PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Senate convicted Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg of two impeachment charges stemming from a 2020 fatal accident, removing and barring him from future office. 

The votes Tuesday were a stinging rebuke that showed most senators didn’t believe his account of the crash. 

Ravnsborg told a 911 dispatcher the night of the crash that he might have struck a deer or other large animal, and has said he didn’t know he struck a man — 55-year-old Joseph Boever — until he returned to the scene the next morning. 

Lee Schoenbeck, the chamber's top-ranking Republican, said there was no question in his mind that was a lie.

 Ravnsvorg “ran down an innocent South Dakotan,” he said. 

Ravnsborg declined to address lawmakers. He has maintained he did nothing wrong.

By Associated PressPIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Senate convicted Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg of two impeachment charges stemming from a 2020 fatal accident, removing and barring him from future office. The votes Tuesday were a stinging rebuke that showed most senators didn’t believe his account of the crash. Ravnsborg told a 911 dispatcher the night of the crash that he might have struck a deer or other large animal, and has said he didn’t know he struck a man — 55-year-old Joseph Boever — until he returned to the scene the next morning. Lee Schoenbeck, the chamber's top-ranking Republican, said there was no question in his mind that was a lie. Ravnsvorg “ran down an innocent South Dakotan,” he said. Ravnsborg declined to address lawmakers. He has maintained he did nothing wrong.

South Dakota AG convicted on 2 impeachment charges, removed

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday that it will have erased its backlog of last season’s tax returns by the end of this week.

And with 143 million returns from this year’s tax season processed so far, agency officials say there’s a greater likelihood of being caught up on processing all returns by the end of this year.

The agency has faced a well-publicized backlog of tens of millions of tax returns and clogged customer service phone systems, which leaders have attributed to decades of underfunding and antiquated internal computer systems.

“To date, more than twice as many returns await processing compared to a typical year at this point in the calendar year, although the IRS has worked through almost a million more returns to date than it had at this time last year,” the agency said in statement Tuesday.

Administering pandemic-related programs — including stimulus checks and advanced Child Tax Credit payments — imposed a new workload on the agency over the past two years.

That’s on top of an IRS workforce that is the same size it was in 1970, though the U.S. population has grown exponentially and the U.S. tax code has become increasingly complicated.

A Treasury official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said agency employees have worked 500,000 overtime hours to bring down the backlog.

Agency officials have been asking Congress for increased funding for the agency.

During the 2020 budget year, the IRS processed more than 240 million tax returns and issued roughly $736 billion in refunds, including $268 billion in stimulus payments, according to the latest IRS data.

In that same time frame, 59.5 million people called or visited an IRS office.

In a joint letter addressed to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who heads the Senate Finance Committee, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said Tuesday that the agency has provided over $298 billion in refunds to Americans this year, and electronic returns without errors have been processed within 8 to 21 days.

“Despite this progress, there are real challenges ahead,” the letter said. “Because the IRS entered this filing season with a significant backlog, millions of paper returns received in 2022 have not yet been processed.”

The agency has been working to catch up to the ever-mounting pile of work. The agency entered this year’s tax filing season with 8 million unprocessed returns from 2021, and by the end of this week will have polished off the last of those that didn’t contain taxpayer errors, it says.

Last week, the agency unveiled voice bots to help eligible taxpayers easily verify their identity to set up or modify a payment plan while avoiding long wait times.

And in March, the agency&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-personal-taxes-fd02c92a48c44a8a5fe48dae46b90d14">announced</a>&nbsp;plans to hire 10,000 new workers. Thus far 1,500 new workers have been hired, according to Treasury.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/1/1641845771409.jpg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday that it will have erased its backlog of last season’s tax returns by the end of this week.And with 143 million returns from this year’s tax season processed so far, agency officials say there’s a greater likelihood of being caught up on processing all returns by the end of this year.The agency has faced a well-publicized backlog of tens of millions of tax returns and clogged customer service phone systems, which leaders have attributed to decades of underfunding and antiquated internal computer systems.“To date, more than twice as many returns await processing compared to a typical year at this point in the calendar year, although the IRS has worked through almost a million more returns to date than it had at this time last year,” the agency said in statement Tuesday.Administering pandemic-related programs — including stimulus checks and advanced Child Tax Credit payments — imposed a new workload on the agency over the past two years.That’s on top of an IRS workforce that is the same size it was in 1970, though the U.S. population has grown exponentially and the U.S. tax code has become increasingly complicated.A Treasury official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said agency employees have worked 500,000 overtime hours to bring down the backlog.Agency officials have been asking Congress for increased funding for the agency.During the 2020 budget year, the IRS processed more than 240 million tax returns and issued roughly $736 billion in refunds, including $268 billion in stimulus payments, according to the latest IRS data.In that same time frame, 59.5 million people called or visited an IRS office.In a joint letter addressed to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who heads the Senate Finance Committee, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said Tuesday that the agency has provided over $298 billion in refunds to Americans this year, and electronic returns without errors have been processed within 8 to 21 days.“Despite this progress, there are real challenges ahead,” the letter said. “Because the IRS entered this filing season with a significant backlog, millions of paper returns received in 2022 have not yet been processed.”The agency has been working to catch up to the ever-mounting pile of work. The agency entered this year’s tax filing season with 8 million unprocessed returns from 2021, and by the end of this week will have polished off the last of those that didn’t contain taxpayer errors, it says.Last week, the agency unveiled voice bots to help eligible taxpayers easily verify their identity to set up or modify a payment plan while avoiding long wait times.And in March, the agency&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-personal-taxes-fd02c92a48c44a8a5fe48dae46b90d14">announced</a>&nbsp;plans to hire 10,000 new workers. Thus far 1,500 new workers have been hired, according to Treasury.

IRS backlog continues holding up millions of tax returns

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate bargainers reached agreement Tuesday on a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/5caad0ccca61ac3d308a3735f10628fc" target="_blank">bipartisan gun violence bill</a>, potentially teeing up final passage by week’s end on an incremental but landmark package that would stand as Congress’ response to mass shootings in Texas and New York that shook the nation.

Lawmakers released the 80-page bill&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gun-laws-senate-bipartisan-agreement-59d553f3d1e35fdbe4930e4341e74efb">nine days after agreeing to a framework for the plan</a>&nbsp;and 29 years after Congress last enacted major firearms curbs. It cleared an initial procedural hurdle by 64-34, with 14 Republicans including Missouri Senator Roy Blunt joining all 48 Democrats and two allied independents in voting yes. Kansas Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall voted against the measure.

That strongly supported a prediction by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., of approval later this week. Passage by the Democratic-led House could follow quickly.

Though Republicans blocked tougher restrictions sought by Democrats, the accord marks&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-parkland-florida-school-shooting-gun-violence-shootings-public-opinion-06cd760edf8977716dba0c2b157a1a91">an election-year breakthrough</a>&nbsp;on an issue that pits the GOP’s staunch gun-owning and rural voters against Democrats’ urban-centered backers of firearms curbs. That makes it one of the most incendiary culture war battlefields in politics and a sensitive vote for some lawmakers, particularly Republicans who might alienate Second Amendment stalwarts.

The legislation would toughen background checks for the youngest firearms buyers, require more sellers to conduct background checks and beef up penalties on gun traffickers. It also would disburse money to states and communities to improve school safety and mental health initiatives.

Aides estimated the measure would cost around $15 billion, which Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, the lead Democratic bargainer, said would be fully paid for.

Resolving one final hurdle that delayed the accord, the bill would prohibit romantic partners convicted of domestic violence and not married to their victims from getting firearms. Convicted abusers who are married to, live with or had children with their victims are already barred from having guns.

The compromise prohibits guns for a person who has “a current or recent former dating relationship with the victim.” That is defined in part as one between people ”who have or have recently had a continuing serious relationship of a romantic or intimate nature.” An offender’s ability to own a gun could be restored after five years if they’ve not committed another serious crime.

On another late dispute, the bill would provide $750 million to the 19 states and the District of Columbia that have “red flag” laws making it easier to temporarily take firearms from people adjudged dangerous, and to other states with violence prevention programs. States with “red flag” laws that receive the funds would have to have legal processes for the gun owner to fight the firearm’s removal.

Momentum in Congress for gun legislation has a history of waning quickly after mass shootings. Lawmakers are scheduled to begin a two-week July 4th recess by this weekend.

The legislation lacks far more potent proposals that President Joe Biden supports and Democrats have pushed unsuccessfully for years, derailed by GOP opposition. These include banning assault-type weapons or raising the minimum age for buying them, prohibiting high-capacity magazines and requiring background checks for virtually all gun sales.

Yet after 10 Black shoppers were killed last month in Buffalo, New York, and 19 children and two teachers died days later in Uvalde, Texas, Democrats and some Republicans decided that this time, measured steps were preferable to Congress’ usual reaction to such horrors — gridlock.

Murphy said that after Buffalo and Uvalde, “I saw a level of fear on the faces of the parents and the children that I spoke to that I’ve never seen before.” He said his colleagues also encountered anxiety among voters “not just for the safety of their children, but also a fear about the ability of government to rise to this moment and do something, and do something meaningful.”

This bill, Murphy said, would “save thousands of lives.” Before entering the Senate, his House district included Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six staff members perished in a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Top GOP bargainer Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said of the pact, “Some think it goes too far, others think it doesn’t go far enough. And I get it. It’s the nature of compromise.”

But he added, “I believe that the same people who are telling us to do something are sending us a clear message, to do what we can to keep our children and communities safe. I’m confident this legislation moves us in a positive direction.”

In a positive sign about its fate, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voiced his support, calling it “a commonsense package of popular steps that will help make these horrifying incidents less likely while fully upholding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.”

The National Rifle Association, which has spent decades derailing gun control legislation, expressed opposition. “It falls short at every level. It does little to truly address violent crime while opening the door to unnecessary burdens on the exercise of Second Amendment freedom by law-abiding gun owners,” the gun lobby group said.

It seemed likely a majority of Republicans — especially in the House — would oppose the legislation.

Underscoring the backlash GOP lawmakers supporting the pact would face from the most hard-right voters, delegates booed Cornyn at his state’s Republican convention in Houston Saturday as he described the proposal.

In another measure of conservative sentiment, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate, tweeted that the bill “ignores the national crime wave &amp; chips away instead at the fundamental rights of law abiding citizens.” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., a possible White House contender, said it would “restrict the freedoms of law-abiding Americans and put too much power in the hands of politicians and political officials.”

The measure will need at least 10 GOP votes to reach the 60-vote threshold major bills often need in the 50-50 Senate. Cornyn told reporters that he expected at least 10 GOP votes for the measure.

What’s uncertain is whether passage would mark the beginning of slow but gradual action to curb gun violence, or the high water mark on the issue. Until Buffalo and Uvalde, a numbing parade of mass slayings — at sites including elementary and high schools, houses of worship, military facilities, bars and the Las Vegas Strip — have yielded only stalemate in Washington.

“Thirty years, murder after murder, suicide after suicide, mass shooting after mass shooting, Congress did nothing,” Murphy said. “This week we have a chance to break this 30-year period of silence with a bill that changes our laws in a way that will save thousands of lives.”

The bill would require that federal background checks for gun buyers age 18 to 20 include examination of the purchaser’s juvenile record. That could add up to seven more days to the current three-day limit on background checks.

The suspects in the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings were both 18 years old, a profile that matches many recent mass shooters.

There would be hundreds of millions of dollars to expand community behavioral health centers, telemedicine visits for mental specialists and train first responders to handle people with mental health issues. More than $2 billion would be provided to hire and train staff for school mental health services, including $300 million to improve school safety.

Congress’ prohibited assault-type firearms in 1993 in a ban that expired after a decade, lawmakers’ last sweeping legislation addressing gun violence.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/5/1652568426409.png" alt="Ten black shoppers were killed last month in Buffalo, New York&nbsp; -photo courtesy WKBW TV" />
 <figcaption>Ten black shoppers were killed last month in Buffalo, New York&nbsp; -photo courtesy WKBW TV</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate bargainers reached agreement Tuesday on a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/5caad0ccca61ac3d308a3735f10628fc" target="_blank">bipartisan gun violence bill</a>, potentially teeing up final passage by week’s end on an incremental but landmark package that would stand as Congress’ response to mass shootings in Texas and New York that shook the nation.Lawmakers released the 80-page bill&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gun-laws-senate-bipartisan-agreement-59d553f3d1e35fdbe4930e4341e74efb">nine days after agreeing to a framework for the plan</a>&nbsp;and 29 years after Congress last enacted major firearms curbs. It cleared an initial procedural hurdle by 64-34, with 14 Republicans including Missouri Senator Roy Blunt joining all 48 Democrats and two allied independents in voting yes. Kansas Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall voted against the measure.That strongly supported a prediction by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., of approval later this week. Passage by the Democratic-led House could follow quickly.Though Republicans blocked tougher restrictions sought by Democrats, the accord marks&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-parkland-florida-school-shooting-gun-violence-shootings-public-opinion-06cd760edf8977716dba0c2b157a1a91">an election-year breakthrough</a>&nbsp;on an issue that pits the GOP’s staunch gun-owning and rural voters against Democrats’ urban-centered backers of firearms curbs. That makes it one of the most incendiary culture war battlefields in politics and a sensitive vote for some lawmakers, particularly Republicans who might alienate Second Amendment stalwarts.The legislation would toughen background checks for the youngest firearms buyers, require more sellers to conduct background checks and beef up penalties on gun traffickers. It also would disburse money to states and communities to improve school safety and mental health initiatives.Aides estimated the measure would cost around $15 billion, which Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, the lead Democratic bargainer, said would be fully paid for.Resolving one final hurdle that delayed the accord, the bill would prohibit romantic partners convicted of domestic violence and not married to their victims from getting firearms. Convicted abusers who are married to, live with or had children with their victims are already barred from having guns.The compromise prohibits guns for a person who has “a current or recent former dating relationship with the victim.” That is defined in part as one between people ”who have or have recently had a continuing serious relationship of a romantic or intimate nature.” An offender’s ability to own a gun could be restored after five years if they’ve not committed another serious crime.On another late dispute, the bill would provide $750 million to the 19 states and the District of Columbia that have “red flag” laws making it easier to temporarily take firearms from people adjudged dangerous, and to other states with violence prevention programs. States with “red flag” laws that receive the funds would have to have legal processes for the gun owner to fight the firearm’s removal.Momentum in Congress for gun legislation has a history of waning quickly after mass shootings. Lawmakers are scheduled to begin a two-week July 4th recess by this weekend.The legislation lacks far more potent proposals that President Joe Biden supports and Democrats have pushed unsuccessfully for years, derailed by GOP opposition. These include banning assault-type weapons or raising the minimum age for buying them, prohibiting high-capacity magazines and requiring background checks for virtually all gun sales.Yet after 10 Black shoppers were killed last month in Buffalo, New York, and 19 children and two teachers died days later in Uvalde, Texas, Democrats and some Republicans decided that this time, measured steps were preferable to Congress’ usual reaction to such horrors — gridlock.Murphy said that after Buffalo and Uvalde, “I saw a level of fear on the faces of the parents and the children that I spoke to that I’ve never seen before.” He said his colleagues also encountered anxiety among voters “not just for the safety of their children, but also a fear about the ability of government to rise to this moment and do something, and do something meaningful.”This bill, Murphy said, would “save thousands of lives.” Before entering the Senate, his House district included Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six staff members perished in a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.Top GOP bargainer Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said of the pact, “Some think it goes too far, others think it doesn’t go far enough. And I get it. It’s the nature of compromise.”But he added, “I believe that the same people who are telling us to do something are sending us a clear message, to do what we can to keep our children and communities safe. I’m confident this legislation moves us in a positive direction.”In a positive sign about its fate, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voiced his support, calling it “a commonsense package of popular steps that will help make these horrifying incidents less likely while fully upholding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.”The National Rifle Association, which has spent decades derailing gun control legislation, expressed opposition. “It falls short at every level. It does little to truly address violent crime while opening the door to unnecessary burdens on the exercise of Second Amendment freedom by law-abiding gun owners,” the gun lobby group said.It seemed likely a majority of Republicans — especially in the House — would oppose the legislation.Underscoring the backlash GOP lawmakers supporting the pact would face from the most hard-right voters, delegates booed Cornyn at his state’s Republican convention in Houston Saturday as he described the proposal.In another measure of conservative sentiment, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate, tweeted that the bill “ignores the national crime wave &amp; chips away instead at the fundamental rights of law abiding citizens.” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., a possible White House contender, said it would “restrict the freedoms of law-abiding Americans and put too much power in the hands of politicians and political officials.”The measure will need at least 10 GOP votes to reach the 60-vote threshold major bills often need in the 50-50 Senate. Cornyn told reporters that he expected at least 10 GOP votes for the measure.What’s uncertain is whether passage would mark the beginning of slow but gradual action to curb gun violence, or the high water mark on the issue. Until Buffalo and Uvalde, a numbing parade of mass slayings — at sites including elementary and high schools, houses of worship, military facilities, bars and the Las Vegas Strip — have yielded only stalemate in Washington.“Thirty years, murder after murder, suicide after suicide, mass shooting after mass shooting, Congress did nothing,” Murphy said. “This week we have a chance to break this 30-year period of silence with a bill that changes our laws in a way that will save thousands of lives.”The bill would require that federal background checks for gun buyers age 18 to 20 include examination of the purchaser’s juvenile record. That could add up to seven more days to the current three-day limit on background checks.The suspects in the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings were both 18 years old, a profile that matches many recent mass shooters.There would be hundreds of millions of dollars to expand community behavioral health centers, telemedicine visits for mental specialists and train first responders to handle people with mental health issues. More than $2 billion would be provided to hire and train staff for school mental health services, including $300 million to improve school safety.Congress’ prohibited assault-type firearms in 1993 in a ban that expired after a decade, lawmakers’ last sweeping legislation addressing gun violence.

Senators compromise on gun violence bill; Moran, Marshall vote no

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee has heard chilling, tearful testimony that Donald Trump’s relentless pressure to overturn the 2020 presidential election led to widespread threats against local workers and state officials.

The panel focused Tuesday on the “heroes” of American democracy — election workers and officials who fended off the defeated president’s demands. The committee is focused on Trump's schemes to reject state tallies and electors, all fueled by his false claims of election fraud. 

It heard from Arizona’s Republican state House Speaker Rusty Bowers and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger about phone call pressure from Trump, including Trump’s call asking the Georgia official to “find 11,780” votes to prevent Joe Biden’s election victory and others.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">House 1/6 committee</a>&nbsp;is set to hear from the caretakers of American democracy — elections workers and local officials — who fended off&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-ivanka-trump-presidential-elections-government-and-politics-election-2020-ff7e4c0559ac4d983d9d06e168d5f7d4">Donald Trump’s pressure to overturn the 2020 presidential election</a>, at times despite frightening personal attacks.

The hearings investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol resume Tuesday with a focus on Trump’s relentless effort to undo Joe Biden’s victory in the most local way — by leaning on officials in key battleground states to reject ballots outright or to submit alternative electors for the final tally in Congress. The pressure was fueled by the defeated president’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-ivanka-trump-biden-voting-elections-1ccfd89df6868911d934529b9e47d6c8">false claims of voter fraud</a>&nbsp;which, the panel says, led directly to the riot at the Capitol.

Embattled Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is scheduled to testify about Trump’s phone call asking him to “find 11,780” votes that could flip the state to prevent Biden’s election victory.

Raffensperger, with his deputy Gabe Sterling and Arizona’s Republican state House Speaker Rusty Bowers, are scheduled to be key witnesses, along with Wandrea “Shay” Moss, a former Georgia election worker who, with her mother, have said they faced such severe public harassment from Trump allies they felt unable to live normal lives.

“I’m appalled at what I saw,” Bowers said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press after arriving in Washington. “I think it illuminates something we need to see big time, and take stock of ourselves. And I hope it would sober us.”

The hearing, the fourth by the panel this month, stems from its yearlong investigation into Trump’s unprecedented attempt to remain in power, a sprawling scheme that the chairman of the Jan. 6 committee has likened to an “attempted coup.”

Tuesday’s focus will review how Trump was repeatedly told his pressure campaign could potentially cause violence against the local officials and their families but pursued it anyway, according to a select committee aide. And it will underscore that fallout from Trump’s lies continues to this day, with elections officers facing ongoing public harassment and political challengers trying to take over their jobs.

While the committee cannot charge Trump with any crimes, the Justice Department is watching the panel’s work closely. Trump’s actions in Georgia are also the subject of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-georgia-atlanta-presidential-3bc4ae72555ee3f22a13554d9b27d240">grand jury investigation</a>, with the district attorney expected to announce findings this year.

“We will show during a hearing what the president’s role was in trying to get states to name alternate slates of electors, how that scheme depended initially on hopes that the legislatures would reconvene and bless it,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told the Los Angeles Times on Monday.

Schiff, who will lead much of Tuesday’s session, said the hearing will also dig into the “intimate role” the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, had in the plot to pressure Georgia state legislators and elections officials.

Raffensperger, Georgia’s top election official, rebuffed Trump’s request that he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-georgia-elections-a7b4aa4d8ce3bf52301ddbe620c6bff6">“find” enough votes</a>&nbsp;to overturn Biden’s win in the state — a request caught on tape during a phone call days before the Jan. 6 attack.

During the call, Trump repeatedly cited disproven claims of fraud and raised the prospect of a “criminal offense” if Georgia officials did not change the vote count. The state had counted its votes three times before certifying Biden’s win by a 11,779 margin.

The public testimony from Raffensperger comes weeks after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-georgia-atlanta-presidential-3bc4ae72555ee3f22a13554d9b27d240">he appeared before a special grand jury in Georgia</a>&nbsp;investigating whether Trump and others illegally tried to intervene in the state’s 2020 election, and after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-georgia-primary-raffensperger-hice-fb73b1cdce296923dfae1e9ce795efef">Raffensperger beat a Trump-backed challenger</a>&nbsp;in last month’s primary election.

Sterling, Raffensperger’s chief operating officer, became a notable figure in Georgia’s long post-election counting, and recounting, of the presidential ballots, with his regular updates often broadcast live to a divided nation. At one point, the soft-spoken Republican implored Americans to tone down the heated rhetoric.

“Death threats, physical threats, intimidation — it’s too much, it’s not right,” he said.

Bowers is expected to discuss the pressure he faced to overturn Arizona’s results — requests from Trump advisers that the Republican state leader on Monday called “juvenile.”

In an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-capitol-siege-biden-presidential-election-2020-5f0f2eeae477437a5fed9fffe9ce286a">interview with the AP</a>&nbsp;after arriving in Washington ahead of the hearing, Bowers said he is expected to be asked about a call with Trump during which lawyer Rudy Giuliani floated an idea to replace Arizona’s electors with those who would vote for Trump.

Bowers also revealed a second phone call with Trump in December 2020 that he said was mainly small talk, although Trump also referenced their first conversation.

Moss, who had worked for the Fulton County elections department since 2012, and her mother, Ruby Freeman, a temporary election worker,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elections-new-york-lawsuits-new-york-city-donald-trump-33cdb4e73a5091a1299c49a553d4109d">filed a defamation lawsuit</a>&nbsp;in December 2021. Moss claimed conservative outlet One America News Network and Giuliani falsely spread allegations that she and her mother engaged in ballot fraud during the election. The case against OAN&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-lawsuits-georgia-atlanta-ba0a5021564d1377c394a3b4d8e554fb">has since been dismissed</a>&nbsp;with a settlement.

Both Bowers and Moss, along with Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the panel’s vice chair, were among recipients of this year’s John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage award “for their courage to protect and defend democracy.”

The select committee also plans to untangle the elaborate “fake electors” scheme that sought to have representatives in as many as seven battlegrounds — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada and New Mexico — sign certificates falsely stating that Trump, not Biden, had won their states.

Conservative law professor John Eastman, a lawyer for Trump,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-biden-elections-government-and-politics-presidential-42911f613bee85913dcbcbaeed096b2c">pushed the fake electors</a>&nbsp;in the weeks after the election. Trump and Eastman convened hundreds of electors on a call on Jan. 2, 2021, encouraging them to send alternative slates from their states where Trump’s team was claiming fraud.

The fake electors idea was designed to set up a challenge on Jan. 6, 2021 when Congress met in joint session, with Vice President Mike Pence presiding over what is typically a ceremonial role to accept the states’ vote tallies. But the effort collapsed, as Pence refused Trump’s repeated demands that he simply halt the certification of Biden’s win — a power he believed he did not possess in his purely ceremonial role.

At least 20 people in connection with the fake electors scheme were subpoenaed by the House panel. The committee says it will also show that it has gathered enough evidence through its more than 1,000 interviews and tens of thousands of documents to connect the varying efforts to overturn the election directly to Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee has heard chilling, tearful testimony that Donald Trump’s relentless pressure to overturn the 2020 presidential election led to widespread threats against local workers and state officials.<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xa43_z_82Og" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>The panel focused Tuesday on the “heroes” of American democracy — election workers and officials who fended off the defeated president’s demands. The committee is focused on Trump's schemes to reject state tallies and electors, all fueled by his false claims of election fraud. It heard from Arizona’s Republican state House Speaker Rusty Bowers and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger about phone call pressure from Trump, including Trump’s call asking the Georgia official to “find 11,780” votes to prevent Joe Biden’s election victory and others.-------WASHINGTON (AP) — The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">House 1/6 committee</a>&nbsp;is set to hear from the caretakers of American democracy — elections workers and local officials — who fended off&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-ivanka-trump-presidential-elections-government-and-politics-election-2020-ff7e4c0559ac4d983d9d06e168d5f7d4">Donald Trump’s pressure to overturn the 2020 presidential election</a>, at times despite frightening personal attacks.The hearings investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol resume Tuesday with a focus on Trump’s relentless effort to undo Joe Biden’s victory in the most local way — by leaning on officials in key battleground states to reject ballots outright or to submit alternative electors for the final tally in Congress. The pressure was fueled by the defeated president’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-ivanka-trump-biden-voting-elections-1ccfd89df6868911d934529b9e47d6c8">false claims of voter fraud</a>&nbsp;which, the panel says, led directly to the riot at the Capitol.Embattled Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is scheduled to testify about Trump’s phone call asking him to “find 11,780” votes that could flip the state to prevent Biden’s election victory.Raffensperger, with his deputy Gabe Sterling and Arizona’s Republican state House Speaker Rusty Bowers, are scheduled to be key witnesses, along with Wandrea “Shay” Moss, a former Georgia election worker who, with her mother, have said they faced such severe public harassment from Trump allies they felt unable to live normal lives.“I’m appalled at what I saw,” Bowers said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press after arriving in Washington. “I think it illuminates something we need to see big time, and take stock of ourselves. And I hope it would sober us.”The hearing, the fourth by the panel this month, stems from its yearlong investigation into Trump’s unprecedented attempt to remain in power, a sprawling scheme that the chairman of the Jan. 6 committee has likened to an “attempted coup.”Tuesday’s focus will review how Trump was repeatedly told his pressure campaign could potentially cause violence against the local officials and their families but pursued it anyway, according to a select committee aide. And it will underscore that fallout from Trump’s lies continues to this day, with elections officers facing ongoing public harassment and political challengers trying to take over their jobs.While the committee cannot charge Trump with any crimes, the Justice Department is watching the panel’s work closely. Trump’s actions in Georgia are also the subject of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-georgia-atlanta-presidential-3bc4ae72555ee3f22a13554d9b27d240">grand jury investigation</a>, with the district attorney expected to announce findings this year.“We will show during a hearing what the president’s role was in trying to get states to name alternate slates of electors, how that scheme depended initially on hopes that the legislatures would reconvene and bless it,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told the Los Angeles Times on Monday.Schiff, who will lead much of Tuesday’s session, said the hearing will also dig into the “intimate role” the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, had in the plot to pressure Georgia state legislators and elections officials.Raffensperger, Georgia’s top election official, rebuffed Trump’s request that he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-georgia-elections-a7b4aa4d8ce3bf52301ddbe620c6bff6">“find” enough votes</a>&nbsp;to overturn Biden’s win in the state — a request caught on tape during a phone call days before the Jan. 6 attack.During the call, Trump repeatedly cited disproven claims of fraud and raised the prospect of a “criminal offense” if Georgia officials did not change the vote count. The state had counted its votes three times before certifying Biden’s win by a 11,779 margin.The public testimony from Raffensperger comes weeks after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-georgia-atlanta-presidential-3bc4ae72555ee3f22a13554d9b27d240">he appeared before a special grand jury in Georgia</a>&nbsp;investigating whether Trump and others illegally tried to intervene in the state’s 2020 election, and after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-georgia-primary-raffensperger-hice-fb73b1cdce296923dfae1e9ce795efef">Raffensperger beat a Trump-backed challenger</a>&nbsp;in last month’s primary election.Sterling, Raffensperger’s chief operating officer, became a notable figure in Georgia’s long post-election counting, and recounting, of the presidential ballots, with his regular updates often broadcast live to a divided nation. At one point, the soft-spoken Republican implored Americans to tone down the heated rhetoric.“Death threats, physical threats, intimidation — it’s too much, it’s not right,” he said.Bowers is expected to discuss the pressure he faced to overturn Arizona’s results — requests from Trump advisers that the Republican state leader on Monday called “juvenile.”In an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-capitol-siege-biden-presidential-election-2020-5f0f2eeae477437a5fed9fffe9ce286a">interview with the AP</a>&nbsp;after arriving in Washington ahead of the hearing, Bowers said he is expected to be asked about a call with Trump during which lawyer Rudy Giuliani floated an idea to replace Arizona’s electors with those who would vote for Trump.Bowers also revealed a second phone call with Trump in December 2020 that he said was mainly small talk, although Trump also referenced their first conversation.Moss, who had worked for the Fulton County elections department since 2012, and her mother, Ruby Freeman, a temporary election worker,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elections-new-york-lawsuits-new-york-city-donald-trump-33cdb4e73a5091a1299c49a553d4109d">filed a defamation lawsuit</a>&nbsp;in December 2021. Moss claimed conservative outlet One America News Network and Giuliani falsely spread allegations that she and her mother engaged in ballot fraud during the election. The case against OAN&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-lawsuits-georgia-atlanta-ba0a5021564d1377c394a3b4d8e554fb">has since been dismissed</a>&nbsp;with a settlement.Both Bowers and Moss, along with Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the panel’s vice chair, were among recipients of this year’s John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage award “for their courage to protect and defend democracy.”The select committee also plans to untangle the elaborate “fake electors” scheme that sought to have representatives in as many as seven battlegrounds — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada and New Mexico — sign certificates falsely stating that Trump, not Biden, had won their states.Conservative law professor John Eastman, a lawyer for Trump,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-biden-elections-government-and-politics-presidential-42911f613bee85913dcbcbaeed096b2c">pushed the fake electors</a>&nbsp;in the weeks after the election. Trump and Eastman convened hundreds of electors on a call on Jan. 2, 2021, encouraging them to send alternative slates from their states where Trump’s team was claiming fraud.The fake electors idea was designed to set up a challenge on Jan. 6, 2021 when Congress met in joint session, with Vice President Mike Pence presiding over what is typically a ceremonial role to accept the states’ vote tallies. But the effort collapsed, as Pence refused Trump’s repeated demands that he simply halt the certification of Biden’s win — a power he believed he did not possess in his purely ceremonial role.At least 20 people in connection with the fake electors scheme were subpoenaed by the House panel. The committee says it will also show that it has gathered enough evidence through its more than 1,000 interviews and tens of thousands of documents to connect the varying efforts to overturn the election directly to Trump.

🎥1/6 hearings replay Day 4: Testimony on effort to overturn 2020 election

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that religious schools can’t be excluded from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/me-state-wire-us-supreme-court-maine-religion-education-053be754922af11fe1bceaf408d0f910">a Maine program</a>&nbsp;that offers tuition aid for private education, a decision that could ease religious organizations’ access to taxpayer money.

The most immediate effect of the court’s 6-3 decision beyond Maine will be next door in Vermont, which has a similar program.

But the outcome also could fuel a renewed push for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/school-choice">school choice programs</a>&nbsp;in some of the 18 states that have so far not directed taxpayer money to private, religious education.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for a conservative majority that the program violates the Constitution’s protections for religious freedoms.

“Maine’s ‘nonsectarian’ requirement for its otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Regardless of how the benefit and restriction are described, the program operates to identify and exclude otherwise eligible schools on the basis of their religious exercise,” Roberts wrote.

The court’s three liberal justices dissented. “This Court continues to dismantle the wall of separation between church and state that the Framers fought to build,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote.

The ruling is the latest in a line of decisions from the Supreme Court that have favored religion-based discrimination claims. The court is separately weighing the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-football-religion-prayer-washington-7490d215c8b1ead529299ac92114dbab">case of a football coach who says he has a First Amendment right to pray</a>&nbsp;at midfield immediately after games.

In largely rural Maine, the state allows families who live in towns that don’t have public schools to receive public tuition dollars to send their children to the public or private school of their choosing. The program has excluded religious schools.

Students who live in a district with public schools or in a district that contracts with another public system are ineligible for the tuition program.

Parents who challenged the program argued that the exclusion of religious schools violates their religious rights under the Constitution. Teacher unions and school boards said states can impose limits on public money for private education without running afoul of religious freedoms.

Most of the justices attended religious schools, and several send or have sent their children to them.

In the Maine case, parents sued in federal court to be able to use state aid to send their children to Christian schools in Bangor and Waterville. The schools in question, Bangor Christian School and Temple Academy, are uncertain whether they would accept public funds, according to court filings.

The Bangor school said it would not hire teachers or admit students who are transgender. Both schools said they do not hire gay or lesbian teachers, according to court records.

In 2020, the high court ruled 5-4 that states must give religious schools the same access to public funding that other private schools receive, preserving a Montana scholarship program that had largely benefited students at religious institutions.

In that case, the court said states don’t have to allow public money to be used in private education. But they can’t keep religious schools out of such programs, once created.

But even after that ruling, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Maine program, holding that the state was not violating anyone’s constitutional rights by refusing to allow taxpayer money to be used for religious instruction. The three-judge panel included retired Justice David Souter, who occasionally hears cases in the appeals court.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that religious schools can’t be excluded from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/me-state-wire-us-supreme-court-maine-religion-education-053be754922af11fe1bceaf408d0f910">a Maine program</a>&nbsp;that offers tuition aid for private education, a decision that could ease religious organizations’ access to taxpayer money.The most immediate effect of the court’s 6-3 decision beyond Maine will be next door in Vermont, which has a similar program.But the outcome also could fuel a renewed push for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/school-choice">school choice programs</a>&nbsp;in some of the 18 states that have so far not directed taxpayer money to private, religious education.Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for a conservative majority that the program violates the Constitution’s protections for religious freedoms.“Maine’s ‘nonsectarian’ requirement for its otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Regardless of how the benefit and restriction are described, the program operates to identify and exclude otherwise eligible schools on the basis of their religious exercise,” Roberts wrote.The court’s three liberal justices dissented. “This Court continues to dismantle the wall of separation between church and state that the Framers fought to build,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote.The ruling is the latest in a line of decisions from the Supreme Court that have favored religion-based discrimination claims. The court is separately weighing the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-football-religion-prayer-washington-7490d215c8b1ead529299ac92114dbab">case of a football coach who says he has a First Amendment right to pray</a>&nbsp;at midfield immediately after games.In largely rural Maine, the state allows families who live in towns that don’t have public schools to receive public tuition dollars to send their children to the public or private school of their choosing. The program has excluded religious schools.Students who live in a district with public schools or in a district that contracts with another public system are ineligible for the tuition program.Parents who challenged the program argued that the exclusion of religious schools violates their religious rights under the Constitution. Teacher unions and school boards said states can impose limits on public money for private education without running afoul of religious freedoms.Most of the justices attended religious schools, and several send or have sent their children to them.In the Maine case, parents sued in federal court to be able to use state aid to send their children to Christian schools in Bangor and Waterville. The schools in question, Bangor Christian School and Temple Academy, are uncertain whether they would accept public funds, according to court filings.The Bangor school said it would not hire teachers or admit students who are transgender. Both schools said they do not hire gay or lesbian teachers, according to court records.In 2020, the high court ruled 5-4 that states must give religious schools the same access to public funding that other private schools receive, preserving a Montana scholarship program that had largely benefited students at religious institutions.In that case, the court said states don’t have to allow public money to be used in private education. But they can’t keep religious schools out of such programs, once created.But even after that ruling, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Maine program, holding that the state was not violating anyone’s constitutional rights by refusing to allow taxpayer money to be used for religious instruction. The three-judge panel included retired Justice David Souter, who occasionally hears cases in the appeals court.

Supreme Court OKs use of public money for religious education

LINCOLN, NEB.&nbsp; — Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol have apprehended a juvenile following a pursuit in Lincoln Tuesday morning. The juvenile was found to be in possession of a handgun and brass knuckles.

At approximately 2:00 a.m. Tuesday, a trooper observed two motorcycles without license plates stopped on O street in Lincoln. The trooper attempted a traffic stop near 56th&nbsp;and O, but both motorcycles fled at a high rate of speed. The trooper initiated a pursuit, with little to no traffic on O street at the time. The motorcycles fled eastbound outside city limits before one turned northbound. The other continued on Highway 34 with speeds of approximately 100 miles per hour.

As the motorcycle approached 120th&nbsp;street, the rider voluntarily stopped the motorcycle. The rider, a 17-year-old male, was then taken into custody without incident. The trooper located brass knuckles in the rider’s pocket and a concealed handgun in his backpack.

The juvenile was placed at the Lancaster County Youth Services Center for willful reckless driving, carrying a concealed weapon, and flight to avoid arrest.

By Nebraska State PatrolLINCOLN, NEB.&nbsp; — Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol have apprehended a juvenile following a pursuit in Lincoln Tuesday morning. The juvenile was found to be in possession of a handgun and brass knuckles.At approximately 2:00 a.m. Tuesday, a trooper observed two motorcycles without license plates stopped on O street in Lincoln. The trooper attempted a traffic stop near 56th&nbsp;and O, but both motorcycles fled at a high rate of speed. The trooper initiated a pursuit, with little to no traffic on O street at the time. The motorcycles fled eastbound outside city limits before one turned northbound. The other continued on Highway 34 with speeds of approximately 100 miles per hour.As the motorcycle approached 120th&nbsp;street, the rider voluntarily stopped the motorcycle. The rider, a 17-year-old male, was then taken into custody without incident. The trooper located brass knuckles in the rider’s pocket and a concealed handgun in his backpack.The juvenile was placed at the Lancaster County Youth Services Center for willful reckless driving, carrying a concealed weapon, and flight to avoid arrest.

Troopers apprehend juvenile, locate gun in Lincoln pursuit

By RAHUL CHAWDHRY SHARMA <a href="https://www.virginiamercury.com/2022/06/21/punched-kicked-spit-on-va-health-care-workers-say-they-face-more-violence-since-pandemic/">Virginia Mercury</a>

Expressing frustration with what they
 say are increasing incidents of violence at work, doctors at the 
Virginia College of Emergency Physicians are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acep.org/globalassets/ed-workplace-violence-one-pager.pdf">urging</a> federal lawmakers to support a U.S. Senate bill that would give greater protections to health care workers.&nbsp;

“I have been assaulted by patients 
hundreds of times —&nbsp; have been punched, kicked, spit on, and had objects
 thrown at me and weapons pointed at me. All this from the patients 
whose lives I’m trying to save,” one doctor who has worked as an 
emergency physician for three decades wrote in a letter to Sens. Mark 
Warner and Tim Kaine, Democrats from Virginia.&nbsp;

The emergency physician, who goes unnamed in the <a target="_blank" href="https://myemail.constantcontact.com/VACEP-eNews-167.html?soid=1102329573979&amp;aid=z3fEJgFy0kI">letter</a>, isn’t alone. The Bureau of Labor Statistics <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/violence/fastfacts.html">says</a>
 that 70 percent of private sector workers who “experienced trauma from 
nonfatal workplace violence” in 2019 worked in health care or related 
social assistance roles, making them five times more likely to be 
injured by violence at work than others.&nbsp;

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/4182/text">S.4182</a>,
 the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service 
Workers Act, would direct the Department of Labor to create enforceable 
standards to ensure health care and social services workplaces implement
 violence prevention, tracking and response systems. A companion bill in
 the House was passed in 2021. In 2019, the Virginia General Assembly 
passed <a target="_blank" href="http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?191+sum+SB1395">legislation</a> making it a Class 1 misdemeanor to threaten to injure or kill health care workers.&nbsp;

There is no comprehensive statewide 
dataset on health care workplace violence for Virginia, but the Virginia
 Hospital and Healthcare Association says violent attacks on health care
 workers are on the rise. VHHA established a Workplace Safety Task Force in 2020 that is collecting data to find
 a baseline measurement for statewide injuries, as well as “sharing 
educational resources and best practices” to reduce such injuries, 
according to VHHA spokesperson Julian Walker.

State-level trends track national 
data, according to Toni Ardabell, chief of clinical enterprise 
operations at Inova, a major health care provider in Northern Virginia 
with 18,000 employees and more than 2 million patients a year. In 2021, 
648 physical workplace violence incidents were reported within their 
hospital system and Ardabell assumes many minor incidents go unreported.
 By one NIH <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5006066/">estimate</a>, almost 90 percent of incidents are not formally reported.&nbsp;

She said violence has been on the 
rise during the COVID-19 pandemic, accelerating a longer-term trend. 
Assault rates against health care workers nationwide have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8816837/">doubled</a> in the last 10 years and around <a target="_blank" href="https://oem.bmj.com/content/76/12/927.long">40 percent</a> of those working in hospitals have been victims of physical violence in the last year. Another <a target="_blank" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2021.04.019">survey</a> put that number at 78 percent.

“I think the stress of COVID, the 
stress of the mental health crisis in our communities, all have 
contributed to behavior we have seen all over the country,” Ardabell 
said. “Most of the violence events that are reported are carried out by 
visitors or mental-health patients— people that are frustrated, they are
 already coping with a life issue.”

Ardabell cited the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.virginiamercury.com/2022/03/30/virginias-new-behavioral-health-director-orders-strategic-plan-for-struggling-state-agency/">breakdown</a>
 of the state’s mental health system as another possible factor in 
rising incidents of violence. Understaffing and overcrowding at 
publicly-funded psychiatric care hospitals have increasingly forced 
patients to stay in local emergency rooms instead of at state 
facilities, where they may not receive adequate care. Some private 
hospitals have dedicated mental health units where patients can receive 
proper care.

“What we are not equipped to deal 
with is the extremely physically abusive mental health patients,” 
Ardabell said. “The state closed beds in mental health institutions 
where these patients should be, and so there is not a real good solution
 for these patients right now.”

The workload and stress of the pandemic pushed many nurses out of the field, leading to a nursing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.virginiamercury.com/2021/09/27/vaccine-mandates-dont-appear-to-be-driving-the-current-nursing-shortage-in-virginia/">shortage</a>
 in Virginia. Ardabell said that though workplace violence isn’t showing
 up in exit interviews as a primary cause of leaving the jobs, it could 
be a contributing factor in worker burnout.&nbsp;

It is also common for family members 
of patients to take their anger out on workers. The highest 
concentrations of violence take place within emergency and behavioral 
health departments, with nurses in the ER being <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44997529?seq=1">four times</a> more likely to be assaulted than those in other departments, but Ardabell emphasized that there is no typical situation.

“The situations can really be all 
over the map. It could be a confused patient that hits someone in their 
confusion, it could be someone who purposely hits someone because of 
their anger,” Ardabell said.&nbsp;

The daily threat of violence was 
underscored by two attacks on hospitals earlier this month. First a 
shooting at a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that saw four people killed, 
and then a stabbing at a medical center in Los Angeles, where three 
medical professionals were injured. In response, the Virginia Hospital 
and Healthcare Association released a statement expressing concern and 
highlighting steps that hospitals were taking.

“Unfortunately, hospitals and the 
people who work in them live with the daily reality that health care 
professionals face an elevated risk of being victims of workplace 
violence,” read the statement. “In response to these conditions, 
hospitals across Virginia have implemented a range of safety and 
prevention programs for staff including alerting systems, safety 
protocols, enhanced security personnel presence, and more to protect 
patients, family, visitors, and staff.”

In the meantime, ER doctors continue 
push for better working conditions “The physical and verbal abuse and 
violence toward all ED staff is out of control. This bill is a decent 
start, but we need even more,” read another letter.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655836007623.png" alt="VCU's emergency hospital entrance in Richmond. (Parker Michels-Boyce / For The Virginia Mercury)" />
 <figcaption>VCU's emergency hospital entrance in Richmond. (Parker Michels-Boyce / For The Virginia Mercury)</figcaption>
 </figure>By RAHUL CHAWDHRY SHARMA <a href="https://www.virginiamercury.com/2022/06/21/punched-kicked-spit-on-va-health-care-workers-say-they-face-more-violence-since-pandemic/">Virginia Mercury</a>Expressing frustration with what they
 say are increasing incidents of violence at work, doctors at the 
Virginia College of Emergency Physicians are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acep.org/globalassets/ed-workplace-violence-one-pager.pdf">urging</a> federal lawmakers to support a U.S. Senate bill that would give greater protections to health care workers.&nbsp;“I have been assaulted by patients 
hundreds of times —&nbsp; have been punched, kicked, spit on, and had objects
 thrown at me and weapons pointed at me. All this from the patients 
whose lives I’m trying to save,” one doctor who has worked as an 
emergency physician for three decades wrote in a letter to Sens. Mark 
Warner and Tim Kaine, Democrats from Virginia.&nbsp;The emergency physician, who goes unnamed in the <a target="_blank" href="https://myemail.constantcontact.com/VACEP-eNews-167.html?soid=1102329573979&amp;aid=z3fEJgFy0kI">letter</a>, isn’t alone. The Bureau of Labor Statistics <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/violence/fastfacts.html">says</a>
 that 70 percent of private sector workers who “experienced trauma from 
nonfatal workplace violence” in 2019 worked in health care or related 
social assistance roles, making them five times more likely to be 
injured by violence at work than others.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/4182/text">S.4182</a>,
 the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service 
Workers Act, would direct the Department of Labor to create enforceable 
standards to ensure health care and social services workplaces implement
 violence prevention, tracking and response systems. A companion bill in
 the House was passed in 2021. In 2019, the Virginia General Assembly 
passed <a target="_blank" href="http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?191+sum+SB1395">legislation</a> making it a Class 1 misdemeanor to threaten to injure or kill health care workers.&nbsp;There is no comprehensive statewide 
dataset on health care workplace violence for Virginia, but the Virginia
 Hospital and Healthcare Association says violent attacks on health care
 workers are on the rise. VHHA established a Workplace Safety Task Force in 2020 that is collecting data to find
 a baseline measurement for statewide injuries, as well as “sharing 
educational resources and best practices” to reduce such injuries, 
according to VHHA spokesperson Julian Walker.State-level trends track national 
data, according to Toni Ardabell, chief of clinical enterprise 
operations at Inova, a major health care provider in Northern Virginia 
with 18,000 employees and more than 2 million patients a year. In 2021, 
648 physical workplace violence incidents were reported within their 
hospital system and Ardabell assumes many minor incidents go unreported.
 By one NIH <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5006066/">estimate</a>, almost 90 percent of incidents are not formally reported.&nbsp;She said violence has been on the 
rise during the COVID-19 pandemic, accelerating a longer-term trend. 
Assault rates against health care workers nationwide have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8816837/">doubled</a> in the last 10 years and around <a target="_blank" href="https://oem.bmj.com/content/76/12/927.long">40 percent</a> of those working in hospitals have been victims of physical violence in the last year. Another <a target="_blank" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2021.04.019">survey</a> put that number at 78 percent.“I think the stress of COVID, the 
stress of the mental health crisis in our communities, all have 
contributed to behavior we have seen all over the country,” Ardabell 
said. “Most of the violence events that are reported are carried out by 
visitors or mental-health patients— people that are frustrated, they are
 already coping with a life issue.”Ardabell cited the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.virginiamercury.com/2022/03/30/virginias-new-behavioral-health-director-orders-strategic-plan-for-struggling-state-agency/">breakdown</a>
 of the state’s mental health system as another possible factor in 
rising incidents of violence. Understaffing and overcrowding at 
publicly-funded psychiatric care hospitals have increasingly forced 
patients to stay in local emergency rooms instead of at state 
facilities, where they may not receive adequate care. Some private 
hospitals have dedicated mental health units where patients can receive 
proper care.“What we are not equipped to deal 
with is the extremely physically abusive mental health patients,” 
Ardabell said. “The state closed beds in mental health institutions 
where these patients should be, and so there is not a real good solution
 for these patients right now.”The workload and stress of the pandemic pushed many nurses out of the field, leading to a nursing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.virginiamercury.com/2021/09/27/vaccine-mandates-dont-appear-to-be-driving-the-current-nursing-shortage-in-virginia/">shortage</a>
 in Virginia. Ardabell said that though workplace violence isn’t showing
 up in exit interviews as a primary cause of leaving the jobs, it could 
be a contributing factor in worker burnout.&nbsp;It is also common for family members 
of patients to take their anger out on workers. The highest 
concentrations of violence take place within emergency and behavioral 
health departments, with nurses in the ER being <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44997529?seq=1">four times</a> more likely to be assaulted than those in other departments, but Ardabell emphasized that there is no typical situation.“The situations can really be all 
over the map. It could be a confused patient that hits someone in their 
confusion, it could be someone who purposely hits someone because of 
their anger,” Ardabell said.&nbsp;The daily threat of violence was 
underscored by two attacks on hospitals earlier this month. First a 
shooting at a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that saw four people killed, 
and then a stabbing at a medical center in Los Angeles, where three 
medical professionals were injured. In response, the Virginia Hospital 
and Healthcare Association released a statement expressing concern and 
highlighting steps that hospitals were taking.“Unfortunately, hospitals and the 
people who work in them live with the daily reality that health care 
professionals face an elevated risk of being victims of workplace 
violence,” read the statement. “In response to these conditions, 
hospitals across Virginia have implemented a range of safety and 
prevention programs for staff including alerting systems, safety 
protocols, enhanced security personnel presence, and more to protect 
patients, family, visitors, and staff.”In the meantime, ER doctors continue 
push for better working conditions “The physical and verbal abuse and 
violence toward all ED staff is out of control. This bill is a decent 
start, but we need even more,” read another letter.“We are sitting ducks.”

‘Punched, kicked, spit on’: Violence rises against health care workers since COVID

By CINDY GONZALEZ <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/06/20/seattle-based-cycling-frog-jabs-at-nebraskas-social-scene-but-tourism-folks-snap-back/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

A
 Seattle-based brand called Cycling Frog has ranked Nebraska near the 
bottom of the pack when it comes to the best states for summer 
socializing.

In
 its media release, Cycling Frog is described as an “exciting new player
 in the THC &amp; CBD space” and said its picks for top social states 
have common ground in that they have a good share of colleges and state 
parks, and legal cannabis to some degree.

The wholesaler noted that it didn’t set out to bash any particular place.

“Whilst
 we’re confident that there are plenty of reasons to visit Nebraska, 
Alabama and Wyoming, they don’t appear to be the best destinations if 
you’re looking for carefree summer fun, according to our ranking 
criteria,” said head of brand Jason Peterson.

The
 Nebraska Tourism Commission, asked to respond, had its own summertime 
fun with the group’s findings. It released a statement that nodded to 
the commission’s spring and summer campaign slogan, which is: “Nebraska.
 Honestly, it’s not for everyone.”&nbsp;

“Note to our Cycling Frog friends:

Nebraska
 isn’t for everyone. It’s for the ‘not everyones’ of the world. And 
frankly, folks who refer to themselves as ‘Cycling Frogs’ sound about as
 ‘not everyone’ as you can get. So we hereby invite you to come and 
discover the vibrant (and very social) nightlife of our cities. Or our 
amazing party-friendly riverbanks and lakeshores. Or large events like 
the College World Series, rodeos, festivals, and all sorts of other 
reasons people gather to celebrate and hang out with lots of other 
people (AKA, ‘socializing’). Yes, Cycling Frogs, you are invited to 
visit. So hop to it.

<a target="_blank" href="https://cyclingfrog.com/blogs/news/ranked-the-best-and-worst-states-for-summer-socials">Cycling Frog,</a> which launched early this year, said it used eight criteria to develop the system that judged each state’s “suitability for summer socials.”&nbsp;

Criteria
 were population size, median age, number of state parks, number of 
state beaches, summer temperatures, number of colleges, average price of
 a 24-pack of beer and marijuana legality.

Husker
 territory was ranked third lowest, with researchers commenting that the
 “Beef State” had too few managed or protected parks and outdoor spaces 
“to explore and enjoy the summer sun.”

Just above and below Nebraska in the Cycling Frog rankings were Nevada and Alabama, respectively.

Wyoming
 wound up last, with researchers noting it has “only 14 state parks and 
beaches for outdoor recreation” in addition to high-priced beer.

Conversely,
 California, Massachusetts and New York were ranked on top. The 
researchers pointed out California’s “reliable temperatures” and over 
300 state parks and beaches. They noted that marijuana and associated 
cannabinoids are legal there for recreational use.

The three top ranked states all have fully legalized marijuana, including recreational use.

Of the bottom three, Wyoming and Nebraska have no legalized 
marijuana use. Alabama’s legislature and governor in 2021 signed into 
law a bill allowing medical marijuana use.Currently in 
Nebraska, a group is gathering signatures for a pair of initiative 
petitions aimed at legalizing medical marijuana in the state.&nbsp;

Cycling Frog<a target="_blank" href="https://cyclingfrog.com/"> offers</a>
 hemp-based THC and CBD products to a mass audience. The brand’s website
 also says that it is “pushing the boundaries and going into uncharted 
territory” in an attempt to change a generation’s perception and access 
to the products in the U.S.

THC,
 or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the psychoactive compound in marijuana. 
CBD, or cannabidiol, is said to not cause that same “high” and is touted
 as a component of medical marijuana and treating certain syndromes.

Meanwhile, the Nebraska Department of Economic Development announced the June 20 start of the monthlong “Nebraska Good Life <a target="_blank" href="https://thegoodlifeiscalling.com/connect/">Summer Contest.”</a>

Three Nebraskans will have the chance to win prizes by sharing their favorite fun-in-the-sun activity.

Entrants
 are asked to post a fun and creative Instagram reel of themselves and 
friends, tagging @nebraskagoodlife and using hashtag 
#NEGoodLifeSummerContest in the caption.&nbsp;

Prizes
 include a smart TV, an Amazon Echo and a streaming device. The contest 
is sponsored by the Nebraska Diplomats and hosted by the Department of 
Economic Development.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655835180511.png" alt=" (Courtesy of Nebraska Department of Economic Development)" />
 <figcaption> (Courtesy of Nebraska Department of Economic Development)</figcaption>
 </figure>By CINDY GONZALEZ <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/06/20/seattle-based-cycling-frog-jabs-at-nebraskas-social-scene-but-tourism-folks-snap-back/">Nebraska Examiner</a>A
 Seattle-based brand called Cycling Frog has ranked Nebraska near the 
bottom of the pack when it comes to the best states for summer 
socializing.In
 its media release, Cycling Frog is described as an “exciting new player
 in the THC &amp; CBD space” and said its picks for top social states 
have common ground in that they have a good share of colleges and state 
parks, and legal cannabis to some degree.The wholesaler noted that it didn’t set out to bash any particular place.“Whilst
 we’re confident that there are plenty of reasons to visit Nebraska, 
Alabama and Wyoming, they don’t appear to be the best destinations if 
you’re looking for carefree summer fun, according to our ranking 
criteria,” said head of brand Jason Peterson.<h2>Back at you, Cycling Frog</h2>The
 Nebraska Tourism Commission, asked to respond, had its own summertime 
fun with the group’s findings. It released a statement that nodded to 
the commission’s spring and summer campaign slogan, which is: “Nebraska.
 Honestly, it’s not for everyone.”&nbsp;“Note to our Cycling Frog friends:Nebraska
 isn’t for everyone. It’s for the ‘not everyones’ of the world. And 
frankly, folks who refer to themselves as ‘Cycling Frogs’ sound about as
 ‘not everyone’ as you can get. So we hereby invite you to come and 
discover the vibrant (and very social) nightlife of our cities. Or our 
amazing party-friendly riverbanks and lakeshores. Or large events like 
the College World Series, rodeos, festivals, and all sorts of other 
reasons people gather to celebrate and hang out with lots of other 
people (AKA, ‘socializing’). Yes, Cycling Frogs, you are invited to 
visit. So hop to it.Love, Nebraska Tourism.”<a target="_blank" href="https://cyclingfrog.com/blogs/news/ranked-the-best-and-worst-states-for-summer-socials">Cycling Frog,</a> which launched early this year, said it used eight criteria to develop the system that judged each state’s “suitability for summer socials.”&nbsp;Criteria
 were population size, median age, number of state parks, number of 
state beaches, summer temperatures, number of colleges, average price of
 a 24-pack of beer and marijuana legality.Husker
 territory was ranked third lowest, with researchers commenting that the
 “Beef State” had too few managed or protected parks and outdoor spaces 
“to explore and enjoy the summer sun.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655835250891.jpeg" alt="(Courtesy of Department of Economic Development)" />
 <figcaption>(Courtesy of Department of Economic Development)</figcaption>
 </figure>Just above and below Nebraska in the Cycling Frog rankings were Nevada and Alabama, respectively.<h2>Bottom of the pile</h2>Wyoming
 wound up last, with researchers noting it has “only 14 state parks and 
beaches for outdoor recreation” in addition to high-priced beer.Conversely,
 California, Massachusetts and New York were ranked on top. The 
researchers pointed out California’s “reliable temperatures” and over 
300 state parks and beaches. They noted that marijuana and associated 
cannabinoids are legal there for recreational use.The three top ranked states all have fully legalized marijuana, including recreational use.Of the bottom three, Wyoming and Nebraska have no legalized 
marijuana use. Alabama’s legislature and governor in 2021 signed into 
law a bill allowing medical marijuana use.Currently in 
Nebraska, a group is gathering signatures for a pair of initiative 
petitions aimed at legalizing medical marijuana in the state.&nbsp;Cycling Frog<a target="_blank" href="https://cyclingfrog.com/"> offers</a>
 hemp-based THC and CBD products to a mass audience. The brand’s website
 also says that it is “pushing the boundaries and going into uncharted 
territory” in an attempt to change a generation’s perception and access 
to the products in the U.S.THC,
 or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the psychoactive compound in marijuana. 
CBD, or cannabidiol, is said to not cause that same “high” and is touted
 as a component of medical marijuana and treating certain syndromes.<h2>Good Life Summer Contest</h2>Meanwhile, the Nebraska Department of Economic Development announced the June 20 start of the monthlong “Nebraska Good Life <a target="_blank" href="https://thegoodlifeiscalling.com/connect/">Summer Contest.”</a>Three Nebraskans will have the chance to win prizes by sharing their favorite fun-in-the-sun activity.Entrants
 are asked to post a fun and creative Instagram reel of themselves and 
friends, tagging @nebraskagoodlife and using hashtag 
#NEGoodLifeSummerContest in the caption.&nbsp;Prizes
 include a smart TV, an Amazon Echo and a streaming device. The contest 
is sponsored by the Nebraska Diplomats and hosted by the Department of 
Economic Development.&nbsp;

Seattle THC dealer disses Neb. social life — Nebraskans snap back

By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/nebraskans-for-peace-calls-for-reduction-in-bloated-u-s-defense-budget/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

OMAHA
 — Officials with Nebraskans for Peace called Monday for support for a 
bill that would cut the nation’s “bloated” military spending by $100 
billion and shift those funds to social issues.

At
 a press conference in downtown Omaha, officials said America spends 
more on the military than the next 10 countries combined and that some 
of the $732 billion defense budget would be better spent on domestic 
problems, such as securing schools, improving health care and reducing 
gun violence.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“Let’s
 see where we can go with some of this money. We need to reinvest in our
 own self,” said Brittany Cooper, state coordinator with Nebraskans for 
Peace.&nbsp;

Speakers
 at the press conference called for support of a bill introduced in the 
House last week by U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., and Mark Pocan, 
D-Wis., to cut the defense budget by $100 billion and reallocate those 
funds to “prioritize people.”

“It
 is time that we realign our priorities to reflect the urgent needs of 
communities across this country that are healing from a pandemic, 
ongoing economic insecurity, and an international energy crisis — none 
of which will be resolved through greater military spending,” Lee said 
in a press release last week.

But
 U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said now is the wrong time to consider 
cuts in military spending, with Russia shelling Ukraine and recently 
threatening other Balkan countries, and with China building a nuclear 
inventory to rival the U.S.

“We’re in different world now. It’s not a bipartisan world … it’s like a three-way game of chess,” Bacon said.&nbsp;

On Thursday, another member of the Nebraska delegation in Washington, U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee,&nbsp;touted her support for a fiscal year 2022-23 defense budget of $857
 billion — $45 billion more than requested by the Biden administration. 
The budget bill advanced out of the committee last week on a vote of 23 
to 3, winning bipartisan support.

“I’m
 proud of the strong, bipartisan product our committee approved today to
 provide for the common defense, take care of our military, and support 
the biggest pay raise for our troops in two decades,” Fischer said in a 
press release.&nbsp;

She said the proposed budget included a 4.6% raise in military salaries, protected the&nbsp; 55th Wing, based at Offutt Air Force Base, and resisted Biden administration attempts to cut “vital programs.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Nebraskans
 for Peace officials called the defense budget “bloated” and wasteful 
and said it diverted spending away from programs that help the poor and 
communities of color.

Ron
 Todd-Meyer, board president of Nebraskans for Peace and a U.S. Marine 
Corps Vietnam War veteran, pointed out that the U.S. spent $6 trillion 
over the last 20 years in the Middle East, yet many Americans live in 
poverty without good access to health care and education.

“Our
 nation needs to acknowledge the waste of war spending and begin the 
task of rebuilding a planet that is literally approaching the death of 
many living beings,” Todd-Meyer said. 

Nebraskans for Peace officials said federal 
funds could be better spent on making schools more secure and buying 
back assault-style weapons, as well as on improving mental health care.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655824399148.png" alt="Nebraskans for Peace, a 52-year-old organization, recently erected this billboard near 16th and California Streets in Omaha. (Courtesy of Nebraskans for Peace)" />
 <figcaption>Nebraskans for Peace, a 52-year-old organization, recently erected this billboard near 16th and California Streets in Omaha. (Courtesy of Nebraskans for Peace)</figcaption>
 </figure>By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/nebraskans-for-peace-calls-for-reduction-in-bloated-u-s-defense-budget/">Nebraska Examiner</a>OMAHA
 — Officials with Nebraskans for Peace called Monday for support for a 
bill that would cut the nation’s “bloated” military spending by $100 
billion and shift those funds to social issues.At
 a press conference in downtown Omaha, officials said America spends 
more on the military than the next 10 countries combined and that some 
of the $732 billion defense budget would be better spent on domestic 
problems, such as securing schools, improving health care and reducing 
gun violence.&nbsp;&nbsp;“Let’s
 see where we can go with some of this money. We need to reinvest in our
 own self,” said Brittany Cooper, state coordinator with Nebraskans for 
Peace.&nbsp;<h2>‘Prioritize people’</h2>Speakers
 at the press conference called for support of a bill introduced in the 
House last week by U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., and Mark Pocan, 
D-Wis., to cut the defense budget by $100 billion and reallocate those 
funds to “prioritize people.”“It
 is time that we realign our priorities to reflect the urgent needs of 
communities across this country that are healing from a pandemic, 
ongoing economic insecurity, and an international energy crisis — none 
of which will be resolved through greater military spending,” Lee said 
in a press release last week.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655824460624.jpeg" alt="U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb. (Courtesy of U.S. House of Representatives)" />
 <figcaption>U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb. (Courtesy of U.S. House of Representatives)</figcaption>
 </figure>But
 U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said now is the wrong time to consider 
cuts in military spending, with Russia shelling Ukraine and recently 
threatening other Balkan countries, and with China building a nuclear 
inventory to rival the U.S.“We’re in different world now. It’s not a bipartisan world … it’s like a three-way game of chess,” Bacon said.&nbsp;On Thursday, another member of the Nebraska delegation in Washington, U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee,&nbsp;touted her support for a fiscal year 2022-23 defense budget of $857
 billion — $45 billion more than requested by the Biden administration. 
The budget bill advanced out of the committee last week on a vote of 23 
to 3, winning bipartisan support.<h2>Pay raise in new budget</h2>“I’m
 proud of the strong, bipartisan product our committee approved today to
 provide for the common defense, take care of our military, and support 
the biggest pay raise for our troops in two decades,” Fischer said in a 
press release.&nbsp;She said the proposed budget included a 4.6% raise in military salaries, protected the&nbsp; 55th Wing, based at Offutt Air Force Base, and resisted Biden administration attempts to cut “vital programs.”&nbsp;&nbsp;Nebraskans
 for Peace officials called the defense budget “bloated” and wasteful 
and said it diverted spending away from programs that help the poor and 
communities of color.Ron
 Todd-Meyer, board president of Nebraskans for Peace and a U.S. Marine 
Corps Vietnam War veteran, pointed out that the U.S. spent $6 trillion 
over the last 20 years in the Middle East, yet many Americans live in 
poverty without good access to health care and education.“Our
 nation needs to acknowledge the waste of war spending and begin the 
task of rebuilding a planet that is literally approaching the death of 
many living beings,” Todd-Meyer said. Nebraskans for Peace officials said federal 
funds could be better spent on making schools more secure and buying 
back assault-style weapons, as well as on improving mental health care.

Nebraskans for Peace calls for reduction in ‘bloated’ U.S. defense budget

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected Bayer's appeal to shut down thousands of lawsuits claiming that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer.

The justices on Tuesday left in place a $25 million judgment in favor of Edwin Hardeman, a&nbsp;California&nbsp;man who says he developed cancer from using Roundup for decades to treat poison oak, overgrowth and weeds on his San Francisco Bay Area property. Hardeman's lawsuit had served as a test case for thousands of similar lawsuits.

The high court’s action comes amid a series of court fights over Roundup that have pointed in different directions.

On Friday, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an Environmental Protection Agency finding from 2020 that glyphosate does not pose a serious health risk and is “not likely” to cause cancer in humans. The appellate court ordered the EPA to reexamine its finding.

At the same time, Bayer has won four consecutive trials in state court against people who claimed they got cancer from their use of Roundup. The latest verdict in favor of the company came last week in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/oregon">Oregon</a>.

Bayer had argued that federal regulators have repeatedly determined its products are safe, and that lawsuits based on claims under state laws should be dismissed.

Last year, Bayer set aside $4.5 billion to deal with the claims that glyphosate, the weed-killing ingredient in Roundup, causes non-Hodgins lymphoma, a type of cancer. The company had previously taken a charge of nearly $10 billion for earlier rounds of litigation.

Bayer also had warned that allowing these sorts of claims will damage innovation in agriculture, health and other industries.

Bayer inherited Roundup and the litigation when it acquired Monsanto in 2018.

The EPA says on its website that there is “no evidence glyphosate causes cancer humans.” But in 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as ”probably carcinogenic to humans.” The agency said it relied on “limited” evidence of cancer in people and “sufficient” evidence of cancer in study animals.

The Justice Department, which had sided with Bayer in the lower courts during the Trump administration, recommended that the high court not get involved.

Bayer maintains the product is safe, but said that it would replace glyphosate in Roundup for residential use beginning in 2023. Products containing glyphosate will still be available for professional and farm use.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected Bayer's appeal to shut down thousands of lawsuits claiming that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer.The justices on Tuesday left in place a $25 million judgment in favor of Edwin Hardeman, a&nbsp;California&nbsp;man who says he developed cancer from using Roundup for decades to treat poison oak, overgrowth and weeds on his San Francisco Bay Area property. Hardeman's lawsuit had served as a test case for thousands of similar lawsuits.The high court’s action comes amid a series of court fights over Roundup that have pointed in different directions.On Friday, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an Environmental Protection Agency finding from 2020 that glyphosate does not pose a serious health risk and is “not likely” to cause cancer in humans. The appellate court ordered the EPA to reexamine its finding.At the same time, Bayer has won four consecutive trials in state court against people who claimed they got cancer from their use of Roundup. The latest verdict in favor of the company came last week in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/oregon">Oregon</a>.Bayer had argued that federal regulators have repeatedly determined its products are safe, and that lawsuits based on claims under state laws should be dismissed.Last year, Bayer set aside $4.5 billion to deal with the claims that glyphosate, the weed-killing ingredient in Roundup, causes non-Hodgins lymphoma, a type of cancer. The company had previously taken a charge of nearly $10 billion for earlier rounds of litigation.Bayer also had warned that allowing these sorts of claims will damage innovation in agriculture, health and other industries.Bayer inherited Roundup and the litigation when it acquired Monsanto in 2018.The EPA says on its website that there is “no evidence glyphosate causes cancer humans.” But in 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as ”probably carcinogenic to humans.” The agency said it relied on “limited” evidence of cancer in people and “sufficient” evidence of cancer in study animals.The Justice Department, which had sided with Bayer in the lower courts during the Trump administration, recommended that the high court not get involved.Bayer maintains the product is safe, but said that it would replace glyphosate in Roundup for residential use beginning in 2023. Products containing glyphosate will still be available for professional and farm use.

Supreme Court rejects Bayer bid to stop Roundup lawsuits

KANSAS CITY (AP) —The price of a foot of water pipe in Tucson, Arizona: up 19%. The cost of a ton of asphalt in a small Massachusetts town: up 37%. The estimate to build a new airport terminal in Des Moines, Iowa: 69% higher, with a several year delay.

Inflation is taking a toll on infrastructure projects across the U.S., driving up costs so much that state and local officials are postponing projects, scaling back others and reprioritizing their needs.

The price hikes already are diminishing the value of a $1 trillion&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-congress-infrastructure-bill-signing-b5b8cca843133de060778f049861b144">infrastructure plan President Joe Biden signed</a>&nbsp;into law just seven months ago. That law had included, among other things, a roughly 25% increase in regular highway program funding for states.

“Those dollars are essentially evaporating,” said Jim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. "The cost of those projects is going up by 20%, by 30%, and just wiping out that increase from the federal government that they were so excited about earlier in the year.”

In Casper, Wyoming, the low bid to rebuild a major intersection and construct a new bridge over the North Platte River came in at $35 million this spring — 55% over a state engineer's estimate. The bid was rejected and the project delayed as state officials re-evaluate their options.

“If this inflation keeps the way it is, we will have to roll projects from one year into the next, into the next, into the next," said Mark Gillett, chief engineer of the Wyoming Department of Transportation.

Gillett had hoped the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would finance a boom in highway and bridge construction.

“But it’s just not going to go as far as we had hoped,” he said.

In addition to roads, the federal infrastructure bill includes billions of dollars for water projects, railways, airports, broadband internet, electric grids and green-energy projects over the coming years.

Inflation has affected the entire U.S. economy, posing one of Biden's biggest challenges during a midterm election year. Fuel, food and housing costs all have shot up.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/key-inflation-report-highest-level-in-four-decades-c0248c5b5705cd1523d3dab3771983b4">Consumer prices surged 8.6% in May</a>&nbsp;over last year, the highest rate since 1981, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Prices for some key materials in infrastructure construction have risen even more. Prices paid to U.S. manufacturers of&nbsp;<a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PCU3241213241210131">asphalt paving and tar mixtures</a>&nbsp;were up 14% in May compared to last year, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Prices for&nbsp;<a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WPU10760102">fabricated steel plate</a>, used in bridges, were up 23%, and&nbsp;<a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PCU3315113315111">ductile iron pipes and fittings</a>&nbsp;— used by water systems — were nearly 25% higher.

The hikes are being driven by a variety of factors, including worldwide supply-chain backlogs, strong consumer and business spending in the U.S., Russia's invasion of Ukraine — and, some argue, federal energy and fiscal policies.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, the ranking minority member on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, contends the infrastructure law itself is contributing to inflation by pouring more federal money into an economy already flush with trillions of dollars in federal pandemic aid.

“They are borrowing more money so they can spend more money, (which) is driving inflation, which is cutting down on the projects that they’re actually wanting to do,” said Graves, a Missouri Republican who voted against the infrastructure bill.

White House senior adviser Mitch Landrieu said the infrastructure law “actually positions us for lowering costs for families in the short- and long-term." He pointed, among other things, to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2022/04/20/how-build-america-buy-america-guidance-strengthens-made-in-america-requirements/">made-in America requirements</a>&nbsp;for steel, iron and other construction materials that could strengthen supply chains and thus lower costs.

Officials at Des Moines International Airport were counting on the federal infrastructure money to replace an aging terminal with a modern structure. Four years ago, a new 14-gate terminal was projected to cost about $434 million and be open by 2026. By this spring,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flydsm.com/filesimages/AIRPORT%20BUSINESS/Terminal%20Program%20Definition%20Manual%20Supplement%20Update%20-%20April%2015%202022.pdf">the cost had soared to $733 million.</a>

That’s more than the airport can afford, even with the federal aid. So officials are planning to break the project into phases, building just five new gates by 2026 at a cost of $411 million.

“If inflation continues, it may be a decade before the project gets completely done,” airport Executive Director Kevin Foley said.

Other projects also have been rocked by inflationary price hikes.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/6/1655740724204.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) —The price of a foot of water pipe in Tucson, Arizona: up 19%. The cost of a ton of asphalt in a small Massachusetts town: up 37%. The estimate to build a new airport terminal in Des Moines, Iowa: 69% higher, with a several year delay.Inflation is taking a toll on infrastructure projects across the U.S., driving up costs so much that state and local officials are postponing projects, scaling back others and reprioritizing their needs.The price hikes already are diminishing the value of a $1 trillion&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-congress-infrastructure-bill-signing-b5b8cca843133de060778f049861b144">infrastructure plan President Joe Biden signed</a>&nbsp;into law just seven months ago. That law had included, among other things, a roughly 25% increase in regular highway program funding for states.“Those dollars are essentially evaporating,” said Jim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. "The cost of those projects is going up by 20%, by 30%, and just wiping out that increase from the federal government that they were so excited about earlier in the year.”In Casper, Wyoming, the low bid to rebuild a major intersection and construct a new bridge over the North Platte River came in at $35 million this spring — 55% over a state engineer's estimate. The bid was rejected and the project delayed as state officials re-evaluate their options.“If this inflation keeps the way it is, we will have to roll projects from one year into the next, into the next, into the next," said Mark Gillett, chief engineer of the Wyoming Department of Transportation.Gillett had hoped the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would finance a boom in highway and bridge construction.“But it’s just not going to go as far as we had hoped,” he said.In addition to roads, the federal infrastructure bill includes billions of dollars for water projects, railways, airports, broadband internet, electric grids and green-energy projects over the coming years.Inflation has affected the entire U.S. economy, posing one of Biden's biggest challenges during a midterm election year. Fuel, food and housing costs all have shot up.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/key-inflation-report-highest-level-in-four-decades-c0248c5b5705cd1523d3dab3771983b4">Consumer prices surged 8.6% in May</a>&nbsp;over last year, the highest rate since 1981, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.Prices for some key materials in infrastructure construction have risen even more. Prices paid to U.S. manufacturers of&nbsp;<a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PCU3241213241210131">asphalt paving and tar mixtures</a>&nbsp;were up 14% in May compared to last year, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Prices for&nbsp;<a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WPU10760102">fabricated steel plate</a>, used in bridges, were up 23%, and&nbsp;<a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PCU3315113315111">ductile iron pipes and fittings</a>&nbsp;— used by water systems — were nearly 25% higher.The hikes are being driven by a variety of factors, including worldwide supply-chain backlogs, strong consumer and business spending in the U.S., Russia's invasion of Ukraine — and, some argue, federal energy and fiscal policies.U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, the ranking minority member on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, contends the infrastructure law itself is contributing to inflation by pouring more federal money into an economy already flush with trillions of dollars in federal pandemic aid.“They are borrowing more money so they can spend more money, (which) is driving inflation, which is cutting down on the projects that they’re actually wanting to do,” said Graves, a Missouri Republican who voted against the infrastructure bill.White House senior adviser Mitch Landrieu said the infrastructure law “actually positions us for lowering costs for families in the short- and long-term." He pointed, among other things, to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2022/04/20/how-build-america-buy-america-guidance-strengthens-made-in-america-requirements/">made-in America requirements</a>&nbsp;for steel, iron and other construction materials that could strengthen supply chains and thus lower costs.Officials at Des Moines International Airport were counting on the federal infrastructure money to replace an aging terminal with a modern structure. Four years ago, a new 14-gate terminal was projected to cost about $434 million and be open by 2026. By this spring,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flydsm.com/filesimages/AIRPORT%20BUSINESS/Terminal%20Program%20Definition%20Manual%20Supplement%20Update%20-%20April%2015%202022.pdf">the cost had soared to $733 million.</a>That’s more than the airport can afford, even with the federal aid. So officials are planning to break the project into phases, building just five new gates by 2026 at a cost of $411 million.“If inflation continues, it may be a decade before the project gets completely done,” airport Executive Director Kevin Foley said.Other projects also have been rocked by inflationary price hikes.Since voters approved a property tax increase in 2020, the estimated cost of building two light rail lines and a tunnel through Austin, Texas, has&nbsp;<a href="https://publicinput.com/Customer/File/Full/6bba66e5-288f-4bfe-a4eb-a05d4176d792">gone from $5.8 billion to $10.3 billion</a>. Doubling the tunnel length was a big factor. But inflation and surging real estate prices also fueled the increase, forcing officials to consider cutting costs or lengthening the time frame for completing the project.“It’s been a challenge,” said David Couch, chief program officer at the Austin Transit Partnership.Low bids for a series of bridge repairs along Interstate 55 in St. Louis came in at $63 million this year, 57% over the budgeted amount. Overall, Missouri’s highway construction costs for the fiscal year ending in June were $139 million over budget — an 11% increase that marked a “pretty significant swing” from several under-budget years, said state Department of Transportation Director Patrick McKenna.Though Missouri forged ahead with this year's projects, inflation “will take a bite out of the future,” McKenna said.Inflation has carried more immediate consequence in some places.When bids for a road project in Lansing, Michigan, came in 60% above estimates, the city rebid the project and cut its scope in half, said Andrew Kilpatrick, public service director and acting city engineer.In Huntington, Massachusetts, a 1.5-mile stretch of road won't be finished this year after a 37% spike in the price of liquid asphalt increased the cost for paving a mile to about $140,000. The town gets $159,000 annually in state funding for its roads, highway superintendent Charles Dazelle said.“Right now, one mile of road, that’s one year. That is doing nothing else,” Dazelle said.Public water systems across the country also are straining under inflation.When Tucson, Arizona, launched the first part of a four-phase water main replacement project in September 2020, ductile iron pipe cost $75-a-foot and a gate valve cost $3,000. When it bid the most recent phase this spring, pipe costs had risen to nearly $90-a-foot and gate valves to nearly $4,100. The city is now prioritizing what other projects it can afford, and which ones have to wait.“To sum it up, we’re doing less work for the same amount of money,” said Tucson's chief water engineer, Scott Schladweiler.The city of Tacoma, Washington, also is altering some of its planned water main replacements because of rising costs.“Some of them are getting delayed, some of them are being reduced in scope, and it’s forcing us to re-evaluate some of the budgets that we’ve set forth,” said Ali Polda, principal engineer in the city's water department.Residents in a neighborhood west of Little Rock, Arkansas, will pay a $146 monthly surcharge to Central Arkansas Water to install new water lines. The charge is 17% more than originally planned because of spikes in construction costs.Other public utilities also will have to choose between scaling back work and passing along costs to customers, said Michael Arceneaux, acting CEO of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies.“In the end, it’s going to be the rate payers that suffer,” he said, "because the projects have to get done, and funding will have to come from the rate payers.”___