A judge set bail at $5 million on Monday for a man&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/arrests-nebraska-omaha-979e1c0bb3d56ebb277da0398718904d">suspected of killing four people</a>&nbsp;and trying to burn down their homes in the small northeast Nebraska town of Laurel last week.

Court records show Cedar County Judge Douglas Luebe set bond at 10% of $5 million for 42-year-old Jason Jones, meaning he would have to put up $500,000 to be released from jail while he awaits trial.

“The defendant is considered an extreme danger to public safety,” the judge wrote in his bond order.

Neither Nebraska State Patrol Col. John Bolduc nor a spokeswoman for CHI Health St. Elizabeth in Lincoln, where Jones is being treated for serious burns, would give Jones’ current medical condition on Monday.

Jones is charged with 10 felonies, including four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of arson and four weapons counts. Investigators have said Jones shot and killed his neighbor across the street, 53-year-old Michele Ebeling, early Thursday morning before setting her house on fire, then went three blocks south, broke into another home and fatally shot three people there: 86-year-old Gene Twiford; his wife, 85-year-old Janet Twiford; and their 55-year-old daughter, Dana Twiford.

Jones also set fire to the Twiford home, police said.

During the investigation into the killings, the Nebraska State Patrol said they found a backpack and receipts belonging to Jones showing the purchase of a gas can and other items. A pistol registered to Jones was also found at the Twifords' home, the patrol said.

Authorities have not commented on a possible motive for the killings, but charging documents allege Jones killed the Twifords while trying to carry out a burglary.

Laurel is a small city of about 1,000 that lies about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Omaha.

By Associated PressA judge set bail at $5 million on Monday for a man&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/arrests-nebraska-omaha-979e1c0bb3d56ebb277da0398718904d">suspected of killing four people</a>&nbsp;and trying to burn down their homes in the small northeast Nebraska town of Laurel last week.Court records show Cedar County Judge Douglas Luebe set bond at 10% of $5 million for 42-year-old Jason Jones, meaning he would have to put up $500,000 to be released from jail while he awaits trial.“The defendant is considered an extreme danger to public safety,” the judge wrote in his bond order.Neither Nebraska State Patrol Col. John Bolduc nor a spokeswoman for CHI Health St. Elizabeth in Lincoln, where Jones is being treated for serious burns, would give Jones’ current medical condition on Monday.Jones is charged with 10 felonies, including four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of arson and four weapons counts. Investigators have said Jones shot and killed his neighbor across the street, 53-year-old Michele Ebeling, early Thursday morning before setting her house on fire, then went three blocks south, broke into another home and fatally shot three people there: 86-year-old Gene Twiford; his wife, 85-year-old Janet Twiford; and their 55-year-old daughter, Dana Twiford.Jones also set fire to the Twiford home, police said.During the investigation into the killings, the Nebraska State Patrol said they found a backpack and receipts belonging to Jones showing the purchase of a gas can and other items. A pistol registered to Jones was also found at the Twifords' home, the patrol said.Authorities have not commented on a possible motive for the killings, but charging documents allege Jones killed the Twifords while trying to carry out a burglary.Laurel is a small city of about 1,000 that lies about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Omaha.

Bail set at $5M for Nebraska quadruple killing suspect

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — The four people killed in a weekend golf cart collision in Texas were a grandfather, two of his grandchildren and a niece who were visiting Galveston for a quick vacation before school began, police said.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-galveston-739e753fe96268cb90c15705673e6cb9">crash happened Saturday</a>&nbsp;after a driver accused of being intoxicated ran a stop sign and crashed into a pickup truck, which then hit the golf cart that was carrying six people. Police on Monday identified the four killed as Felipe Bentancur, 49; his niece, Destiny Uvalle, 25; and two grandchildren, Kaisyn Bentancur, 4; and Brailyn Cantu, 14.

All four were from Rosenberg, a Texas city about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of Houston, police said.

Two others on the golf cart were critically injured, authorities said.

The driver of the SUV, Miguel Espinoza, 45, has been charged with four counts of intoxication manslaughter. He remained jailed Tuesday on $400,000 bond, and it wasn't clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Golf carts are a popular way to get around the island resort area, which is on the Gulf of Mexico. Police have said they believe the golf cart was operating legally at the time of the collision.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1660052849304.png" alt="Espinoza" />
 <figcaption>Espinoza</figcaption>
 </figure>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSGALVESTON, Texas (AP) — The four people killed in a weekend golf cart collision in Texas were a grandfather, two of his grandchildren and a niece who were visiting Galveston for a quick vacation before school began, police said.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-galveston-739e753fe96268cb90c15705673e6cb9">crash happened Saturday</a>&nbsp;after a driver accused of being intoxicated ran a stop sign and crashed into a pickup truck, which then hit the golf cart that was carrying six people. Police on Monday identified the four killed as Felipe Bentancur, 49; his niece, Destiny Uvalle, 25; and two grandchildren, Kaisyn Bentancur, 4; and Brailyn Cantu, 14.All four were from Rosenberg, a Texas city about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of Houston, police said.Two others on the golf cart were critically injured, authorities said.The driver of the SUV, Miguel Espinoza, 45, has been charged with four counts of intoxication manslaughter. He remained jailed Tuesday on $400,000 bond, and it wasn't clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.Golf carts are a popular way to get around the island resort area, which is on the Gulf of Mexico. Police have said they believe the golf cart was operating legally at the time of the collision.

Grandfather, grandkids among 4 dead in Texas golf cart crash

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced another $1 billion in new military aid for Ukraine on Monday, pledging what will be the biggest yet delivery of rockets, ammunition and other arms straight from Department of Defense stocks for Ukrainian forces.

The U.S. pledge of a massive new shipment of arms comes as analysts warned that Russia&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-middle-east-africa-turkey-006b45ba50be9a99d22ffc1af9daf405">was moving troops and equipment in the direction of the southern port cities</a>&nbsp;to stave off a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The aid includes additional rockets for the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-nato-sergey-lavrov-dd7bc9324e465a15209940c146a859b3">High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS,</a>&nbsp;as well as thousands of artillery rounds, mortar systems, Javelins and other ammunition and equipment. Military commanders and other U.S. officials say the HIMARS and artillery systems have been crucial in Ukraine’s ongoing fight to try to prevent Russia from taking more ground.

The latest announcement brings the total U.S. security assistance committed to Ukraine by the Biden administration to more than $9 billion since Russian troops invaded in late February.

“At every stage of this conflict, we have been focused on getting the Ukrainians what they need, depending on the evolving conditions on the battlefield,” Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, said in announcing the new weapons shipment.

Until now, the largest single security assistance package announcement was for $1 billion on June 15. But that aid included $350 million in presidential drawdown authority, and another $650 million under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides funding for training, equipment and other security needs that can be bought from other countries or companies.

Monday's package allows the U.S. to deliver weapons systems and other equipment more quickly since it takes them off the Defense Department shelves.

For the last four months of the war, Russia has concentrated on capturing the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists have controlled some territory as self-proclaimed republics for eight years. Russian forces have made gradual headway in the region while launching missile and rocket attacks to curtail the movements of Ukrainian fighters elsewhere.

Kahl estimated that Russian forces have sustained up to 80,000 deaths and injuries in the fighting, though he did not break down the figure with an estimate of forces killed.

He said the Russian troops have managed to gain “incremental” ground in eastern Ukraine, although not in recent weeks. “But that has come at extraordinary cost to the Russian military because of how well the Ukrainian military has performed and all the assistance that the Ukrainian military has gotten. And I think now, conditions in the east have essentially stabilized and the focus is really shifting to the south.”

The new funding is being paid for through $40 billion in economic and security aid for Ukraine approved by Congress in May.

This is the 18th time the Pentagon has provided equipment from Defense Department stocks to Ukraine since August 2021.

The package does not include any new HIMARS, but provides rockets for it, although officials did not disclose how many. The U.S. has already provided 16 HIMARS to Ukraine.

“These are not systems that we assess you need in the hundreds to have the type of effects” needed, Kahl said, in response to questions about why the U.S. wasn't sending more of the powerful rocket systems. “These are precision-guided systems for very particular types of targets and the Ukrainians are using them as such.”

The U.S. and allies still are evaluating whether to supply aircraft to Ukraine, Kahl said. It's “not inconceivable that western aircraft down the road could be part of the mix,” he said.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelinskyy early in the war launched near-daily calls for warplanes, calling them essential to protecting Ukraine's skies. The U.S. and some other NATO countries feared that could draw them into more direct involvement with Ukraine's war against Russia, and have not provided Western aircraft.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1659993569637.png" alt="“At every stage of this conflict, we have been focused on getting the Ukrainians what they need," Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, said in announcing the new weapons shipment.-photo Defense Department" />
 <figcaption>“At every stage of this conflict, we have been focused on getting the Ukrainians what they need," Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, said in announcing the new weapons shipment.-photo Defense Department</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced another $1 billion in new military aid for Ukraine on Monday, pledging what will be the biggest yet delivery of rockets, ammunition and other arms straight from Department of Defense stocks for Ukrainian forces.The U.S. pledge of a massive new shipment of arms comes as analysts warned that Russia&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-middle-east-africa-turkey-006b45ba50be9a99d22ffc1af9daf405">was moving troops and equipment in the direction of the southern port cities</a>&nbsp;to stave off a Ukrainian counteroffensive.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1659993458904.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The aid includes additional rockets for the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-nato-sergey-lavrov-dd7bc9324e465a15209940c146a859b3">High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS,</a>&nbsp;as well as thousands of artillery rounds, mortar systems, Javelins and other ammunition and equipment. Military commanders and other U.S. officials say the HIMARS and artillery systems have been crucial in Ukraine’s ongoing fight to try to prevent Russia from taking more ground.The latest announcement brings the total U.S. security assistance committed to Ukraine by the Biden administration to more than $9 billion since Russian troops invaded in late February.“At every stage of this conflict, we have been focused on getting the Ukrainians what they need, depending on the evolving conditions on the battlefield,” Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, said in announcing the new weapons shipment.Until now, the largest single security assistance package announcement was for $1 billion on June 15. But that aid included $350 million in presidential drawdown authority, and another $650 million under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides funding for training, equipment and other security needs that can be bought from other countries or companies.Monday's package allows the U.S. to deliver weapons systems and other equipment more quickly since it takes them off the Defense Department shelves.For the last four months of the war, Russia has concentrated on capturing the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists have controlled some territory as self-proclaimed republics for eight years. Russian forces have made gradual headway in the region while launching missile and rocket attacks to curtail the movements of Ukrainian fighters elsewhere.Kahl estimated that Russian forces have sustained up to 80,000 deaths and injuries in the fighting, though he did not break down the figure with an estimate of forces killed.He said the Russian troops have managed to gain “incremental” ground in eastern Ukraine, although not in recent weeks. “But that has come at extraordinary cost to the Russian military because of how well the Ukrainian military has performed and all the assistance that the Ukrainian military has gotten. And I think now, conditions in the east have essentially stabilized and the focus is really shifting to the south.”The new funding is being paid for through $40 billion in economic and security aid for Ukraine approved by Congress in May.This is the 18th time the Pentagon has provided equipment from Defense Department stocks to Ukraine since August 2021.The package does not include any new HIMARS, but provides rockets for it, although officials did not disclose how many. The U.S. has already provided 16 HIMARS to Ukraine.“These are not systems that we assess you need in the hundreds to have the type of effects” needed, Kahl said, in response to questions about why the U.S. wasn't sending more of the powerful rocket systems. “These are precision-guided systems for very particular types of targets and the Ukrainians are using them as such.”The U.S. and allies still are evaluating whether to supply aircraft to Ukraine, Kahl said. It's “not inconceivable that western aircraft down the road could be part of the mix,” he said.Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelinskyy early in the war launched near-daily calls for warplanes, calling them essential to protecting Ukraine's skies. The U.S. and some other NATO countries feared that could draw them into more direct involvement with Ukraine's war against Russia, and have not provided Western aircraft.

US will spend another $1 billion on aid for Ukraine

By AARON SANDERFORD <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/08/10/facebook-data-used-to-prosecute-nebraska-mother-daughter-after-alleged-abortion/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

OMAHA — Evidence against a Norfolk, 
Nebraska, mother and her teen in a case alleging an illegal abortion is 
opening a new digital front in the national battle over abortion.

Police allege in court documents that
 Celeste Burgess, then 17 years old, told police in April that she had 
suffered a miscarriage in a bathtub at her home. She said she and her 
mom buried the stillborn, the documents show.

Investigators seeking a search 
warrant said they later learned that the mother, Jessica Burgess, had 
bought the oral medication online to end her daughter’s pregnancy. That 
information was gathered in part from private Facebook messages the 
Burgesses exchanged.&nbsp;

Criminal charges against the two brought by the Madison County Attorney’s Office are among the first nationally <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2022/08/08/nebraska-cops-supoenaed-a-teens-facebook-dms-so-they-could-prosecute-her-for-having-an-abortion/?sh=20eb4cbb1c62">to use Facebook data</a> subpoenaed by police against a woman seeking an abortion.&nbsp;

After the U.S. Supreme Court reversed
 Roe v. Wade in June, national abortion-rights advocates argued that law
 enforcement agencies might use technology to track and prosecute women 
seeking abortions. 

A <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2022/08/08/facebook-abortion-teen-dms/?sh=4a740331579c">Meta spokesman told Forbes</a>
 that the search warrant they received in June, before the Roe reversal,
 did not mention abortion. Meta is the parent company of Facebook and 
Instagram.

Madison County Attorney Joe Smith <a target="_blank" href="https://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/norfolk-mother-and-daughter-accused-of-illegal-abortion-burning-and-burying-body/article_ff99fd49-a710-5ec3-8d51-5aced3001c71.html#tracking-source=mp-homepage">told the Lincoln Journal Star</a> that this was the first time in his 32 years as a prosecutor that he had filed such charges in an abortion-related case.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Police say the abortion occurred 
later than allowed under Nebraska law. The teen took the medication when
 she was more than 23 weeks pregnant, authorities allege, perhaps for as
 long as 29 weeks. Under Nebraska law, abortions are legal up to 20 
weeks.

Abortion pills are typically used within 11 weeks of conception.

State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha said 
Tuesday that Nebraska, like a number of other states, is “prosecuting 
people for their pregnancy outcomes.” She said the Norfolk daughter and 
her mother need “help and support … not prosecution.”

“True justice would mean ensuring 
that people have all the resources and the support they need to make 
decisions about whether they want to have a family, when they have a 
family, and how to support the families they have with dignity,” Hunt 
said. “How did we fail this young woman? That is a bigger question that 
we need to ask ourselves as a culture.”

Abortion opponents said questions 
about data privacy are a distraction from a possible crime. They said 
Tuesday that Nebraska’s abortion restrictions are working as intended.

Sandy Danek, president of Nebraska 
Right to Life, applauded police and prosecutors for enforcing the 
20-week ban. Nothing, she said, will “remedy the tragedy of this event, 
where a baby has died and a mother is left with the wounds of abortion.”

“Nebraskans
 should be appalled (by) the lack of dignity given to this baby’s body. 
All Nebraskans deserve a respectful burial,” Danek said. “We hope the 
authorities will further investigate the source of the chemical cocktail
 used to kill this preborn child.”

Celeste, who is now 18, is being 
charged as an adult with removing, concealing or abandoning a human 
body, which is a felony, and with concealing the death of another person
 and false reporting, which are misdemeanors.

Her mother has been charged with 
three felonies: performing an abortion after 20 weeks; performing an 
abortion as a non-doctor; and removing, concealing or abandoning a human
 body. She also faces two misdemeanors: concealing a death and false 
reporting.

Police allege in court documents that
 both mother and daughter knew a drug being ordered online was intended 
to cause a miscarriage. The mother said she could not remember the name 
of the drug or what website she had ordered it from online.

Here is what the documents say 
Celeste and her mother wrote to each other on Facebook Messenger in 
April. The exchange has been edited for brevity:

The Burgesses showed police where the fetus was buried, just outside 
of Norfolk. Authorities said in court documents that they recovered a 
fetus with evidence of “thermal injuries.”

Both women have pleaded not guilty. 
The mother, in a financial statement she made when applying for a public
 defender, said she lost her job because of what happened.

Local abortion rights advocates have been trying to help her hire a private lawyer.

Abortion is legal in 27 states, 
ranging from until 15 weeks in Florida to being legal throughout 
pregnancy in Colorado and three other states. A dozen states, including 
Minnesota, allow abortions until fetal viability. Nebraska allows 
abortions up to 20 weeks. Abortion is illegal or soon to be illegal in 
16 states, including Oklahoma and South Dakota.&nbsp;

U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., author 
of Nebraska’s 20-week ban, said the law recognizes late-term abortion as
 “especially cruel and inhumane.”

Flood said he has “always supported 
commonsense restrictions on abortion.” He also has said he would support
 an outright ban on abortion in Nebraska and federally.&nbsp;

His opponent in November’s general 
election, State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, worked with other 
Democrats this year to filibuster Republicans’ effort to pass a full 
ban.&nbsp;

She had no immediate comment on the Madison County case.

By AARON SANDERFORD <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/08/10/facebook-data-used-to-prosecute-nebraska-mother-daughter-after-alleged-abortion/">Nebraska Examiner</a>OMAHA — Evidence against a Norfolk, 
Nebraska, mother and her teen in a case alleging an illegal abortion is 
opening a new digital front in the national battle over abortion.Police allege in court documents that
 Celeste Burgess, then 17 years old, told police in April that she had 
suffered a miscarriage in a bathtub at her home. She said she and her 
mom buried the stillborn, the documents show.Investigators seeking a search 
warrant said they later learned that the mother, Jessica Burgess, had 
bought the oral medication online to end her daughter’s pregnancy. That 
information was gathered in part from private Facebook messages the 
Burgesses exchanged.&nbsp;Criminal charges against the two brought by the Madison County Attorney’s Office are among the first nationally <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2022/08/08/nebraska-cops-supoenaed-a-teens-facebook-dms-so-they-could-prosecute-her-for-having-an-abortion/?sh=20eb4cbb1c62">to use Facebook data</a> subpoenaed by police against a woman seeking an abortion.&nbsp;After the U.S. Supreme Court reversed
 Roe v. Wade in June, national abortion-rights advocates argued that law
 enforcement agencies might use technology to track and prosecute women 
seeking abortions. A <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2022/08/08/facebook-abortion-teen-dms/?sh=4a740331579c">Meta spokesman told Forbes</a>
 that the search warrant they received in June, before the Roe reversal,
 did not mention abortion. Meta is the parent company of Facebook and 
Instagram.Madison County Attorney Joe Smith <a target="_blank" href="https://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/norfolk-mother-and-daughter-accused-of-illegal-abortion-burning-and-burying-body/article_ff99fd49-a710-5ec3-8d51-5aced3001c71.html#tracking-source=mp-homepage">told the Lincoln Journal Star</a> that this was the first time in his 32 years as a prosecutor that he had filed such charges in an abortion-related case.&nbsp;&nbsp;Police say the abortion occurred 
later than allowed under Nebraska law. The teen took the medication when
 she was more than 23 weeks pregnant, authorities allege, perhaps for as
 long as 29 weeks. Under Nebraska law, abortions are legal up to 20 
weeks.Abortion pills are typically used within 11 weeks of conception.State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha said 
Tuesday that Nebraska, like a number of other states, is “prosecuting 
people for their pregnancy outcomes.” She said the Norfolk daughter and 
her mother need “help and support … not prosecution.”“True justice would mean ensuring 
that people have all the resources and the support they need to make 
decisions about whether they want to have a family, when they have a 
family, and how to support the families they have with dignity,” Hunt 
said. “How did we fail this young woman? That is a bigger question that 
we need to ask ourselves as a culture.”Abortion opponents said questions 
about data privacy are a distraction from a possible crime. They said 
Tuesday that Nebraska’s abortion restrictions are working as intended.Sandy Danek, president of Nebraska 
Right to Life, applauded police and prosecutors for enforcing the 
20-week ban. Nothing, she said, will “remedy the tragedy of this event, 
where a baby has died and a mother is left with the wounds of abortion.”“Nebraskans
 should be appalled (by) the lack of dignity given to this baby’s body. 
All Nebraskans deserve a respectful burial,” Danek said. “We hope the 
authorities will further investigate the source of the chemical cocktail
 used to kill this preborn child.”Celeste, who is now 18, is being 
charged as an adult with removing, concealing or abandoning a human 
body, which is a felony, and with concealing the death of another person
 and false reporting, which are misdemeanors.Her mother has been charged with 
three felonies: performing an abortion after 20 weeks; performing an 
abortion as a non-doctor; and removing, concealing or abandoning a human
 body. She also faces two misdemeanors: concealing a death and false 
reporting.Police allege in court documents that
 both mother and daughter knew a drug being ordered online was intended 
to cause a miscarriage. The mother said she could not remember the name 
of the drug or what website she had ordered it from online.Here is what the documents say 
Celeste and her mother wrote to each other on Facebook Messenger in 
April. The exchange has been edited for brevity:<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1660141792171.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The Burgesses showed police where the fetus was buried, just outside 
of Norfolk. Authorities said in court documents that they recovered a 
fetus with evidence of “thermal injuries.”Both women have pleaded not guilty. 
The mother, in a financial statement she made when applying for a public
 defender, said she lost her job because of what happened.Local abortion rights advocates have been trying to help her hire a private lawyer.Abortion is legal in 27 states, 
ranging from until 15 weeks in Florida to being legal throughout 
pregnancy in Colorado and three other states. A dozen states, including 
Minnesota, allow abortions until fetal viability. Nebraska allows 
abortions up to 20 weeks. Abortion is illegal or soon to be illegal in 
16 states, including Oklahoma and South Dakota.&nbsp;U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., author 
of Nebraska’s 20-week ban, said the law recognizes late-term abortion as
 “especially cruel and inhumane.”Flood said he has “always supported 
commonsense restrictions on abortion.” He also has said he would support
 an outright ban on abortion in Nebraska and federally.&nbsp;His opponent in November’s general 
election, State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, worked with other 
Democrats this year to filibuster Republicans’ effort to pass a full 
ban.&nbsp;She had no immediate comment on the Madison County case.

Facebook data used to prosecute Neb. mother, daughter after alleged abortion

By GEMA DE LAS HERAS Federal Trade Commission

Sorry
 to burst your bubble. That unexpected text from the Postal Service 
(USPS), Costco, or The Home Depot telling you about an unclaimed package
 or a survey you can complete to claim a freebie is NOT from them. It’s 
a&nbsp;<a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams">scam</a>.

<a>The FTC has seen a spike in reports from people getting&nbsp;</a><a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/features/imposter-scams">text messages</a>&nbsp;that look like they’re from well-known names like USPS, Costco, or The Home Depot and others.&nbsp;<a>Spoiler alert: they’re from&nbsp;</a><a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/features/imposter-scams">impersonators</a>.
 The details vary, but the scammers are after the same thing: your money
 and your personal information.&nbsp;You may get a text from scammers 
pretending to be USPS and asking you to confirm your debit card details 
so you can get an undelivered package. Or you might get texts about a 
chance to win a free gift card or a power tool. To claim your “reward,” 
you’re told to click on the link, answer some questions, and pay for 
shipping. Don’t do it.

If you click on those links and submit your card information, you’ll ending up with nothing — but you’ll find&nbsp;<a></a><a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-do-if-youre-billed-things-you-never-got-or-you-get-unordered-products">unauthorized charges</a>&nbsp;posted to your account.

No matter what the unexpected text says, the advice is the same.

●Don’t click on links or respond to unexpected texts&nbsp;—
 including ones asking you to fill out surveys to get free items. If you
 think it could be legit, contact the company using a website or phone 
number you know is real. Don’t use the information in the text message.

●Don’t pay to get a package redelivered.&nbsp;The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/smishing-package-tracking-text-scams">real USPS won’t contact you out of the blue</a>&nbsp;about
 a delivery (unless you submitted a request first and give a tracking 
number) — and they’ll never demand payment to redeliver a package.

Already paid or gave your information to a scammer? Check out&nbsp;<a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-do-if-you-were-scammed">What to Do If You Were Scammed</a>&nbsp;to learn more about asking for a refund. And see what to do next if your identity has been stolen. &nbsp;

Have you spotted an impersonation scam?&nbsp;Report it at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reportfraud.ftc.gov/">ReportFraud.ftc.gov</a>.

Read more about the&nbsp;<a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2022/02/help-ftc-get-money-back-people-who-experience-impersonator-fraud">FTC’s rulemaking proposal</a>&nbsp;to combat impersonation scams.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1660012349842.png" alt="Image courtesy FTC" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy FTC</figcaption>
 </figure>By GEMA DE LAS HERAS Federal Trade CommissionSorry
 to burst your bubble. That unexpected text from the Postal Service 
(USPS), Costco, or The Home Depot telling you about an unclaimed package
 or a survey you can complete to claim a freebie is NOT from them. It’s 
a&nbsp;<a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams">scam</a>.<a>The FTC has seen a spike in reports from people getting&nbsp;</a><a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/features/imposter-scams">text messages</a>&nbsp;that look like they’re from well-known names like USPS, Costco, or The Home Depot and others.&nbsp;<a>Spoiler alert: they’re from&nbsp;</a><a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/features/imposter-scams">impersonators</a>.
 The details vary, but the scammers are after the same thing: your money
 and your personal information.&nbsp;You may get a text from scammers 
pretending to be USPS and asking you to confirm your debit card details 
so you can get an undelivered package. Or you might get texts about a 
chance to win a free gift card or a power tool. To claim your “reward,” 
you’re told to click on the link, answer some questions, and pay for 
shipping. Don’t do it.If you click on those links and submit your card information, you’ll ending up with nothing — but you’ll find&nbsp;<a></a><a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-do-if-youre-billed-things-you-never-got-or-you-get-unordered-products">unauthorized charges</a>&nbsp;posted to your account.No matter what the unexpected text says, the advice is the same.●Don’t click on links or respond to unexpected texts&nbsp;—
 including ones asking you to fill out surveys to get free items. If you
 think it could be legit, contact the company using a website or phone 
number you know is real. Don’t use the information in the text message.●Don’t pay to get a package redelivered.&nbsp;The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/smishing-package-tracking-text-scams">real USPS won’t contact you out of the blue</a>&nbsp;about
 a delivery (unless you submitted a request first and give a tracking 
number) — and they’ll never demand payment to redeliver a package.Already paid or gave your information to a scammer? Check out&nbsp;<a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-do-if-you-were-scammed">What to Do If You Were Scammed</a>&nbsp;to learn more about asking for a refund. And see what to do next if your identity has been stolen. &nbsp;Have you spotted an impersonation scam?&nbsp;Report it at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reportfraud.ftc.gov/">ReportFraud.ftc.gov</a>.Read more about the&nbsp;<a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2022/02/help-ftc-get-money-back-people-who-experience-impersonator-fraud">FTC’s rulemaking proposal</a>&nbsp;to combat impersonation scams.

FTC: Don’t click on that random text; It’s a scam

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump said in a lengthy statement Monday that the FBI was conducting a search of his Mar-a-Lago estate and asserted that agents had broken open a safe. A person familiar with the matter said the action was related to a probe of whether Trump had taken classified records from his White House tenure to his Florida residence.

The action, which the FBI and Justice Department did not immediately confirm, marks a dramatic escalation in law enforcement scrutiny of Trump and comes as he has been laying the groundwork to make another bid for president. Though a search warrant does not suggest that criminal charges are near or even expected, federal officials looking to obtain one must demonstrate that they have probable cause that a crime occurred.

“After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” Trump said in his statement.

He added: "These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.”

Justice Department spokesperson Dena Iverson declined to comment on the search, including about whether Attorney General Merrick Garland had personally authorized the search.

A person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said the search happened earlier Monday and agents were also looking to see if Trump had additional presidential records or any classified documents at the estate.

The Justice Department has been investigating the presence of classified records inside 15 boxes that were retrieved from Mar-a-Lago by the National Archives and Records Administration earlier this year. The Archives then referred the matter to the Justice Department.

Federal law bars the removal of classified documents to unauthorized locations, though it is possible that Trump could try to argue that, as president, he was the ultimate declassification authority.

There are multiple statutes governing classified information, including a law punishable by up to five years in prison that makes it a crime to remove such records and retain them at an unauthorized location. Another statute makes it a crime to mishandle classified records either intentionally or in a grossly negligent manner.

The probe is hardly the only legal headache confronting Trump. A separate investigation related to efforts by Trump and his allies to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol has also been intensifying in Washington.

And a district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia is investigation whether Trump and his close associates sought to interfere in that state's election, which was won by Democrat Joe Biden.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump said in a lengthy statement Monday that the FBI was conducting a search of his Mar-a-Lago estate and asserted that agents had broken open a safe. A person familiar with the matter said the action was related to a probe of whether Trump had taken classified records from his White House tenure to his Florida residence.The action, which the FBI and Justice Department did not immediately confirm, marks a dramatic escalation in law enforcement scrutiny of Trump and comes as he has been laying the groundwork to make another bid for president. Though a search warrant does not suggest that criminal charges are near or even expected, federal officials looking to obtain one must demonstrate that they have probable cause that a crime occurred.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1660004033657.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>“After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” Trump said in his statement.He added: "These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.”Justice Department spokesperson Dena Iverson declined to comment on the search, including about whether Attorney General Merrick Garland had personally authorized the search.A person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said the search happened earlier Monday and agents were also looking to see if Trump had additional presidential records or any classified documents at the estate.The Justice Department has been investigating the presence of classified records inside 15 boxes that were retrieved from Mar-a-Lago by the National Archives and Records Administration earlier this year. The Archives then referred the matter to the Justice Department.Federal law bars the removal of classified documents to unauthorized locations, though it is possible that Trump could try to argue that, as president, he was the ultimate declassification authority.There are multiple statutes governing classified information, including a law punishable by up to five years in prison that makes it a crime to remove such records and retain them at an unauthorized location. Another statute makes it a crime to mishandle classified records either intentionally or in a grossly negligent manner.The probe is hardly the only legal headache confronting Trump. A separate investigation related to efforts by Trump and his allies to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol has also been intensifying in Washington.And a district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia is investigation whether Trump and his close associates sought to interfere in that state's election, which was won by Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump: FBI conducting search of his Mar-a-Lago estate

NEW YORK (AP) — Olivia Newton-John, the Grammy-winning superstar who reigned on pop, country, adult contemporary and dance charts with such hits as “Physical” and “You’re the One That I Want” and won countless hearts as everyone’s favorite, Sandy, in the blockbuster film version of “Grease,” has died. She was 73.

Newton-John, a longtime resident of Australia whose sales topped 100 million albums, died Monday at her southern California ranch, John Easterling, her husband, wrote on Instagram and Facebook. “We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time,” the message said.

From 1973-83, Newton-John was among the world’s most popular entertainers. She had 14 top 10 singles just in the U.S., won four Grammys, starred with John Travolta in “Grease” and with Gene Kelly in “Xanadu.” The fast-stepping Travolta-Newton-John duet, “You’re the One That I Want,” was one of the era’s biggest songs and has sold more than 15 million copies.

“Physical,” the bouncy, R-rated smash released in 1981, was No. 1 for 10 weeks and was named Billboard’s song of the year despite being banned by some radio stations. An aerobics-friendly promotional clip, filmed in the early years of MTV, won a Grammy for best video.

Both musically and image-wise, she reinvented herself during those years. The blonde, ever-smiling Newton-John initially favored mild pop-country songs such as “Please Mr. Please” and “Have You Never Been Mellow” and soft-breathing ballads like “I Honestly Love You,” which in 1975 won Grammys for best female pop vocal and record of the year. But she picked up the tempo in “Grease,” especially after Sandy ditched her white sweaters and blouses for waist-high, black leather pants. “Physical” even made Newton-John blush as she told her would-be lover “There’s nothing left to talk about/Unless it’s horizontally” and finally called out “Let’s get animal! Animal!”

“I recorded it and then suddenly thought, ‘Goodness, maybe I’ve gone too far!’” she told Entertainment Weekly in 2017, recalling how the song had been suggested by manager Roger Davies. “I called Roger and said, ‘We’ve got to pull this song!’ He said, ‘It’s too late. It’s already gone to radio and it’s running up the charts.’ I was horrified!”

She had a few hits after “Physical,” but her career declined and Newton-John became more likely to make news because of her private life. In 1992, as she was preparing a concert tour, her father died and she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her marriage to actor Matt Lattanzi, with whom she had a daughter, actor-singer Chloe Lattanzi, broke up in 1995 and a years-long relationship with cameraman Patrick McDermott ended mysteriously. McDermott went missing during a 2005 fishing trip in California and his fate remained unknown years later. Numerous reports alleged that he was living in Mexico, with a new girlfriend.

“He was lost at sea, and nobody really knows what happened,” Newton-John told Australia’s “60 Minutes” in 2016. “It’s human to wonder. But you know, those are the things in life you have to accept and let go. Because whenever you go through difficult times, there’s always those concerns.”

Newton-John’s recent albums included “Stronger Than Before”; a holiday collaboration with Travolta, “This Christmas,” and the autobiographical “Gaia: One Woman’s Journey,” inspired by her battle with cancer and by the loss of her father.

Newton-John married John Easterling, founder of the Amazon Herb Company, in 2008. She was involved in numerous charitable causes, serving as goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme and as national spokeswoman for the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition. She also founded the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

Newton-John was the daughter of German literature professor Brin Newton-John and Irene Bron, whose father was Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Bron. The Newton-Johns moved to Australia when Olivia was 5, but she returned to England in her teens and lived with her mother after her parents broke up. She had early dreams of becoming a veterinarian but was winning singing contests in high school and before age 20 had toured army bases and clubs and recorded her first single, “Till You Say You’ll Be Mine.” In 1971, she covered Bob Dylan’s “If Not for You” and began a close partnership with a friend from Australia, John Farrar, who produced the song and later wrote “You’re the One That I Want,” “Magic” and several other hits for her.

She had loved country music, especially the records of “Tennessee” Ernie Ford, since childhood, but her early success didn’t impress critics or some fellow musicians. A Village Voice review likened her to a geisha who “makes her voice smaller than it really is just to please men.” When Newton-John beat out Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn for the Country Music Association’s top artist of 1973, Tammy Wynette helped founded the Association of Country Entertainers, a club designed to exclude Newton-John and other crossover performers.

But Newton-John had a show business admirer who with her became one of movies’ most unforgettable teams. Travolta had starred in the stage version of “Grease” and for the planned film thought Newton-John would be the “ultimate” Sandy, the nice girl who gets tough in the final act and gets her man.

“I worried that at 29 I was too old to play a high school girl,” Newton-John, who insisted on taking a screen test before accepting the part, told The Telegraph in 2017. “Everything about making the film was fun, but if I had to pick a favorite moment, it was the transformation from what I call Sandy 1 to Sandy 2. I got to play a different character and wear different clothes, and when I put on that tight black outfit to sing ‘You’re the One That I Want,’ I got a very different reaction from the guys on the set.”

She is survived by her husband; daughter Chloe Lattanzi; sister Sarah Newton-John; brother Toby Newton-John; and several nieces and nephews.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1659987535447.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — Olivia Newton-John, the Grammy-winning superstar who reigned on pop, country, adult contemporary and dance charts with such hits as “Physical” and “You’re the One That I Want” and won countless hearts as everyone’s favorite, Sandy, in the blockbuster film version of “Grease,” has died. She was 73.Newton-John, a longtime resident of Australia whose sales topped 100 million albums, died Monday at her southern California ranch, John Easterling, her husband, wrote on Instagram and Facebook. “We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time,” the message said.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Folivianewtonjohn%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0G8HA6NM3od3k81eeTVFDfY1HPrmv3SpHL8h67hn5BJ81CrxvMHc2VKAvCacb5Aswl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="730" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>From 1973-83, Newton-John was among the world’s most popular entertainers. She had 14 top 10 singles just in the U.S., won four Grammys, starred with John Travolta in “Grease” and with Gene Kelly in “Xanadu.” The fast-stepping Travolta-Newton-John duet, “You’re the One That I Want,” was one of the era’s biggest songs and has sold more than 15 million copies.“Physical,” the bouncy, R-rated smash released in 1981, was No. 1 for 10 weeks and was named Billboard’s song of the year despite being banned by some radio stations. An aerobics-friendly promotional clip, filmed in the early years of MTV, won a Grammy for best video.Both musically and image-wise, she reinvented herself during those years. The blonde, ever-smiling Newton-John initially favored mild pop-country songs such as “Please Mr. Please” and “Have You Never Been Mellow” and soft-breathing ballads like “I Honestly Love You,” which in 1975 won Grammys for best female pop vocal and record of the year. But she picked up the tempo in “Grease,” especially after Sandy ditched her white sweaters and blouses for waist-high, black leather pants. “Physical” even made Newton-John blush as she told her would-be lover “There’s nothing left to talk about/Unless it’s horizontally” and finally called out “Let’s get animal! Animal!”“I recorded it and then suddenly thought, ‘Goodness, maybe I’ve gone too far!’” she told Entertainment Weekly in 2017, recalling how the song had been suggested by manager Roger Davies. “I called Roger and said, ‘We’ve got to pull this song!’ He said, ‘It’s too late. It’s already gone to radio and it’s running up the charts.’ I was horrified!”She had a few hits after “Physical,” but her career declined and Newton-John became more likely to make news because of her private life. In 1992, as she was preparing a concert tour, her father died and she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her marriage to actor Matt Lattanzi, with whom she had a daughter, actor-singer Chloe Lattanzi, broke up in 1995 and a years-long relationship with cameraman Patrick McDermott ended mysteriously. McDermott went missing during a 2005 fishing trip in California and his fate remained unknown years later. Numerous reports alleged that he was living in Mexico, with a new girlfriend.“He was lost at sea, and nobody really knows what happened,” Newton-John told Australia’s “60 Minutes” in 2016. “It’s human to wonder. But you know, those are the things in life you have to accept and let go. Because whenever you go through difficult times, there’s always those concerns.”Newton-John’s recent albums included “Stronger Than Before”; a holiday collaboration with Travolta, “This Christmas,” and the autobiographical “Gaia: One Woman’s Journey,” inspired by her battle with cancer and by the loss of her father.Newton-John married John Easterling, founder of the Amazon Herb Company, in 2008. She was involved in numerous charitable causes, serving as goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme and as national spokeswoman for the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition. She also founded the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia.Newton-John was the daughter of German literature professor Brin Newton-John and Irene Bron, whose father was Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Bron. The Newton-Johns moved to Australia when Olivia was 5, but she returned to England in her teens and lived with her mother after her parents broke up. She had early dreams of becoming a veterinarian but was winning singing contests in high school and before age 20 had toured army bases and clubs and recorded her first single, “Till You Say You’ll Be Mine.” In 1971, she covered Bob Dylan’s “If Not for You” and began a close partnership with a friend from Australia, John Farrar, who produced the song and later wrote “You’re the One That I Want,” “Magic” and several other hits for her.She had loved country music, especially the records of “Tennessee” Ernie Ford, since childhood, but her early success didn’t impress critics or some fellow musicians. A Village Voice review likened her to a geisha who “makes her voice smaller than it really is just to please men.” When Newton-John beat out Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn for the Country Music Association’s top artist of 1973, Tammy Wynette helped founded the Association of Country Entertainers, a club designed to exclude Newton-John and other crossover performers.But Newton-John had a show business admirer who with her became one of movies’ most unforgettable teams. Travolta had starred in the stage version of “Grease” and for the planned film thought Newton-John would be the “ultimate” Sandy, the nice girl who gets tough in the final act and gets her man.“I worried that at 29 I was too old to play a high school girl,” Newton-John, who insisted on taking a screen test before accepting the part, told The Telegraph in 2017. “Everything about making the film was fun, but if I had to pick a favorite moment, it was the transformation from what I call Sandy 1 to Sandy 2. I got to play a different character and wear different clothes, and when I put on that tight black outfit to sing ‘You’re the One That I Want,’ I got a very different reaction from the guys on the set.”She is survived by her husband; daughter Chloe Lattanzi; sister Sarah Newton-John; brother Toby Newton-John; and several nieces and nephews.

Olivia Newton-John, superstar singer and actress has died

ELLSWORTH COUNTY — Authorities in Ellsworth County are investigating after a man was found dead on Monday and a deputy injured on Sunday by a charging buffalo.

At 9a.m. Monday, a woman called Ellsworth County 911 to report she needed an ambulance because she had found her nephew identified as 56-year-old Scott Schroeder of rural Bushton, dead in a pen and thought a buffalo killed him, according to Sheriff Murray Marston

Sheriff's deputies and Claflin EMS responded to the scene. The body was in a row of trees north of Kansas 4 highway at 5th Road. The location where the deputy was injured by a buffalo on Sunday night is approximately one half mile south of where the body was found Monday.

The coroner's preliminary cause of death, pending an autopsy, is that a buffalo gored Schroeder. He is the owner of over 20 buffalo kept at that location, according to Marston.

The deputy injured by a buffalo on Sunday underwent surgery at Salina Regional Health Center and is in stable condition, according to Marston.

A Rice County Deputy arrived at the scene of the attack just as it occurred on Sunday. He put down the animal when it appeared it was preparing to charge at the downed deputy. Both incidents remain under investigation, according to Marston.

ELLSWORTH COUNTY—A Kansas sheriff's deputy&nbsp; is recovering after he was injured by a buffalo.

Just after 6:30p.m. Sunday, Ellsworth County 911 received a call about the buffalo on K-4 highway at 5th Road in Ellsworth County, according to a media release.

A deputy responded to the scene, found the animal and attempted to get it to return to a pasture. The buffalo suddenly charged the deputy and injured him.

Claflin EMS transported the deputy to the Ellsworth County Medical Center and he was later transferred to Salina Regional Health Center.&nbsp; The sheriff's office has not identified the deputy or updated his condition.

ELLSWORTH COUNTY — Authorities in Ellsworth County are investigating after a man was found dead on Monday and a deputy injured on Sunday by a charging buffalo.At 9a.m. Monday, a woman called Ellsworth County 911 to report she needed an ambulance because she had found her nephew identified as 56-year-old Scott Schroeder of rural Bushton, dead in a pen and thought a buffalo killed him, according to Sheriff Murray MarstonSheriff's deputies and Claflin EMS responded to the scene. The body was in a row of trees north of Kansas 4 highway at 5th Road. The location where the deputy was injured by a buffalo on Sunday night is approximately one half mile south of where the body was found Monday.The coroner's preliminary cause of death, pending an autopsy, is that a buffalo gored Schroeder. He is the owner of over 20 buffalo kept at that location, according to Marston.The deputy injured by a buffalo on Sunday underwent surgery at Salina Regional Health Center and is in stable condition, according to Marston.A Rice County Deputy arrived at the scene of the attack just as it occurred on Sunday. He put down the animal when it appeared it was preparing to charge at the downed deputy. Both incidents remain under investigation, according to Marston.------ELLSWORTH COUNTY—A Kansas sheriff's deputy&nbsp; is recovering after he was injured by a buffalo.Just after 6:30p.m. Sunday, Ellsworth County 911 received a call about the buffalo on K-4 highway at 5th Road in Ellsworth County, according to a media release.A deputy responded to the scene, found the animal and attempted to get it to return to a pasture. The buffalo suddenly charged the deputy and injured him.Claflin EMS transported the deputy to the Ellsworth County Medical Center and he was later transferred to Salina Regional Health Center.&nbsp; The sheriff's office has not identified the deputy or updated his condition.

Update: Charging buffalo kills Kan. man, injures deputy 

By JOHN HANNA and HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH&nbsp;

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Abortion opponents were shocked and abortion rights advocates energized by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-primary-elections-kansas-abortion-b6d62a852c2ce4617f2c03589fbb523e">a decisive statewide vote in heavily Republican Kansas</a>&nbsp;this week in favor of protecting abortion access, yet it's not likely to translate into new abortion votes across the U.S. in the November election.

Four other states — California, Kentucky, Michigan and Vermont — could have votes in November on abortion access, and a fifth, Montana, is voting on a measure that would require abortion providers to give lifesaving treatment to a fetus that is born alive after a botched abortion. Opponents argue federal law already offers those protections.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-abortion-health-sexual-abuse-by-clergy-constitutions-022d340cf968be3c28b03f7f96965f09">No other abortion initiatives</a>&nbsp;are likely to make a state's November ballot.

The Kansas vote was the first test of public feeling about abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">overturned Roe v. Wade</a>&nbsp;in late June, and it upended political assumptions.

Voters rejected a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution declaring that it grants no right to abortion. That would have opened the door for the GOP-controlled Legislature to further restrict or ban abortion and nullify&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3f479b218a6140719e1694fcfcdb8036">a 2019 decision</a>&nbsp;by the Kansas Supreme Court that access is a “fundamental” right under the state's Bill of Rights.

HOW WAS THE OUTCOME OF THE KANSAS VOTE A SURPRISE?

Abortion rights supporters prevailed by nearly 18 percentage points in the Republican state with deep ties to the anti-abortion movement. They took the outcome as confirmation that preserving access to abortion is popular.

Officials with several national abortion rights groups argued that the vote shows it’s a mistake for Democrats in red states like Kansas to avoid talking about abortion and that support for abortion rights can drive voters to the polls. In Kentucky, donations to the abortion rights cause poured in immediately, said Tamarra Wieder, state director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates.

The election in Kansas coincided with the state’s primary. Over the previous 10 years, turnout for a mid-term primary has averaged less than 26%, with Republicans casting twice as many ballots as Democrats.

But turnout for this election topped 45% — almost 915,000 voters — approaching levels normally seen during a fall election for governor. More than half of registered Democrats and Republicans cast ballots. At least 28% of registered unaffiliated voters, who couldn’t vote on anything else on ballots on Tuesday, voted on the proposed amendment.

The outcome also suggested that a sizeable number of Republicans voted against the proposed amendment.

“Three things in Kansas are really important to note: One, the depth of the victory; two, the amount of increased voter turnout, and three, that it happened in an off-year midterm election,” said Kristen Rowe-Finkbeiner, CEO of MomsRising, an advocacy group that supports abortion rights.

Abortion opponents argued that the vote was a temporary setback and vowed to keep electing anti-abortion candidates.

CAN EITHER SIDE RUSH TO PUT A QUESTION TO VOTERS IN MY STATE IN NOVEMBER?

Likely not. For one thing, deadlines to do it have passed in the half of U.S. states that allow voters to put questions on the ballot without going through the Legislature.

In Ohio, the Democratic nominee for governor, Nan Whaley, has called for putting an abortion rights measure on the ballot as early as next year, and efforts have started in Colorado and South Dakota for 2024. In Iowa, GOP lawmakers have taken the first step toward putting an anti-abortion measure on the ballot in 2024.

In Kansas, anti-abortion lawmakers anticipated voters approving their measure.

BUT THERE ARE VOTES IN SOME STATES IN NOVEMBER?

Yes, but those efforts were all underway before the Kansas vote.

Legislators in California and Vermont put measures to protect abortion rights on the ballot, and Kentucky lawmakers have a measure on the ballot similar to the one that failed in Kansas.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-voting-rights-2022-midterm-elections-us-supreme-court-health-96575728b5ccc4664e0a38fe4884f1e4">In Michigan,</a>&nbsp;abortion rights advocates believe they have turned in enough signatures to put an abortion rights amendment to the state constitution on the November ballot, but the signatures must still be counted.

The Montana referendum also was initiated by legislators.

IN STATES ALLOWING IT, WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR VOTERS TO GET A QUESTION ON THE BALLOT?

They have to circulate petitions and collect tens of thousands of signatures from registered voters; the number is often a percentage of the vote in a previous election. Some states set requirements to get signatures from across the state, not just in one or two metropolitan areas.

In Nebraska, abortion opponents are focused on gaining one more seat in its one-house Legislature for the two-thirds majority necessary to overcome filibusters and pass an abortion ban. A voter initiative there must gather nearly 88,000 signatures from at least 5% of the registered voters in 38 of its 93 counties, something known as the “two-fifths rule.”

In Missouri, initiatives can take a year to get to the ballot, and in Oklahoma, the average length has been more than a year — 64 weeks — over the past 10 years, according to the secretary of state's office.

“From start to finish, if you could get it done in nine months, you’d really be moving fast," said Amber England, a political strategist in Oklahoma who has worked to get questions on the ballot in recent years.

The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which advises progressive groups on campaigning for ballot questions, advises that the work should take three years, including building community relationships before even circulating signatures.

SO IT'S A MATTER OF GETTING ENOUGH VALID SIGNATURES IN THE RIGHT PLACES?

Not necessarily. There can be other hurdles, particularly if public officials who are players in the process oppose an initiative.

In Missouri in 2019, opponents of a law banning most abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy sought to get a proposed repeal on the ballot, but Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a Republican who opposes abortion, took enough time in vetting the language that supporters had only two weeks to gather signatures. While the initiative's backers sued —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-abortion-health-legislature-missouri-362a4066bfb8766d486cec24c59ab9b9">and won</a>&nbsp;— the final ruling from the state Supreme Court didn't come until early this year.

“It was a significant victory,” said Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Pro-Choice Missouri. “But we didn’t get a do-over.”

Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas. Also contributing were Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City, Scott McFetridge in Des Moines, Iowa, and Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1656082532826.png" alt="Photo by Dylan Lysen / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>Photo by Dylan Lysen / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN HANNA and HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH&nbsp;TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Abortion opponents were shocked and abortion rights advocates energized by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-primary-elections-kansas-abortion-b6d62a852c2ce4617f2c03589fbb523e">a decisive statewide vote in heavily Republican Kansas</a>&nbsp;this week in favor of protecting abortion access, yet it's not likely to translate into new abortion votes across the U.S. in the November election.Four other states — California, Kentucky, Michigan and Vermont — could have votes in November on abortion access, and a fifth, Montana, is voting on a measure that would require abortion providers to give lifesaving treatment to a fetus that is born alive after a botched abortion. Opponents argue federal law already offers those protections.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-abortion-health-sexual-abuse-by-clergy-constitutions-022d340cf968be3c28b03f7f96965f09">No other abortion initiatives</a>&nbsp;are likely to make a state's November ballot.The Kansas vote was the first test of public feeling about abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">overturned Roe v. Wade</a>&nbsp;in late June, and it upended political assumptions.Voters rejected a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution declaring that it grants no right to abortion. That would have opened the door for the GOP-controlled Legislature to further restrict or ban abortion and nullify&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3f479b218a6140719e1694fcfcdb8036">a 2019 decision</a>&nbsp;by the Kansas Supreme Court that access is a “fundamental” right under the state's Bill of Rights.HOW WAS THE OUTCOME OF THE KANSAS VOTE A SURPRISE?Abortion rights supporters prevailed by nearly 18 percentage points in the Republican state with deep ties to the anti-abortion movement. They took the outcome as confirmation that preserving access to abortion is popular.Officials with several national abortion rights groups argued that the vote shows it’s a mistake for Democrats in red states like Kansas to avoid talking about abortion and that support for abortion rights can drive voters to the polls. In Kentucky, donations to the abortion rights cause poured in immediately, said Tamarra Wieder, state director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates.The election in Kansas coincided with the state’s primary. Over the previous 10 years, turnout for a mid-term primary has averaged less than 26%, with Republicans casting twice as many ballots as Democrats.But turnout for this election topped 45% — almost 915,000 voters — approaching levels normally seen during a fall election for governor. More than half of registered Democrats and Republicans cast ballots. At least 28% of registered unaffiliated voters, who couldn’t vote on anything else on ballots on Tuesday, voted on the proposed amendment.The outcome also suggested that a sizeable number of Republicans voted against the proposed amendment.“Three things in Kansas are really important to note: One, the depth of the victory; two, the amount of increased voter turnout, and three, that it happened in an off-year midterm election,” said Kristen Rowe-Finkbeiner, CEO of MomsRising, an advocacy group that supports abortion rights.Abortion opponents argued that the vote was a temporary setback and vowed to keep electing anti-abortion candidates.CAN EITHER SIDE RUSH TO PUT A QUESTION TO VOTERS IN MY STATE IN NOVEMBER?Likely not. For one thing, deadlines to do it have passed in the half of U.S. states that allow voters to put questions on the ballot without going through the Legislature.In Ohio, the Democratic nominee for governor, Nan Whaley, has called for putting an abortion rights measure on the ballot as early as next year, and efforts have started in Colorado and South Dakota for 2024. In Iowa, GOP lawmakers have taken the first step toward putting an anti-abortion measure on the ballot in 2024.In Kansas, anti-abortion lawmakers anticipated voters approving their measure.BUT THERE ARE VOTES IN SOME STATES IN NOVEMBER?Yes, but those efforts were all underway before the Kansas vote.Legislators in California and Vermont put measures to protect abortion rights on the ballot, and Kentucky lawmakers have a measure on the ballot similar to the one that failed in Kansas.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-voting-rights-2022-midterm-elections-us-supreme-court-health-96575728b5ccc4664e0a38fe4884f1e4">In Michigan,</a>&nbsp;abortion rights advocates believe they have turned in enough signatures to put an abortion rights amendment to the state constitution on the November ballot, but the signatures must still be counted.The Montana referendum also was initiated by legislators.IN STATES ALLOWING IT, WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR VOTERS TO GET A QUESTION ON THE BALLOT?They have to circulate petitions and collect tens of thousands of signatures from registered voters; the number is often a percentage of the vote in a previous election. Some states set requirements to get signatures from across the state, not just in one or two metropolitan areas.In Nebraska, abortion opponents are focused on gaining one more seat in its one-house Legislature for the two-thirds majority necessary to overcome filibusters and pass an abortion ban. A voter initiative there must gather nearly 88,000 signatures from at least 5% of the registered voters in 38 of its 93 counties, something known as the “two-fifths rule.”In Missouri, initiatives can take a year to get to the ballot, and in Oklahoma, the average length has been more than a year — 64 weeks — over the past 10 years, according to the secretary of state's office.“From start to finish, if you could get it done in nine months, you’d really be moving fast," said Amber England, a political strategist in Oklahoma who has worked to get questions on the ballot in recent years.The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which advises progressive groups on campaigning for ballot questions, advises that the work should take three years, including building community relationships before even circulating signatures.SO IT'S A MATTER OF GETTING ENOUGH VALID SIGNATURES IN THE RIGHT PLACES?Not necessarily. There can be other hurdles, particularly if public officials who are players in the process oppose an initiative.In Missouri in 2019, opponents of a law banning most abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy sought to get a proposed repeal on the ballot, but Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a Republican who opposes abortion, took enough time in vetting the language that supporters had only two weeks to gather signatures. While the initiative's backers sued —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-abortion-health-legislature-missouri-362a4066bfb8766d486cec24c59ab9b9">and won</a>&nbsp;— the final ruling from the state Supreme Court didn't come until early this year.“It was a significant victory,” said Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Pro-Choice Missouri. “But we didn’t get a do-over.”____Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas. Also contributing were Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City, Scott McFetridge in Des Moines, Iowa, and Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio.

Will abortion be on more state ballots after Kansas vote?

By SCOTT CARLSON North Platte Post

GENOA, Neb.-Authorities said a Kansas man drowned in a Nebraska lake over the weekend.

At around 1:23 p.m. on Saturday, the Nance County Sheriff's Office and Genoa Fire and Rescue responded to the report of a drowning at a private lake south of Genoa.

Deputies arrived and were told by witnesses that the man had been swimming about 100 yards from shore when he was heard calling for help before disappearing under the water.

Authorities said deputies were on the scene about five minutes after receiving the call and 12 minutes after the man was last seen.

Deputies entered the lake but were unable to locate the man, but were unsuccessful.

Further efforts by deputies, volunteers and first responders were unsuccessful in locating the man.

Mutual aid was requested from the Platte County and Oxford Dive Teams, who arrived with sonar equipment and located the body of Wayne E. Mathias, 79, of Augusta, Kansas.

<a href="https://northplattepost.com/posts/2ddcec21-000f-4ace-b19e-4250120d6629">&nbsp;&nbsp;Download The Post app for iOs or Android</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1659967503185.jpeg" alt="Authorities said a Kansas man drowned over the weekend at a private lake south of Genoa. (Photo: Nance County Sheriff's Office)" />
 <figcaption>Authorities said a Kansas man drowned over the weekend at a private lake south of Genoa. (Photo: Nance County Sheriff's Office)</figcaption>
 </figure>By SCOTT CARLSON North Platte PostGENOA, Neb.-Authorities said a Kansas man drowned in a Nebraska lake over the weekend.At around 1:23 p.m. on Saturday, the Nance County Sheriff's Office and Genoa Fire and Rescue responded to the report of a drowning at a private lake south of Genoa.Deputies arrived and were told by witnesses that the man had been swimming about 100 yards from shore when he was heard calling for help before disappearing under the water.Authorities said deputies were on the scene about five minutes after receiving the call and 12 minutes after the man was last seen.Deputies entered the lake but were unable to locate the man, but were unsuccessful.Further efforts by deputies, volunteers and first responders were unsuccessful in locating the man.Mutual aid was requested from the Platte County and Oxford Dive Teams, who arrived with sonar equipment and located the body of Wayne E. Mathias, 79, of Augusta, Kansas.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1659967478316.png" alt="Google Maps" />
 <figcaption>Google Maps</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://northplattepost.com/posts/2ddcec21-000f-4ace-b19e-4250120d6629">&nbsp;&nbsp;Download The Post app for iOs or Android</a><figure>
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Kansas man drowns in Nebraska lake

By AARON SANDERFORD <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/08/08/corn-and-soybean-sweat-helps-make-nebraska-summers-more-humid/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

ASHLAND, Nebraska — Nebraskans like 
to complain about the humidity this time of year. But some might not 
realize that the corn and soybeans that help power the state’s economy 
are part of what’s making farmers and their customers sweat.

All plants release into the air much 
of the moisture their roots absorb from the ground. But the weather is 
muggier in these parts in July and August than it otherwise would be 
because corn and soybeans release more moisture than most crops.&nbsp;

Scientists and farmers call this evapotranspiration. The more common term is “corn sweat.”&nbsp;

Those who monitor the impact of that 
moisture say corn and soybeans make it more humid here because Nebraska 
and its neighbors grow a lot of both.

Nebraska farmers produced 1.85 
billion bushels of corn in 2021, third most in the nation, according to 
the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. Farmers here raised 351 million 
bushels of soybeans, good for fourth in the nation.

Barb Mayes Boustead, an Omaha-area 
meteorologist, helped spark discussion about “corn sweat”&nbsp; recently by 
writing a column about it for the Washington Post. She wrote that 
densely planted acres make summers in the Midwest and Great Plains feel 
hotter.

Corn releases a lot of “sweat”: One 
acre of planted corn can release up to 4,000 gallons of water a day, she
 wrote. Soybeans are no slouch, either, she explained. Evaporated 
moisture from rivers, ponds, lakes and the Gulf of Mexico make a 
difference, too.

Evapotranspiration from corn and soybeans aren’t the only factors, Boustead said in an interview Friday.&nbsp;

“But the moisture they release into 
the air does add in a measurable way to the humidity … of more than just
 the fields,” Boustead said. “People can feel it in cities like Omaha 
and Lincoln.”

State Sen. Curt Friesen grows corn 
and soybeans on his 1,300-acre farm in Henderson, a town of 991 people 
southwest of York. He said summertime spikes in midsummer humidity are 
just part of life “when you live out here in the middle of corn 
country.”&nbsp;

He chuckled at Boustead’s finding 
that an Iowa cornfield can be muggier than Miami Beach. It’s rough this 
time of year to change a tire on an irrigation center pivot in the 
middle of a humid cornfield, where no breeze can reach you, he said.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“You just deal with it,” Friesen 
said. “It’s just the way it’s always been. I always think it’s more 
stifling in the city when you’re surrounded by concrete, and the 
buildings block the wind.”

Friesen, who formerly served on both the Nebraska Corn
 Board and National Corn Growers Association, said his slice of 
east-central Nebraska was a little less muggy in the 1950s and 1960s, 
when fewer acres of farmland were irrigated. He said you can feel the 
difference when the plants let out more moisture.

Al Dutcher, the Nebraska Extension 
agriculture climatologist, said irrigation plays some role in what’s 
changing. Federal farm programs and their impact on farmers’ planting 
choices also have significant influence, he said.

More acres in parts of Kansas, 
Nebraska and North and South Dakota that used to plant wheat have been 
shifting toward corn and soybeans. That matters, he said, because wheat 
reaches its peak point of letting moisture go in the spring and fall.

Because more people are planting corn
 and soybeans from Texas to central Canada, Dutcher said, the midsection
 of the United States is seeing more concentrated moisture from crops 
that release more moisture at the same time of year, in midsummer.&nbsp;

Nationally, 90 million acres have 
been planted with corn and soybeans. That’s the equivalent, he said, of 
planting Nebraska border to border 3.7 times with the top two crops 
contributing moisture into the atmosphere.

“The reason I’m confident we are 
seeing more moisture is the expansion of the Corn Belt,” Dutcher said. 
“Some has to do with farm programs, how they’re set up — and individual 
producers looking at prices and chasing an opportunity.”

Dennis Todey, who directs the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture’s Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, Iowa, said Iowa
 and other Midwestern states are used to the humidity spikes of “corn 
sweats” because they long ago shifted to corn and soybeans.

Great Plains states are feeling more 
of that shift today, he said. “Corn sweats” and the combined effects of a
 changing climate are making it feel hotter, boosting dew points and the
 heat index.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Weather and climate experts say we’re
 seeing fewer 100-degree days than in the past, combined with warmer 
nights. That’s because the extra moisture in the air makes it harder for
 temperatures to swing in either direction — higher or lower.&nbsp;

Higher-than-normal overnight low 
temperatures affect how much water it takes to grow crops, the 
livelihood of livestock in cattle ranching states such as&nbsp; Nebraska, and
 the ability of people to rest well without air conditioning, Todey 
said.

“It is adding to that effect, where 
it’s increasing the amount of moisture in the atmosphere,” he said. 
“Even in cities, though we’re not close to fields, there are enough corn
 and soybeans out there that it’s influencing what we’re feeling.”

Although evapotranspiration is an 
issue worth highlighting, Dutcher said, he thinks members of the media 
are over-using the term “corn sweat.”&nbsp;

Friesen said he understands the 
fascination over “corn sweat” and chuckled, saying people might be more 
interested to learn about “corn sex” and the distinctly sweet smell 
emitted when corn starts to pollinate.&nbsp;

Boustead, who said she wanted to help scientists more easily communicate why some of this month’s summer heat wave feels worse than usual, wrote about “corn sweat” in all its glory.

“If it’s muggy in Mid-America in 
midsummer,” she wrote, “go ahead and blame the corn. Just don’t forget 
its friends: soybeans, soil and waterways, just to name a few.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1659965073124.png" alt="Corn grows in Saunders County, Nebraska, just outside Ashland. These crops, like all plants, sweat out moisture pulled from the ground as a means to keep cooler in the heat. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner) " />
 <figcaption>Corn grows in Saunders County, Nebraska, just outside Ashland. These crops, like all plants, sweat out moisture pulled from the ground as a means to keep cooler in the heat. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner) </figcaption>
 </figure>By AARON SANDERFORD <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/08/08/corn-and-soybean-sweat-helps-make-nebraska-summers-more-humid/">Nebraska Examiner</a>ASHLAND, Nebraska — Nebraskans like 
to complain about the humidity this time of year. But some might not 
realize that the corn and soybeans that help power the state’s economy 
are part of what’s making farmers and their customers sweat.All plants release into the air much 
of the moisture their roots absorb from the ground. But the weather is 
muggier in these parts in July and August than it otherwise would be 
because corn and soybeans release more moisture than most crops.&nbsp;Scientists and farmers call this evapotranspiration. The more common term is “corn sweat.”&nbsp;Those who monitor the impact of that 
moisture say corn and soybeans make it more humid here because Nebraska 
and its neighbors grow a lot of both.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1659965132500.png" alt="Agricultural experts say corn is being planted more densely across a broader swath of the center of the country. This is where farmers planted the most corn in 2021. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)" />
 <figcaption>Agricultural experts say corn is being planted more densely across a broader swath of the center of the country. This is where farmers planted the most corn in 2021. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)</figcaption>
 </figure>Nebraska farmers produced 1.85 
billion bushels of corn in 2021, third most in the nation, according to 
the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. Farmers here raised 351 million 
bushels of soybeans, good for fourth in the nation.Barb Mayes Boustead, an Omaha-area 
meteorologist, helped spark discussion about “corn sweat”&nbsp; recently by 
writing a column about it for the Washington Post. She wrote that 
densely planted acres make summers in the Midwest and Great Plains feel 
hotter.Corn releases a lot of “sweat”: One 
acre of planted corn can release up to 4,000 gallons of water a day, she
 wrote. Soybeans are no slouch, either, she explained. Evaporated 
moisture from rivers, ponds, lakes and the Gulf of Mexico make a 
difference, too.Evapotranspiration from corn and soybeans aren’t the only factors, Boustead said in an interview Friday.&nbsp;“But the moisture they release into 
the air does add in a measurable way to the humidity … of more than just
 the fields,” Boustead said. “People can feel it in cities like Omaha 
and Lincoln.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1659965161669.png" alt="This is where farmers planted the most soybeans in 2021. The plants sweat more moisture than most other crops, trailing corn. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)" />
 <figcaption>This is where farmers planted the most soybeans in 2021. The plants sweat more moisture than most other crops, trailing corn. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)</figcaption>
 </figure>State Sen. Curt Friesen grows corn 
and soybeans on his 1,300-acre farm in Henderson, a town of 991 people 
southwest of York. He said summertime spikes in midsummer humidity are 
just part of life “when you live out here in the middle of corn 
country.”&nbsp;He chuckled at Boustead’s finding 
that an Iowa cornfield can be muggier than Miami Beach. It’s rough this 
time of year to change a tire on an irrigation center pivot in the 
middle of a humid cornfield, where no breeze can reach you, he said.&nbsp;&nbsp;“You just deal with it,” Friesen 
said. “It’s just the way it’s always been. I always think it’s more 
stifling in the city when you’re surrounded by concrete, and the 
buildings block the wind.”Friesen, who formerly served on both the Nebraska Corn
 Board and National Corn Growers Association, said his slice of 
east-central Nebraska was a little less muggy in the 1950s and 1960s, 
when fewer acres of farmland were irrigated. He said you can feel the 
difference when the plants let out more moisture.Al Dutcher, the Nebraska Extension 
agriculture climatologist, said irrigation plays some role in what’s 
changing. Federal farm programs and their impact on farmers’ planting 
choices also have significant influence, he said.More acres in parts of Kansas, 
Nebraska and North and South Dakota that used to plant wheat have been 
shifting toward corn and soybeans. That matters, he said, because wheat 
reaches its peak point of letting moisture go in the spring and fall.Because more people are planting corn
 and soybeans from Texas to central Canada, Dutcher said, the midsection
 of the United States is seeing more concentrated moisture from crops 
that release more moisture at the same time of year, in midsummer.&nbsp;Nationally, 90 million acres have 
been planted with corn and soybeans. That’s the equivalent, he said, of 
planting Nebraska border to border 3.7 times with the top two crops 
contributing moisture into the atmosphere.“The reason I’m confident we are 
seeing more moisture is the expansion of the Corn Belt,” Dutcher said. 
“Some has to do with farm programs, how they’re set up — and individual 
producers looking at prices and chasing an opportunity.”Dennis Todey, who directs the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture’s Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, Iowa, said Iowa
 and other Midwestern states are used to the humidity spikes of “corn 
sweats” because they long ago shifted to corn and soybeans.Great Plains states are feeling more 
of that shift today, he said. “Corn sweats” and the combined effects of a
 changing climate are making it feel hotter, boosting dew points and the
 heat index.&nbsp;&nbsp;Weather and climate experts say we’re
 seeing fewer 100-degree days than in the past, combined with warmer 
nights. That’s because the extra moisture in the air makes it harder for
 temperatures to swing in either direction — higher or lower.&nbsp;Higher-than-normal overnight low 
temperatures affect how much water it takes to grow crops, the 
livelihood of livestock in cattle ranching states such as&nbsp; Nebraska, and
 the ability of people to rest well without air conditioning, Todey 
said.“It is adding to that effect, where 
it’s increasing the amount of moisture in the atmosphere,” he said. 
“Even in cities, though we’re not close to fields, there are enough corn
 and soybeans out there that it’s influencing what we’re feeling.”Although evapotranspiration is an 
issue worth highlighting, Dutcher said, he thinks members of the media 
are over-using the term “corn sweat.”&nbsp;Friesen said he understands the 
fascination over “corn sweat” and chuckled, saying people might be more 
interested to learn about “corn sex” and the distinctly sweet smell 
emitted when corn starts to pollinate.&nbsp;Boustead, who said she wanted to help scientists more easily communicate why some of this month’s summer heat wave feels worse than usual, wrote about “corn sweat” in all its glory.“If it’s muggy in Mid-America in 
midsummer,” she wrote, “go ahead and blame the corn. Just don’t forget 
its friends: soybeans, soil and waterways, just to name a few.”

Corn, soybean ‘sweat’ helps make Neb. summers more humid

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett’s company reported a $43.76 billion loss in the second quarter as the paper value of its investments plummeted, but Berkshire Hathaway’s many operating companies generally performed well suggesting the overall economy is weathering the pressure from inflation and rising interest rates.

Berkshire said Saturday that a largely unrealized $53 billion decline in the value of its investments forced it to report a loss of nearly $44 billion, or $29,754 per Class A share. That is down from $28.1 billion, or $18,488 per Class A share, a year ago.

The stock prices of three of Berkshire's biggest investments — Apple, American Express and Bank of America — all fell significantly during the second quarter. But those stocks have all rebounded during the third quarter, meaning Berkshire’s portfolio is already worth more than it was at the end of the quarter.

Buffett has long said he believes Berkshire’s operating earnings are a better measure of the company’s performance because they exclude investment gains and losses, which can vary widely quarter to quarter. By that measure, Berkshire’s earnings were up significantly to $9.28 billion, or $6,312.49 per Class A share from last year’s $6.69 billion, or $4,399.92 per Class A share.

The four analysts surveyed by FactSet expected Berkshire to report operating earnings per Class A share of $4,741.64.

By Associated PressOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett’s company reported a $43.76 billion loss in the second quarter as the paper value of its investments plummeted, but Berkshire Hathaway’s many operating companies generally performed well suggesting the overall economy is weathering the pressure from inflation and rising interest rates.Berkshire said Saturday that a largely unrealized $53 billion decline in the value of its investments forced it to report a loss of nearly $44 billion, or $29,754 per Class A share. That is down from $28.1 billion, or $18,488 per Class A share, a year ago.The stock prices of three of Berkshire's biggest investments — Apple, American Express and Bank of America — all fell significantly during the second quarter. But those stocks have all rebounded during the third quarter, meaning Berkshire’s portfolio is already worth more than it was at the end of the quarter.Buffett has long said he believes Berkshire’s operating earnings are a better measure of the company’s performance because they exclude investment gains and losses, which can vary widely quarter to quarter. By that measure, Berkshire’s earnings were up significantly to $9.28 billion, or $6,312.49 per Class A share from last year’s $6.69 billion, or $4,399.92 per Class A share.The four analysts surveyed by FactSet expected Berkshire to report operating earnings per Class A share of $4,741.64.Besides investments, Berkshire owns more than 90 companies outright. Berkshire said operating profits were up at all of its major units including its insurance companies, major utilities and BNSF railroad. The strong results at most of its companies offset a $487 million pretax underwriting loss at Geico, which reported bigger auto claims losses because of the soaring value of vehicles and ongoing shortages of car parts.CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert said Geico’s results suggest the auto insurer is having more trouble raising rates to offset those higher costs than its peers at Progressive and Allstate, so “I definitely think that merits watching.”Berkshire is often seen as a microcosm of the broader economy because its eclectic collection of manufacturing, retail, insurance, utility and service businesses touches so many different industries, and Berkshire’s profits tend to follow whatever the economy is doing. Edward Jones analyst Jim Shanahan said Berkshire’s strong operating results suggest that many businesses have been able to raise prices enough to offset surging inflation, and even though higher interest rates are hurting Berkshire’s network of car dealers and its manufactured home division, other parts of the company are benefitting from higher rates on investments.“This is a business that has its tentacles in all different parts of the economy. To show such broad revenue and earnings strength throughout the franchise, it gives me a lot of confidence that the broader economy is performing pretty well,” Shanahan said.Berkshire said its revenue grew more than 10% to $76.2 billion in the quarter as many of its businesses increased prices.Berkshire said it was sitting on $105.4 billion cash at the end of the quarter, which was little changed from the $106 billion it reported at the end of the first quarter. That signaled Buffett wasn't buying nearly as many stocks during the second quarter although it has reported investing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nebraska-omaha-warren-buffett-2542a1b3c552a86121fb206fab0ec0ea">several billion</a>&nbsp;in Occidental Petroleum. In the first three months of the year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/16d017b2579b9d7bb1cbff7f821e7578">Berkshire spent more than $51 billion</a>&nbsp;on stocks.Berkshire did spend $1 billion buying back its own shares in the quarter, but the pace of those buybacks has slowed significantly. Berkshire repurchased $3.2 billion of its shares in the first quarter and $27 billion last year. Before this year's buying spree of stocks such as oil producers Occidental and Chevron, and printer maker HP Inc., repurchases had been Buffett's biggest investment in recent years as he struggled to find major acquisitions.Berkshire's acquisition drought ended this year when he signed a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-warren-buffett-alleghany-corp-64fb02ee0fba01213cf2f2e67fef9bb8">$11.6 billion deal</a>&nbsp;to acquire the insurance conglomerate Alleghany.One interesting tidbit disclosed deep in Berkshire's Securities and Exchange Commission filing is that the company bought Berkshire Vice Chairman Greg Abel's stake in Berkshire's utility unit for $870 million in June. Abel is set to take over as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-d2f5c2d7ddf636c26c4c7db7e27a3a56">Berkshire CEO</a>&nbsp;once Buffett is unavailable although the legendary 91-year-old investor has no plans to retire. The filing offered no indication of what Abel would do with the money, including whether he would reinvest it in Berkshire shares.Some investors have called for Abel to increase his Berkshire investment before he takes over as CEO, so he would have a bigger stake in the company's future. At last report, Abel held five Class A shares and nearly 2,400 Class B shares. Contrast that with Buffett, who holds 229,016 A shares and 276 B shares to give him control of more than 30% of Berkshire's voting stock.