unthinkable: blowing up the nuclear reactors at Zaporizhzhia.The word is that the Russians have rigged the plant with explosives, he said. If the six nuclear reactors at Zaporizhzhia blew up there — compared to only one at Chernobyl — it could create a radioactive nightmare that could spread to nearby countries, Brewer said.<h2>What if nuclear plant is blown up?</h2>“If we start having countries in NATO being affected by the actions of the Russians, is that considered an attack on a NATO country?” he asked.And what if Russia resorts to using tactical nuclear weapons, Brewer added. How will NATO respond? How will the United States?"There’s a lot of really big issues that need to be addressed,” he said.Brewer said while the Ukrainian offensive hasn’t advanced as quickly and as far as initially anticipated, it is progressing. The Ukrainians can’t afford to lose as many soldiers as the Russians, so, he said, they are advancing judiciously, probing for weaknesses in the Russian front.America, and Europe, should stay the course, according to Brewer.“They’re going to survive as a country,” he said. “The question is will they be forced into some kind of a truce and have give up a good share of their country, or can they take back their territory?”Brewer said he doesn’t see the Ukrainians giving up until they recapture all the land taken by Russia.“We are giving a lot of treasure, but not blood — in Afghanistan we gave both&nbsp;blood and treasure — to see them maintain a democracy, and they’re fighting like tigers to keep it.”

Nebraska senator says Ukrainians can win the war, but it will take time

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Biden administration asked a federal appeals court Monday to temporarily block a lower court's order limiting executive branch officials' discussions with social media companies about controversial online posts.

The request for an emergency stay was filed at the 5th U.S. District Court of Appeals shortly after U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty rejected an administration motion that he put his own July 4 order on hold. The order came in a lawsuit filed by Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, as well as a conservative website owner and four individual critics of government COVID-19 policies.

The lawsuit claimed the administration, in effect, censored free speech by using threats of regulatory action or protection while pressuring companies to remove what it deemed misinformation. COVID-19 vaccines, legal issues involving President Joe Biden’s son Hunter and election fraud allegations were among the topics spotlighted in the lawsuit.

Doughty was nominated to the federal bench by former President Donald Trump. His&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/social-media-protected-speech-lawsuit-injunction-148c1cd43f88a0284d5a3c53fd333727">injunction</a>&nbsp;blocked the Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI and multiple other government agencies and administration officials from meeting with or contacting social media companies for the purpose of “encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.”

Administration attorneys said in the motion filed at the 5th Circuit that Doughty's ruling was too broad and vague, and had the potential to chill government officials' speech on important matters. And they said Doughty failed to point to any evidence that the administration had made threats against social media companies to coerce them to take down posts.

"The district court identified no evidence suggesting that a threat accompanied any request for the removal of content. Indeed, the order denying the stay — presumably highlighting the ostensibly strongest evidence — referred to 'a series of public media statements,'" the administration said.

They asked that the 5th Circuit block Doughty's order while the case is pursued at the appeals court in New Orleans or, at minimum, grant a 10-day block of the order so the administration could prepare to go to the Supreme Court to seek a longer stay.

Earlier Monday, Doughty rejected administration requests that he stay his own order pending appeal.

“In essence," Doughty's Monday order said, "Defendants argue that the injunction should be stayed because it might interfere with the Government’s ability to continue working with social-media companies to censor Americans’ core political speech on the basis of viewpoint. In other words, the Government seeks a stay of the injunction so that it can continue violating the First Amendment.”

Government lawyers have argued that the companies control their own policies regarding misinformation and that the lawsuit casts officials' comments on issues and policy as threats. The administration said Doughty's July 4 order was unclear about who in the executive branch it covers and what they can or cannot say about important topics discussed on social media platforms.

The order could cause “grave harm” by preventing the government from “engaging in a vast range of lawful and responsible conduct,” government lawyers said in requesting the stay Thursday night.

Doughty order said the administration “seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth.’” The order, which was to remain in effect pending further arguments in Doughty's court, was hailed by conservatives as a victory for free speech and a blow to censorship. But critics said the order and accompanying reasons, covering more than 160 pages, were broad, unclear and could chill government efforts to fight misinformation on important topics.

The criticisms were echoed in the government's Thursday night request for a stay. “The potential breadth of the entities and employees covered by the injunction combined with the injunction’s sweeping substantive scope will chill a wide range of lawful government conduct relating to Defendants’ law enforcement responsibilities, obligations to protect the national security, and prerogative to speak on matters of public concern,” the government's motion said.

The lawsuit's plaintiffs countered with a weekend filing opposing a stay. Among the arguments are that the July 4 injunction carves out exemptions allowing officials to contact social media companies about postings involving criminal activity or public safety threats; national security threats; election-related issues including voter suppression attempts, voting infrastructure threats and illegal campaign contributions; and saying officials can continue "exercising permissible public government speech promoting government policies or views on matters of public concern.”

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge in Louisiana refused Monday to put a temporary hold on his own order limiting Biden administration officials contacts with social media companies.

Biden administration attorneys had asked U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty in Monroe to stay his own order, which was issued last Tuesday, while they pursue an appeal. That order came in a lawsuit filed by Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, as well as a conservative website owner and four individual critics of government COVID-19 policies.

“Defendants do not identify any specific conduct that they claim is lawful but prevented by the injunction,” Doughty said in Monday's ruling. He refused to block is own order while it is appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The administration can also ask the appeals court for a stay.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1667963892129.png" alt="Republican U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt was the Missouri attorney general when the lawsuit was filed-courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Republican U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt was the Missouri attorney general when the lawsuit was filed-courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Biden administration asked a federal appeals court Monday to temporarily block a lower court's order limiting executive branch officials' discussions with social media companies about controversial online posts.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">🚨 Today, a federal court denied the Biden Administration&#39;s motions to stay the injunction in Missouri v. Biden. This is a big victory, and continues to ensure that the Biden Administration can&#39;t censor speech online. Here are a few notable quotes from the order -&gt;&mdash; Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) <a href="https://twitter.com/Eric_Schmitt/status/1678484492976046080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The request for an emergency stay was filed at the 5th U.S. District Court of Appeals shortly after U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty rejected an administration motion that he put his own July 4 order on hold. The order came in a lawsuit filed by Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, as well as a conservative website owner and four individual critics of government COVID-19 policies.The lawsuit claimed the administration, in effect, censored free speech by using threats of regulatory action or protection while pressuring companies to remove what it deemed misinformation. COVID-19 vaccines, legal issues involving President Joe Biden’s son Hunter and election fraud allegations were among the topics spotlighted in the lawsuit.Doughty was nominated to the federal bench by former President Donald Trump. His&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/social-media-protected-speech-lawsuit-injunction-148c1cd43f88a0284d5a3c53fd333727">injunction</a>&nbsp;blocked the Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI and multiple other government agencies and administration officials from meeting with or contacting social media companies for the purpose of “encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.”Administration attorneys said in the motion filed at the 5th Circuit that Doughty's ruling was too broad and vague, and had the potential to chill government officials' speech on important matters. And they said Doughty failed to point to any evidence that the administration had made threats against social media companies to coerce them to take down posts."The district court identified no evidence suggesting that a threat accompanied any request for the removal of content. Indeed, the order denying the stay — presumably highlighting the ostensibly strongest evidence — referred to 'a series of public media statements,'" the administration said.They asked that the 5th Circuit block Doughty's order while the case is pursued at the appeals court in New Orleans or, at minimum, grant a 10-day block of the order so the administration could prepare to go to the Supreme Court to seek a longer stay.Earlier Monday, Doughty rejected administration requests that he stay his own order pending appeal.“In essence," Doughty's Monday order said, "Defendants argue that the injunction should be stayed because it might interfere with the Government’s ability to continue working with social-media companies to censor Americans’ core political speech on the basis of viewpoint. In other words, the Government seeks a stay of the injunction so that it can continue violating the First Amendment.”Government lawyers have argued that the companies control their own policies regarding misinformation and that the lawsuit casts officials' comments on issues and policy as threats. The administration said Doughty's July 4 order was unclear about who in the executive branch it covers and what they can or cannot say about important topics discussed on social media platforms.The order could cause “grave harm” by preventing the government from “engaging in a vast range of lawful and responsible conduct,” government lawyers said in requesting the stay Thursday night.Doughty order said the administration “seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth.’” The order, which was to remain in effect pending further arguments in Doughty's court, was hailed by conservatives as a victory for free speech and a blow to censorship. But critics said the order and accompanying reasons, covering more than 160 pages, were broad, unclear and could chill government efforts to fight misinformation on important topics.The criticisms were echoed in the government's Thursday night request for a stay. “The potential breadth of the entities and employees covered by the injunction combined with the injunction’s sweeping substantive scope will chill a wide range of lawful government conduct relating to Defendants’ law enforcement responsibilities, obligations to protect the national security, and prerogative to speak on matters of public concern,” the government's motion said.The lawsuit's plaintiffs countered with a weekend filing opposing a stay. Among the arguments are that the July 4 injunction carves out exemptions allowing officials to contact social media companies about postings involving criminal activity or public safety threats; national security threats; election-related issues including voter suppression attempts, voting infrastructure threats and illegal campaign contributions; and saying officials can continue "exercising permissible public government speech promoting government policies or views on matters of public concern.”----------------NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge in Louisiana refused Monday to put a temporary hold on his own order limiting Biden administration officials contacts with social media companies.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">🚨 Today, a federal court denied the Biden Administration&#39;s motions to stay the injunction in Missouri v. Biden. This is a big victory, and continues to ensure that the Biden Administration can&#39;t censor speech online. Here are a few notable quotes from the order -&gt;&mdash; Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) <a href="https://twitter.com/Eric_Schmitt/status/1678484492976046080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Biden administration attorneys had asked U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty in Monroe to stay his own order, which was issued last Tuesday, while they pursue an appeal. That order came in a lawsuit filed by Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, as well as a conservative website owner and four individual critics of government COVID-19 policies.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1667963892129.png" alt="Republican U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, who was the Missouri attorney general when the lawsuit was filed, said on Twitter that the ruling was “a huge win for the First Amendment and a blow to censorship.”-courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Republican U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, who was the Missouri attorney general when the lawsuit was filed, said on Twitter that the ruling was “a huge win for the First Amendment and a blow to censorship.”-courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>The lawsuit claimed the administration, in effect, censored free speech by using threats of regulatory action or protection while pressuring companies to remove what it deemed misinformation. COVID-19 vaccines, legal issues involving President Joe Biden’s son Hunter and election fraud allegations were among the topics spotlighted in the lawsuit.Doughty was nominated to the federal bench by former President Donald Trump. His&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/social-media-protected-speech-lawsuit-injunction-148c1cd43f88a0284d5a3c53fd333727">injunction</a>&nbsp;blocked the Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI and multiple other government agencies and administration officials from meeting with or contacting social media companies for the purpose of “encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.”“Defendants do not identify any specific conduct that they claim is lawful but prevented by the injunction,” Doughty said in Monday's ruling. He refused to block is own order while it is appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The administration can also ask the appeals court for a stay.Government lawyers have argued that the companies control their own policies regarding misinformation and that the lawsuit casts officials' comments on issues and policy as threats. The administration said Doughty's July 4 order was unclear about who in the executive branch it covers and what they can or cannot say about important topics discussed on social media platforms.The order could cause “grave harm” by preventing the government from “engaging in a vast range of lawful and responsible conduct,” government lawyers said in requesting the stay Thursday night.Doughty order said the administration “seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth.’” The order, which was to remain in effect pending further arguments in Doughty's court, was hailed by conservatives as a victory for free speech and a blow to censorship. But critics said the order and accompanying reasons, covering more than 160 pages, were broad, unclear and could chill government efforts to fight misinformation on important topics.The criticisms were echoed in the government's Thursday night request for a stay. “The potential breadth of the entities and employees covered by the injunction combined with the injunction’s sweeping substantive scope will chill a wide range of lawful government conduct relating to Defendants’ law enforcement responsibilities, obligations to protect the national security, and prerogative to speak on matters of public concern,” the government's motion said.The lawsuit's plaintiffs countered with a weekend filing opposing a stay. Among the arguments are that the July 4 injunction carves out exemptions allowing officials to contact social media companies about postings involving criminal activity or public safety threats; national security threats; election-related issues including voter suppression attempts, voting infrastructure threats and illegal campaign contributions; and saying officials can continue "exercising permissible public government speech promoting government policies or views on matters of public concern.”

Biden continues court fight on interference in social media content

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The suspect in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed seven people in the Chicago area, triggered a nationwide panic, and led to an overhaul in the safety of over-the-counter medication packaging, has died, police said on Monday.

Officers, firefighters and EMTs responding to a report of an unresponsive person at about 4 p.m. Sunday found James W. Lewis dead in his Cambridge, Massachusetts, home, Cambridge Police Superintendent Frederick Cabral said in a statement. He was 76, police said.

“Following an investigation, Lewis’ death was determined to be not suspicious,” the statement says.

No one was ever charged in the deaths of seven people who took the over-the-counter painkillers laced with cyanide. Lewis served more than 12 years in prison for sending an extortion note to manufacturer Johnson &amp; Johnson, demanding $1 million to “stop the killing.” He and his wife moved to Massachusetts in 1995 following his release. Listed numbers for his wife were not in service.

When Lewis was arrested in New York City in 1982 after a nationwide manhunt, he gave investigators a detailed account of how the killer might have operated. Lewis later admitted sending the letter and demanding the money, but he said he never intended to collect it. He said he wanted to embarrass his wife’s former employer by having the money sent to the employer’s bank account.

Lewis, who had a history of trouble with the law, always denied any role in the Tylenol deaths, but remained a suspect and in 2010 gave DNA samples to the FBI. He even created a website in which he said he was framed. Although the couple lived briefly in Chicago in the early 1980s, Lewis said they were in New York City at the time of the poisonings.

In a 1992 interview with The Associated Press, Lewis explained that the account he gave authorities was simply his way of explaining the killer’s actions.

“I was doing like I would have done for a corporate client, making a list of possible scenarios,” said Lewis, who maintained his innocence. He called the killer “a heinous, cold-blooded killer, a cruel monster.”

The FBI seized a computer and other items from Lewis’ home in February 2009 after Illinois authorities renewed the investigation.

The FBI’s Chicago office at the time cited “advances in forensic technology” and said it, along with the Illinois State Police and local police departments, was conducting a “complete review of all evidence developed in connection," with the killings.

In a span of three days beginning Sept. 29, 1982, seven people — including a 12-year-old girl — who took cyanide-laced Tylenol in the Chicago area died, triggering a nationwide recall of the product. The poisonings led to the widespread adoption of tamperproof packaging for many over-the-counter medications.

In 1978, he was charged in Kansas City, Missouri, with the dismemberment murder of Raymond West, 72, who had hired Lewis as an accountant. The charges were dismissed because West’s cause of death was not determined and some evidence had been illegally obtained.

He was convicted of six counts of mail fraud in a 1981 credit card scheme in Kansas City accused of using the name and background of a former tax client to obtain 13 credit cards.

Lewis was charged in 2004 with rape, kidnapping and other offenses for an alleged attack on a woman in Cambridge. He was jailed for three years while awaiting trial, but prosecutors dismissed the charges on the day his trial was scheduled to begin after the victim refused to testify, the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office said at the time.

Police in 1983 described Lewis as a “chameleon” who lived in several states, used at least 20 aliases and held many jobs, including computer specialist, tax accountant, importer of Indian tapestries and salesman of jewelry, pharmaceutical machinery and real estate.

The lack of accountability in the case has long frustrated victims' families.

Monica Janus, who was 8 years old when three members of her family died after taking the tainted medication, told CBS Chicago in 2022 that she thought the investigation was “really sloppy.”

Lewis' wife was out of town and contacted a neighbor when she could not get a hold of her husband, and the neighbor contacted police, Cabral said.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The suspect in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed seven people in the Chicago area, triggered a nationwide panic, and led to an overhaul in the safety of over-the-counter medication packaging, has died, police said on Monday.Officers, firefighters and EMTs responding to a report of an unresponsive person at about 4 p.m. Sunday found James W. Lewis dead in his Cambridge, Massachusetts, home, Cambridge Police Superintendent Frederick Cabral said in a statement. He was 76, police said.“Following an investigation, Lewis’ death was determined to be not suspicious,” the statement says.No one was ever charged in the deaths of seven people who took the over-the-counter painkillers laced with cyanide. Lewis served more than 12 years in prison for sending an extortion note to manufacturer Johnson &amp; Johnson, demanding $1 million to “stop the killing.” He and his wife moved to Massachusetts in 1995 following his release. Listed numbers for his wife were not in service.When Lewis was arrested in New York City in 1982 after a nationwide manhunt, he gave investigators a detailed account of how the killer might have operated. Lewis later admitted sending the letter and demanding the money, but he said he never intended to collect it. He said he wanted to embarrass his wife’s former employer by having the money sent to the employer’s bank account.Lewis, who had a history of trouble with the law, always denied any role in the Tylenol deaths, but remained a suspect and in 2010 gave DNA samples to the FBI. He even created a website in which he said he was framed. Although the couple lived briefly in Chicago in the early 1980s, Lewis said they were in New York City at the time of the poisonings.In a 1992 interview with The Associated Press, Lewis explained that the account he gave authorities was simply his way of explaining the killer’s actions.“I was doing like I would have done for a corporate client, making a list of possible scenarios,” said Lewis, who maintained his innocence. He called the killer “a heinous, cold-blooded killer, a cruel monster.”The FBI seized a computer and other items from Lewis’ home in February 2009 after Illinois authorities renewed the investigation.The FBI’s Chicago office at the time cited “advances in forensic technology” and said it, along with the Illinois State Police and local police departments, was conducting a “complete review of all evidence developed in connection," with the killings.In a span of three days beginning Sept. 29, 1982, seven people — including a 12-year-old girl — who took cyanide-laced Tylenol in the Chicago area died, triggering a nationwide recall of the product. The poisonings led to the widespread adoption of tamperproof packaging for many over-the-counter medications.Lewis had prior run-ins with the law.In 1978, he was charged in Kansas City, Missouri, with the dismemberment murder of Raymond West, 72, who had hired Lewis as an accountant. The charges were dismissed because West’s cause of death was not determined and some evidence had been illegally obtained.He was convicted of six counts of mail fraud in a 1981 credit card scheme in Kansas City accused of using the name and background of a former tax client to obtain 13 credit cards.Lewis was charged in 2004 with rape, kidnapping and other offenses for an alleged attack on a woman in Cambridge. He was jailed for three years while awaiting trial, but prosecutors dismissed the charges on the day his trial was scheduled to begin after the victim refused to testify, the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office said at the time.Police in 1983 described Lewis as a “chameleon” who lived in several states, used at least 20 aliases and held many jobs, including computer specialist, tax accountant, importer of Indian tapestries and salesman of jewelry, pharmaceutical machinery and real estate.The lack of accountability in the case has long frustrated victims' families.Monica Janus, who was 8 years old when three members of her family died after taking the tainted medication, told CBS Chicago in 2022 that she thought the investigation was “really sloppy.”Lewis' wife was out of town and contacted a neighbor when she could not get a hold of her husband, and the neighbor contacted police, Cabral said.

Suspect in Tylenol poisonings that killed 7 people in 1982 is dead

LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen is leading his first trade mission, visiting Vietnam with a goal of growing trade with a country that already buys almost $1 billion in Nebraska goods.

The weeklong visit, announced Friday, began Sunday.

“Vietnam is an important and growing export market for Nebraska processed feed like corn gluten, soybean meal and distillers grains,” Pillen said in a press release.

The trip includes stops at a large grocery/distribution center, meetings with Vietnamese trade officials and a visit to the Vietnam University of Agriculture.

Total Nebraska exports to Vietnam from Nebraska exceeded $946 million, according to 2021 data. The country buys a significant quantity of &nbsp;dairy products, eggs, dry edible beans and beef from Nebraska.

Others on the trip include Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Sherry Vinton and Chancellor Joanne Li of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, along with representatives of ag-related businesses and academic and government institutions.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1688988539194.png" alt=" In December, then-Gov. Pete Ricketts led a trade mission to Japan, including this visit to the Aeon supermarket to see an all-Nebraskan beef line. (Courtesy of Governor’s Office)" />
 <figcaption> In December, then-Gov. Pete Ricketts led a trade mission to Japan, including this visit to the Aeon supermarket to see an all-Nebraskan beef line. (Courtesy of Governor’s Office)</figcaption>
 </figure>By Paul Hammel <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/02/08/state-approved-use-of-pesticide-coated-seed-corn-for-ethanol-plant-a-decade-ago/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen is leading his first trade mission, visiting Vietnam with a goal of growing trade with a country that already buys almost $1 billion in Nebraska goods.The weeklong visit, announced Friday, began Sunday.“Vietnam is an important and growing export market for Nebraska processed feed like corn gluten, soybean meal and distillers grains,” Pillen said in a press release.The trip includes stops at a large grocery/distribution center, meetings with Vietnamese trade officials and a visit to the Vietnam University of Agriculture.Total Nebraska exports to Vietnam from Nebraska exceeded $946 million, according to 2021 data. The country buys a significant quantity of &nbsp;dairy products, eggs, dry edible beans and beef from Nebraska.Others on the trip include Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Sherry Vinton and Chancellor Joanne Li of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, along with representatives of ag-related businesses and academic and government institutions.

Nebraska governor leaves for first trade mission - Destination: Vietnam

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A man sought in connection with a fatal shooting and an armed carjacking in Nebraska was shot and killed by police officers in Iowa following a chase.

Police in Omaha, Nebraska, responded to a domestic assault call before 6 a.m. Saturday and learned that 41-year-old Matthew Briggs had broken into a home and assaulted a woman, police said in a news release. She was able to escape.

Minutes later, police learned that Briggs drove his car through the garage door of a home nearby. The woman who lived there wasn't home but Briggs shot at a neighbor who came over to check on him, police said. The neighbor was unhurt.

Around 7 a.m., police were called to a third home and found 52-year-old Steven Donsbach shot to death. Briggs was named as a person of interest.

On Saturday afternoon, a Toyota Camry was carjacked in suburban Omaha by a man matching Briggs' description. Officers spotted the car and a pursuit began.

The chase crossed into Iowa. In Council Bluff, the Toyota crashed and two officers — one from Omaha and one from Council Bluffs — shot Briggs. He died at a hospital. Omaha police did not say what prompted the shooting, but said two guns were found in the stolen car Briggs was driving.

Both officers are on paid administrative pending an investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

By Associated PressCOUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A man sought in connection with a fatal shooting and an armed carjacking in Nebraska was shot and killed by police officers in Iowa following a chase.Police in Omaha, Nebraska, responded to a domestic assault call before 6 a.m. Saturday and learned that 41-year-old Matthew Briggs had broken into a home and assaulted a woman, police said in a news release. She was able to escape.Minutes later, police learned that Briggs drove his car through the garage door of a home nearby. The woman who lived there wasn't home but Briggs shot at a neighbor who came over to check on him, police said. The neighbor was unhurt.Around 7 a.m., police were called to a third home and found 52-year-old Steven Donsbach shot to death. Briggs was named as a person of interest.On Saturday afternoon, a Toyota Camry was carjacked in suburban Omaha by a man matching Briggs' description. Officers spotted the car and a pursuit began.The chase crossed into Iowa. In Council Bluff, the Toyota crashed and two officers — one from Omaha and one from Council Bluffs — shot Briggs. He died at a hospital. Omaha police did not say what prompted the shooting, but said two guns were found in the stolen car Briggs was driving.Both officers are on paid administrative pending an investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Man sought in Neb. homicide, armed carjacking shot and killed by police in Iowa

TAMPA, Fla.&nbsp;– On Saturday, the U.S. Central Command conducted a strike in Syria that resulted in the death of Usamah al-Muhajir, an ISIS leader in eastern Syria, according to a media release from the agency.

“We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region,” said Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command. “ISIS remains a threat, not only to the region but well beyond.”

There are no indications that any civilians were killed in this strike, and the coalition is assessing reports of a civilian injury.

This will disrupt and degrade ISIS’s ability to plan and conduct terror attacks. However, CENTCOM’s operations against ISIS, alongside partner forces in Iraq and Syria, will continue in order to achieve the group’s enduring defeat.

The strike on Friday was conducted by the same MQ-9s that had, earlier in the day, been harassed by Russian aircraft in an encounter that had lasted almost two hours.

TAMPA, Fla.&nbsp;– On Saturday, the U.S. Central Command conducted a strike in Syria that resulted in the death of Usamah al-Muhajir, an ISIS leader in eastern Syria, according to a media release from the agency.“We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region,” said Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command. “ISIS remains a threat, not only to the region but well beyond.”There are no indications that any civilians were killed in this strike, and the coalition is assessing reports of a civilian injury.This will disrupt and degrade ISIS’s ability to plan and conduct terror attacks. However, CENTCOM’s operations against ISIS, alongside partner forces in Iraq and Syria, will continue in order to achieve the group’s enduring defeat.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Regarding Russia&#39;s unprofessional behavior while reacting with U.S. aircraft over Syria, please see the video of today&#39;s encounter. For the full statement by Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, Commander, 9th AF (AFCENT) visit<a href="https://t.co/WKDYPiPT96">https://t.co/WKDYPiPT96</a><a href="https://twitter.com/CENTCOM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CENTCOM</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DeptofDefense?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DeptofDefense</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/usairforce?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@usairforce</a> <a href="https://t.co/nmSSBxUojO">pic.twitter.com/nmSSBxUojO</a>&mdash; US AFCENT (@USAFCENT) <a href="https://twitter.com/USAFCENT/status/1676712564686831619?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The strike on Friday was conducted by the same MQ-9s that had, earlier in the day, been harassed by Russian aircraft in an encounter that had lasted almost two hours.

🎥US drones 'harassed' by Russian jets kill Islamic State leader 

By Jared Strong <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/woman-who-shouted-shame-following-critical-gun-bill-passage-is-banned-from-nebraska-capitol/">States Newsroom&nbsp;</a>

COUNCIL BLUFFS — Former President Donald Trump claimed he is the “most pro-farmer president that you’ve ever had” during a campaign stop in Iowa and joked that his payments to them during a trade war with China should guarantee he will win the state’s caucuses.

“How the hell can I not? I gave the farmers $28 billion,” he said Friday in a ballroom of the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs.

Trump was referring to bailout money paid to farmers in 2019 amid his efforts to rework the country’s trade policies, which included imposing tariffs on Chinese products. The country retaliated, in part, by imposing its own tariffs on soybeans, crippling an important export market for Iowa farmers.

Last year, the United States exported about $154 billion of goods to China, up about 19% from 2017, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Exports dropped to about $107 billion during the trade war in 2019.

Trump said farmers benefited from the dispute and his trade renegotiations with other countries such as Canada and Mexico. He said farmers also benefited from tax cuts implemented by Congress during his administration, along with a temporary increase in the exemption to the federal tax that is levied on the estates of wealthy people after they die.

“A lot of times they lose the farm,” he said of children of farmers who can’t afford to pay.

Further, Trump said his administration supported the ethanol industry by allowing summertime sales of E15 — a gasoline blend with 15% ethanol. A&nbsp;federal judge later reversed that action, saying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did not have the authority to lift restrictions on its sales without approval from Congress.

Trump said he would continue to negotiate better trade deals for farmers if reelected and would prevent Chinese ownership of American farmland.

State Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, a Wilton Republican who is a senior adviser to Trump’s campaign in Iowa, launched the Friday event with a panel discussion about agriculture that included talks about water quality restrictions, farm subsidies and other issues.

“There is no doubt in my mind that Donald Trump has been the single best president in United States history for Iowa agriculture and farmers in general,” Kaufmann said. “I mean, look, he brought the rain today.”

Rally attendees had long waits in sometimes heavy rain to get into the venue, which was considerably smaller than the large-scale rallies for which Trump is known. Staff at the Mid-America Center said the ballroom could accommodate about 2,000 people.

As they waited inside, there were periodic chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” and “Build the wall!” There was also an impromptu recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

It was the Republican frontrunner’s first appearance in Iowa since&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/06/09/the-indictment-is-unsealed-trump-faces-37-felony-counts-in-classified-documents-probe/">his 37-count federal indictment</a>&nbsp;last month that accuses Trump of scheming to keep classified documents from his time as president.

“It’s all bull—,” Trump said Friday. “I’m the only person who ever got indicted that got more popular.”

Trump, as a presidential candidate seven years ago, made repeated statements about the importance of protecting classified information, according to the indictment: “No one will be above the law,” he said in August 2016.

But he has pivoted to claim he is being unfairly targeted by the federal government for political reasons and that others — including President Joe Biden and his first presidential opponent Hillary Clinton — are guilty of similar offenses.

However, the accusations against Trump stand apart in that he allegedly took more than 100 classified documents from his former presidency to his resort and home in Florida, stored them haphazardly, and disclosed some of the information they contained to people without appropriate security clearances.

That doesn’t matter to Travis Humbert, of Underwood, who attended the rally with his 13-year-old son.

“It could be true,” said Humbert, who voted twice in presidential elections for Trump and plans to again. “But people are stuck in the past. Who cares? We all have a past. Let’s move on. He’s a businessman, not a politician, and he’s actually trying to work for the American people.”

The federal indictment is the second criminal allegation against him that has yielded formal charges this year. In April, a New York grand jury indicted Trump&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/03/30/trump-indicted-by-manhattan-grand-jury-according-to-reports/">for falsifying business records</a>. The state indictment targets Trump’s claims that certain payments to an attorney were for legal fees, while investigators allege they were reimbursements for a hush-money payment to an adult film actress.

And there are two pending investigations into whether Trump attempted to interfere with the 2020 election in Georgia — a state Biden narrowly won — and into Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack of the U.S. Capitol.

“It’s a joke — a total joke,” Patty Murray, of Omaha, said of the criminal inquiries into Trump.

Murray wants Trump to get a second term so that he can finish building a wall at the country’s southern border with Mexico, promote international peace and bolster the economy.

She said the investigations and indictments have done little to diminish Trump’s credibility with his supporters.

“It’s helped him,” Murray said. “Everybody says it’s a joke.”

Jeanne Greisen, a Lincoln, Nebraska,resident who volunteered at Friday’s rally, agreed: “People like to support somebody that’s being attacked and doing the right thing. They like to back the small guy.”

Trump pledged last month to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden and his family if he is elected president again. Greisen hesitated to express support for politically motivated investigations but said: “I think it just needs to be fair across the board. The same law needs to be applied to every person.”

Greisen said she will vote for Trump, hoping in a second term he can require public school children to learn more about the U.S. Constitution, lessen the prevalence of human trafficking and reduce the size and scope of government.

Greisen, Murray and Humbert also said that the economy has suffered under Biden’s leadership and that inflation is still a major problem.

“Gas prices need to come back down,” said Humbert, of Woodward.

<a target="_blank" href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-r/2024/iowa/">Recent polls</a>&nbsp;of potential Republican caucus voters in Iowa show Trump with double-digit percentage point leads over his nearest competitor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Nationally, pollsters show a wider margin of support for Trump, with Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, in a distant third.

Trump lobbed numerous personal attacks at DeSantis for being a “lousy candidate” for governor who was only elected because of Trump’s support in 2018.

Trump said that his status as the clear frontrunner is what made him a target for criminal investigations and that he is acting as a shield for the nation’s citizens.

“They want to take away my freedom because I sure as hell won’t let them take your freedom,” he said to rapturous applause. He later added: “In the end, they’re not after me. They’re after you, and I just happen to be standing in the way.”

He was not more specific about who was planning to take freedoms from citizens nor what specific freedoms they are.

Iowa Auditor Rob Sand, the state’s sole elected Democrat to currently hold a statewide office, criticized Trump at a news conference in Des Moines on Friday before the former president’s Council Bluffs event.

Sand said Trump is advocating for the same “extremist” policies that Iowa Republican lawmakers and Gov. Kim Reynolds advocate for. He pointed to Reynolds’&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/07/05/reynolds-announces-special-session-on-abortion-for-july-11/">call for a special session</a>&nbsp;Tuesday, July 11, to pass abortion legislation following the Iowa Supreme Court decision not allowing enforcement of the state’s 2018 six-week abortion ban.

“So as Donald Trump comes to Iowa today, it’s important to remember that he bragged about being the one to get Roe overturned,” Sand said. “It’s important to remember that they are paving the way for the legislative bans that Republicans are going to do right here in Iowa.”

Trump mentioned abortion briefly and said the Supreme Court decision gives abortion opponents more leverage to negotiate for regulations that are less extreme than what he said Democrats want. He said he supports exceptions for rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.

Of the court decision to eliminate a right to abortion at the federal level: “Good things are going to come about it, and you move it back to the states where all the legal scholars said it should be,” Trump said.

This article first appeared in the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/07/07/trump-appeals-to-farmers-in-iowa-campaign-visit/">Iowa Capital Dispatch</a>,&nbsp;a sister&nbsp;site of the Nebraska Examiner in the States Newsroom network.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1688866742399.png" alt="Former President Donald Trump said he is a champion of farmers in a campaign visit to Council Bluffs on July 7, 2023. (Jared Strong/Iowa Capital Dispatch)" />
 <figcaption>Former President Donald Trump said he is a champion of farmers in a campaign visit to Council Bluffs on July 7, 2023. (Jared Strong/Iowa Capital Dispatch)</figcaption>
 </figure>By Jared Strong <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/woman-who-shouted-shame-following-critical-gun-bill-passage-is-banned-from-nebraska-capitol/">States Newsroom&nbsp;</a>COUNCIL BLUFFS — Former President Donald Trump claimed he is the “most pro-farmer president that you’ve ever had” during a campaign stop in Iowa and joked that his payments to them during a trade war with China should guarantee he will win the state’s caucuses.“How the hell can I not? I gave the farmers $28 billion,” he said Friday in a ballroom of the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs.Trump was referring to bailout money paid to farmers in 2019 amid his efforts to rework the country’s trade policies, which included imposing tariffs on Chinese products. The country retaliated, in part, by imposing its own tariffs on soybeans, crippling an important export market for Iowa farmers.Last year, the United States exported about $154 billion of goods to China, up about 19% from 2017, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Exports dropped to about $107 billion during the trade war in 2019.Trump said farmers benefited from the dispute and his trade renegotiations with other countries such as Canada and Mexico. He said farmers also benefited from tax cuts implemented by Congress during his administration, along with a temporary increase in the exemption to the federal tax that is levied on the estates of wealthy people after they die.“A lot of times they lose the farm,” he said of children of farmers who can’t afford to pay.Further, Trump said his administration supported the ethanol industry by allowing summertime sales of E15 — a gasoline blend with 15% ethanol. A&nbsp;federal judge later reversed that action, saying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did not have the authority to lift restrictions on its sales without approval from Congress.Trump said he would continue to negotiate better trade deals for farmers if reelected and would prevent Chinese ownership of American farmland.State Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, a Wilton Republican who is a senior adviser to Trump’s campaign in Iowa, launched the Friday event with a panel discussion about agriculture that included talks about water quality restrictions, farm subsidies and other issues.“There is no doubt in my mind that Donald Trump has been the single best president in United States history for Iowa agriculture and farmers in general,” Kaufmann said. “I mean, look, he brought the rain today.”Rally attendees had long waits in sometimes heavy rain to get into the venue, which was considerably smaller than the large-scale rallies for which Trump is known. Staff at the Mid-America Center said the ballroom could accommodate about 2,000 people.As they waited inside, there were periodic chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” and “Build the wall!” There was also an impromptu recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.<h2>Shadow of indictments</h2>It was the Republican frontrunner’s first appearance in Iowa since&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/06/09/the-indictment-is-unsealed-trump-faces-37-felony-counts-in-classified-documents-probe/">his 37-count federal indictment</a>&nbsp;last month that accuses Trump of scheming to keep classified documents from his time as president.“It’s all bull—,” Trump said Friday. “I’m the only person who ever got indicted that got more popular.”Trump, as a presidential candidate seven years ago, made repeated statements about the importance of protecting classified information, according to the indictment: “No one will be above the law,” he said in August 2016.But he has pivoted to claim he is being unfairly targeted by the federal government for political reasons and that others — including President Joe Biden and his first presidential opponent Hillary Clinton — are guilty of similar offenses.However, the accusations against Trump stand apart in that he allegedly took more than 100 classified documents from his former presidency to his resort and home in Florida, stored them haphazardly, and disclosed some of the information they contained to people without appropriate security clearances.That doesn’t matter to Travis Humbert, of Underwood, who attended the rally with his 13-year-old son.“It could be true,” said Humbert, who voted twice in presidential elections for Trump and plans to again. “But people are stuck in the past. Who cares? We all have a past. Let’s move on. He’s a businessman, not a politician, and he’s actually trying to work for the American people.”The federal indictment is the second criminal allegation against him that has yielded formal charges this year. In April, a New York grand jury indicted Trump&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/03/30/trump-indicted-by-manhattan-grand-jury-according-to-reports/">for falsifying business records</a>. The state indictment targets Trump’s claims that certain payments to an attorney were for legal fees, while investigators allege they were reimbursements for a hush-money payment to an adult film actress.And there are two pending investigations into whether Trump attempted to interfere with the 2020 election in Georgia — a state Biden narrowly won — and into Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack of the U.S. Capitol.“It’s a joke — a total joke,” Patty Murray, of Omaha, said of the criminal inquiries into Trump.Murray wants Trump to get a second term so that he can finish building a wall at the country’s southern border with Mexico, promote international peace and bolster the economy.She said the investigations and indictments have done little to diminish Trump’s credibility with his supporters.“It’s helped him,” Murray said. “Everybody says it’s a joke.”Jeanne Greisen, a Lincoln, Nebraska,resident who volunteered at Friday’s rally, agreed: “People like to support somebody that’s being attacked and doing the right thing. They like to back the small guy.”Trump pledged last month to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden and his family if he is elected president again. Greisen hesitated to express support for politically motivated investigations but said: “I think it just needs to be fair across the board. The same law needs to be applied to every person.”Greisen said she will vote for Trump, hoping in a second term he can require public school children to learn more about the U.S. Constitution, lessen the prevalence of human trafficking and reduce the size and scope of government.Greisen, Murray and Humbert also said that the economy has suffered under Biden’s leadership and that inflation is still a major problem.“Gas prices need to come back down,” said Humbert, of Woodward.<a target="_blank" href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-r/2024/iowa/">Recent polls</a>&nbsp;of potential Republican caucus voters in Iowa show Trump with double-digit percentage point leads over his nearest competitor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Nationally, pollsters show a wider margin of support for Trump, with Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, in a distant third.Trump lobbed numerous personal attacks at DeSantis for being a “lousy candidate” for governor who was only elected because of Trump’s support in 2018.Trump said that his status as the clear frontrunner is what made him a target for criminal investigations and that he is acting as a shield for the nation’s citizens.“They want to take away my freedom because I sure as hell won’t let them take your freedom,” he said to rapturous applause. He later added: “In the end, they’re not after me. They’re after you, and I just happen to be standing in the way.”He was not more specific about who was planning to take freedoms from citizens nor what specific freedoms they are.<h2>Democrats point to Roe</h2>Iowa Auditor Rob Sand, the state’s sole elected Democrat to currently hold a statewide office, criticized Trump at a news conference in Des Moines on Friday before the former president’s Council Bluffs event.Sand said Trump is advocating for the same “extremist” policies that Iowa Republican lawmakers and Gov. Kim Reynolds advocate for. He pointed to Reynolds’&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/07/05/reynolds-announces-special-session-on-abortion-for-july-11/">call for a special session</a>&nbsp;Tuesday, July 11, to pass abortion legislation following the Iowa Supreme Court decision not allowing enforcement of the state’s 2018 six-week abortion ban.“So as Donald Trump comes to Iowa today, it’s important to remember that he bragged about being the one to get Roe overturned,” Sand said. “It’s important to remember that they are paving the way for the legislative bans that Republicans are going to do right here in Iowa.”Trump mentioned abortion briefly and said the Supreme Court decision gives abortion opponents more leverage to negotiate for regulations that are less extreme than what he said Democrats want. He said he supports exceptions for rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.Of the court decision to eliminate a right to abortion at the federal level: “Good things are going to come about it, and you move it back to the states where all the legal scholars said it should be,” Trump said.This article first appeared in the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/07/07/trump-appeals-to-farmers-in-iowa-campaign-visit/">Iowa Capital Dispatch</a>,&nbsp;a sister&nbsp;site of the Nebraska Examiner in the States Newsroom network.

Trump appeals to farmers in campaign appearance

More than 6,000 United Methodist congregations — a fifth of the U.S. total — have now received permission to leave the denomination&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-gay-rights-f3fc3ec9e1f39501495d227d5a0963f8">amid a schism</a>&nbsp;over theology and the role of LGBTQ people in the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination.

Those figures emerge following the close of regular meetings in June for the denomination's regional bodies, known as annual conferences. The departures began with a trickle in 2019 — when the church created a four-year window of opportunity for U.S. congregations to depart over LGBTQ-related issues — and cascaded to its highest level this year.

Church law forbids the marriage or ordination of “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals,” but many conservatives have chosen to leave amid a growing defiance of those bans in many U.S. churches and conferences.

Many of the departing congregations are joining the Global Methodist Church, a denomination created last year by conservatives breaking from the UMC, while others are going independent or joining different denominations.

Some 6,182 congregations have received approval to disaffiliate since 2019, according to an unofficial&nbsp;<a href="https://www.umnews.org/en/news/disaffiliations-approved-by-annual-conferences">tally by United Methodist News Service</a>, which has been tracking votes by annual conferences. That figure is 4,172 for this year alone, it reported.

Some annual conferences may approve more departures at special sessions later this year, according to the Rev. Jay Therrell, president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, a conservative caucus that has advocated for the exiting churches. While most UMC congregations are remaining, many of the departing congregations are large, and denominational officials are bracing for significant budget cuts in 2024.

The numbers of exiting churches are higher than conservatives originally estimated, Therrell said.

Legal wrangles have largely been resolved over how much compensation the departing congregations must pay for their property and other financial obligations.

“For the most part, bishops and other annual conference leaders have been very gracious, and I deeply appreciate that,” Therrell said. “There have been some small exceptions to that, and those are unfortunate, but we’re grateful that cooler and calmer heads have prevailed.”

Bishop Thomas Bickerton, president of the UMC’s Council of Bishops, said the departures were disappointing.

“I don’t think any of us want to see any of our churches leave,” he said. “We're called to be the body of Christ, we're called to be unified. There’s never been a time when the church has not been without conflict, but there’s been a way we’ve worked through that.”

But for those who want “to go and live out their Christian faith in a new expression, we wish God’s blessings on them,” he said.

The split has been long in the making, mirroring controversies that have led to splits in other mainline Protestant denominations. United Methodist legislative bodies, known as general conferences, have repeatedly reinforced bans on LGBTQ marriage and ordination, on the strength of coalitions of conservatives in U.S. and overseas churches.

But amid increased defiance of those bans in many U.S. churches, many conservatives decided to launch the separate Global Methodist Church, saying they believed the sexuality issues reflected deeper theological differences.

The departures have been particularly large in the South and Midwest, with states such as Texas, Alabama, Kentucky and Ohio each losing hundreds of congregations.

In some areas, United Methodists have designated&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-methodists-schism-disaffiliation-lgbtq-44fd14d471124d23e1fd5677a8f2b1d9">“lighthouse” or similarly named congregations,</a>&nbsp;with a mission for receiving members who wanted to stay United Methodists but whose churches were leaving. The GMC has begun planting new churches, including in areas where United Methodist congregations have remained in that denomination.

With these departures, progressives are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-gay-rights-marriage-1ed8df15ecbb36700cbe638b29dc6617">expected to propose changing church law</a>&nbsp;at the next General Conference in 2024 to allow for same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ people.

The United Methodist Church has about 6.5 million members in the United States and at least that many abroad, according to its website. The U.S. membership has been in steady decline, while the overseas membership has grown, particularly in Africa.

Therrell said there will be efforts at the 2024 General Conference to provide overseas churches a legal way to disaffiliate, similar to what U.S. congregations have had.

The GMC says about 3,000 churches so far have affiliated with the new denomination, with more expected.

Bickerton said it's time for United Methodists remaining in the denomination to refocus their work.

“Quite often, when you’re pressed, you begin to exhibit creativity,” he said. “We’re pivoting away from what we were into what our next expression is going to be." Budgets will be smaller, but "this is our opportunity to refashion the church for relevance in the 21st century and really focus on evangelism.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1688661428812.png" alt="Photo Asbury United Methodist Church in Prairie Village, Kansas" />
 <figcaption>Photo Asbury United Methodist Church in Prairie Village, Kansas</figcaption>
 </figure>By PETER SMITH Associated PressMore than 6,000 United Methodist congregations — a fifth of the U.S. total — have now received permission to leave the denomination&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-gay-rights-f3fc3ec9e1f39501495d227d5a0963f8">amid a schism</a>&nbsp;over theology and the role of LGBTQ people in the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination.Those figures emerge following the close of regular meetings in June for the denomination's regional bodies, known as annual conferences. The departures began with a trickle in 2019 — when the church created a four-year window of opportunity for U.S. congregations to depart over LGBTQ-related issues — and cascaded to its highest level this year.Church law forbids the marriage or ordination of “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals,” but many conservatives have chosen to leave amid a growing defiance of those bans in many U.S. churches and conferences.Many of the departing congregations are joining the Global Methodist Church, a denomination created last year by conservatives breaking from the UMC, while others are going independent or joining different denominations.Some 6,182 congregations have received approval to disaffiliate since 2019, according to an unofficial&nbsp;<a href="https://www.umnews.org/en/news/disaffiliations-approved-by-annual-conferences">tally by United Methodist News Service</a>, which has been tracking votes by annual conferences. That figure is 4,172 for this year alone, it reported.Some annual conferences may approve more departures at special sessions later this year, according to the Rev. Jay Therrell, president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, a conservative caucus that has advocated for the exiting churches. While most UMC congregations are remaining, many of the departing congregations are large, and denominational officials are bracing for significant budget cuts in 2024.The numbers of exiting churches are higher than conservatives originally estimated, Therrell said.Legal wrangles have largely been resolved over how much compensation the departing congregations must pay for their property and other financial obligations.“For the most part, bishops and other annual conference leaders have been very gracious, and I deeply appreciate that,” Therrell said. “There have been some small exceptions to that, and those are unfortunate, but we’re grateful that cooler and calmer heads have prevailed.”Bishop Thomas Bickerton, president of the UMC’s Council of Bishops, said the departures were disappointing.“I don’t think any of us want to see any of our churches leave,” he said. “We're called to be the body of Christ, we're called to be unified. There’s never been a time when the church has not been without conflict, but there’s been a way we’ve worked through that.”But for those who want “to go and live out their Christian faith in a new expression, we wish God’s blessings on them,” he said.The split has been long in the making, mirroring controversies that have led to splits in other mainline Protestant denominations. United Methodist legislative bodies, known as general conferences, have repeatedly reinforced bans on LGBTQ marriage and ordination, on the strength of coalitions of conservatives in U.S. and overseas churches.But amid increased defiance of those bans in many U.S. churches, many conservatives decided to launch the separate Global Methodist Church, saying they believed the sexuality issues reflected deeper theological differences.The departures have been particularly large in the South and Midwest, with states such as Texas, Alabama, Kentucky and Ohio each losing hundreds of congregations.In some areas, United Methodists have designated&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-methodists-schism-disaffiliation-lgbtq-44fd14d471124d23e1fd5677a8f2b1d9">“lighthouse” or similarly named congregations,</a>&nbsp;with a mission for receiving members who wanted to stay United Methodists but whose churches were leaving. The GMC has begun planting new churches, including in areas where United Methodist congregations have remained in that denomination.With these departures, progressives are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-gay-rights-marriage-1ed8df15ecbb36700cbe638b29dc6617">expected to propose changing church law</a>&nbsp;at the next General Conference in 2024 to allow for same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ people.The United Methodist Church has about 6.5 million members in the United States and at least that many abroad, according to its website. The U.S. membership has been in steady decline, while the overseas membership has grown, particularly in Africa.Therrell said there will be efforts at the 2024 General Conference to provide overseas churches a legal way to disaffiliate, similar to what U.S. congregations have had.The GMC says about 3,000 churches so far have affiliated with the new denomination, with more expected.Bickerton said it's time for United Methodists remaining in the denomination to refocus their work.“Quite often, when you’re pressed, you begin to exhibit creativity,” he said. “We’re pivoting away from what we were into what our next expression is going to be." Budgets will be smaller, but "this is our opportunity to refashion the church for relevance in the 21st century and really focus on evangelism.”___

LGBTQ bans: United Methodists lose a fifth of US churches 

MORGANTOWN (AP)—Bob Huggins says he never&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/huggins-arrested-dui-pittsburgh-west-virginia-fb441762888b47bade5efb1b4e247da0">resigned as West Virginia's basketball coach</a>&nbsp;following a drunken-driving arrest and wants his job back, according to a letter from his attorney to the university.

Huggins' Cleveland-based attorney, David A. Campbell, wrote to the university Friday that Huggins “never signed a resignation letter and never communicated a resignation to anyone at WVU,” according to the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press on Saturday.

The letter threatens a lawsuit if Huggins isn’t reinstated. Huggins’ demands were first reported by West Virginia network MetroNews.

MORGANTOWN (AP)—Bob Huggins says he never&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/huggins-arrested-dui-pittsburgh-west-virginia-fb441762888b47bade5efb1b4e247da0">resigned as West Virginia's basketball coach</a>&nbsp;following a drunken-driving arrest and wants his job back, according to a letter from his attorney to the university.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1688905122016.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1688905144879.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Huggins' Cleveland-based attorney, David A. Campbell, wrote to the university Friday that Huggins “never signed a resignation letter and never communicated a resignation to anyone at WVU,” according to the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press on Saturday.The letter threatens a lawsuit if Huggins isn’t reinstated. Huggins’ demands were first reported by West Virginia network MetroNews.Huggins was charged with driving under the influence in Pittsburgh on June 16. A breath test determined Huggins’ blood-alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit. His resignation was announced by the university the following night. A week later,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/west-virginia-huggins-eilert-interim-94a2217e3fb59ec0d70b1f51afb12527">assistant coach Josh Eilert was promoted</a>&nbsp;to interim head coach for the 2023-24 season.Campbell’s letter said the university announced Huggins’ resignation “based on a text message from Coach Huggins’ wife” to Steve Uryasz, West Virginia’s deputy athletic director.The university responded to Campbell in a letter Saturday that read, in part: “We are frankly confused by the allegations within the letter.”WVU said Huggins met with his players and members of the basketball staff on June 17 “to announce that he would no longer be coaching the team.” It said Huggins “clearly” communicated his resignation and retirement in writing and that “both parties have reasonably relied on that resignation and retirement notification in a number of ways since then.”The university provided The AP with a copy of a notice sent by Huggins' wife, June, that same day. It read: “Please accept this correspondence as my formal notice of resignation as WVU Head Basketball Coach and as notice of my retirement from West Virginia University, effective immediately.”The notice was sent from an email address associated with June Huggins, with a signature indicating it was sent via iPhone. It was sent to Uryasz's email address and did not appear to be a text message, as Campbell claimed.West Virginia&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/west-virginia-wren-baker-huggins-0cadbf17b240077c03fbe2ba6b1bf3cd">athletic director Wren Baker</a>&nbsp;responded an hour later by writing, “We accept your resignation and wish you the best in retirement. We appreciate your many years of dedication to WVU.”Less than an hour after that, the university released two statements. One announced Huggins' resignation.The other was titled “A Message from Bob Huggins to the WVU Community” and began, “Today, I have submitted a letter to President Gordon Gee and Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker informing them of my resignation and intention to retire as head men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University effective immediately.”The resignation was announced a month after the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/huggins-homophobic-slur-west-virginia-xavier-77ce70b41112a0062421ad9405558473">university gave Huggins a three-game suspension</a>&nbsp;for using an anti-gay slur while also denigrating Catholics during a radio interview.Several of Huggins' players have already entered the transfer portal, and some have found new teams.Campbell said Huggins’ contract required the coach to send a notice in writing by registered or certified mail to the athletic director and university general counsel.Despite the threat of a lawsuit, Campbell’s letter said Huggins “does not desire litigation. Rather, he is simply looking for the correction of a clear breach of his employment agreement with WVU.”The 69-year-old Huggins was the third-winningest coach all-time in Division I with 935 victories, trailing only Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (1,202) and Jim Boeheim of Syracuse (1,015), both of whom are retired.Unlike the others, Huggins did not win a national title. He took Cincinnati to the Final Four in 1992 and West Virginia in 2010. Huggins entered the Basketball Hall of Fame last September. In 41 seasons, his teams went to 25 NCAA Tournaments and finished ranked in the AP top 10 seven times. The Mountaineers made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances under Huggins.___