LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — Investigators say they do not believe foul play was involved in a house fire that killed a southern Wyoming man and displaced his wife and three children. 

Firefighters called to the home southwest of Laramie early Thursday morning found the structure fully engulfed in flames.

 Four people had escaped the fire, but a fifth was unaccounted for.

 The Laramie Boomerang reports firefighters found the man’s body in the burning home. 

The 59-year-old man’s name has not been released.

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — Investigators say they do not believe foul play was involved in a house fire that killed a southern Wyoming man and displaced his wife and three children. Firefighters called to the home southwest of Laramie early Thursday morning found the structure fully engulfed in flames. Four people had escaped the fire, but a fifth was unaccounted for. The Laramie Boomerang reports firefighters found the man’s body in the burning home. The 59-year-old man’s name has not been released.

Investigators do not suspect foul play in fatal Wyoming fire

KANSAS CITY (AP)—As Congress considered a massive COVID-19 relief package earlier this year, hundreds of mayors from across the U.S. pleaded for “immediate action” on billions of dollars targeted to shore up their finances and revive their communities.

Now that they’ve received it, local officials are taking their time before actually spending the windfall.

As of this summer, a majority of large cities and states hadn’t spent a penny from the American Rescue Plan championed by Democrats and President Joe Biden, according to an Associated Press review of the first financial reports due under the law. States had spent just 2.5% of their initial allotment while large cities spent 8.5%, according to the AP analysis.

Many state and local governments reported they were still working on plans for their share of the $350 billion, which can be spent on a wide array of programs.

Though Biden signed the law in March, the Treasury Department didn’t release the money and spending guidelines until May. By then, some state legislatures already had wrapped up their budget work for the next year, leaving governors with no authority to spend the new money. Some states waited several more months to ask the federal government for their share.

Cities sometimes delayed decisions while soliciting suggestions from the public. And some government officials — still trying to figure out how to spend previous rounds of federal pandemic aid — simply didn’t see an urgent need for the additional cash.

“It’s a lot of money that’s been put out there. I think it’s a good sign that it hasn’t been frivolously spent,” Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said. He was president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors when more than 400 mayors signed a letter urging Congress to quickly pass Biden’s plan.

The law gives states until the end of 2024 to make spending commitments and the end of 2026 to spend the money. Any money not obligated or spent by those dates must be returned to the federal government.

The Biden administration said it isn’t concerned about the early pace of the initiative. The aid to governments is intended both “to address any crisis needs” and to provide “longer-term fire power to ensure a durable and equitable recovery,” said Gene Sperling, White House American Rescue Plan coordinator.

“The fact that you can spread your spending out is a feature, not a bug, of the program. It is by design,” Sperling told the AP.

The Treasury Department set an aggressive reporting schedule to try to prod local planning. It required states, counties and cities with estimated populations of at least 250,000 to file reports by Aug. 31 detailing their spending as of the previous month as well as future plans.

More than half the states and nearly two-thirds of the roughly 90 largest cities reported no initial spending. The governments reported future plans for about 40% of their total funds. The AP did not gather reports from counties because of the large number of them.

To promote transparency, the Treasury Department also required governments to post the reports on a “prominent public-facing website,” such as their home page or a general coronavirus response site. But the AP found that many governments ignored that directive, instead tucking the documents behind numerous navigational steps. Idaho and Nebraska had not posted their reports online when contacted by the AP. Neither had some cities.

Officials in Jersey City, New Jersey, required the AP to file a formal open-records request to get its report, though that shouldn’t have been necessary. City employees in Laredo, Texas, and Sacramento, California, also initially directed the AP to file open-records requests. Laredo later told the AP it had spent nothing. Sacramento relented and eventually provided a short report stating it had spent nothing but might put its entire $112 million allocation toward replacing lost revenue and providing government services.

Among states, the largest share of initial spending went toward shoring up unemployment insurance trust funds that were depleted during the pandemic. Arizona reported pouring nearly $759 million into its unemployment account, New Mexico nearly $657 million and Kentucky almost $506 million.

For large cities, the most common use of the money was to replenish their diminished revenue and fund government services. San Francisco reported using its entire initial allotment of $312 million for that purpose.

Those reporting no initial spending included Pittsburgh, whose mayor joined with several other Pennsylvania mayors in February on a column urging Congress to pass “crucial” aid for state and local governments.

“Congress must act, and they must act soon. Our communities cannot wait another day,” the Pennsylvania mayors wrote.

Pittsburgh ultimately ended up waiting to spend the money until the Treasury guidelines were released, community members had a chance to comment and the City Council could sign off on the spending plans. In the future, the city plans to use part of its federal windfall to buy 78 electric vehicles, build technology labs at recreation centers and launch a pilot project paying 100 low-income Black women $500 a month for two years to test the merits of a guaranteed income program.

The federal money also will help pay the salaries of more than 600 city employees

“Even though the money hadn’t technically been expended” by the Treasury Department’s reporting timeline, “the receipt of the money was enough for us to hold off on major layoffs,” said Dan Gilman, chief of staff to Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto.

Some officials are intentionally taking their time.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, opted not to call a special session to appropriate money from the latest federal pandemic relief act. So far, he’s publicly outlined just one proposal — $400 million for broadband.

Parson’s budget director said the administration will present more ideas to lawmakers when they convene for their regular session in January. Until then, the state should have enough money left from a previous federal relief law to cover the costs of fighting the virus, budget director Dan Haug said.

“We want to try to find things that are going to benefit Missouri not just next year or the year after, but 10 or 20 years down the road,” Haug said. “That takes some thought and some planning.”

Republican state Rep. Doug Richey, who leads a House panel on federal stimulus spending, said he’s not convinced Missouri needs to spend all of its American Rescue Plan funds.

“To the extent that we spend these dollars, we are participating in an ever-increasing federal debt or bad monetary policy,” Richey said.

Missouri was one several states that waited to request its initial allotment. Five other Republican-led states — Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas — waited so long that they weren’t required to file reports by the Treasury’s Aug. 31 deadline.

Tennessee wanted to make sure small cities were prepared for a 30-day clock that starts ticking for them to seek funding once the dollars arrive at the state, said Lola Potter, a spokesperson for the state Department of Finance and Administration. A South Dakota official cited similar reasoning for the delay. Financial Systems Director Colin Keeler said it’s difficult for small towns to take the steps needed to apply.

“The state was in no rush at all,” he said. “The cities wanted to get theirs, but we needed to be prepared.”

KANSAS CITY (AP)—As Congress considered a massive COVID-19 relief package earlier this year, hundreds of mayors from across the U.S. pleaded for “immediate action” on billions of dollars targeted to shore up their finances and revive their communities.Now that they’ve received it, local officials are taking their time before actually spending the windfall.As of this summer, a majority of large cities and states hadn’t spent a penny from the American Rescue Plan championed by Democrats and President Joe Biden, according to an Associated Press review of the first financial reports due under the law. States had spent just 2.5% of their initial allotment while large cities spent 8.5%, according to the AP analysis.Many state and local governments reported they were still working on plans for their share of the $350 billion, which can be spent on a wide array of programs.Though Biden signed the law in March, the Treasury Department didn’t release the money and spending guidelines until May. By then, some state legislatures already had wrapped up their budget work for the next year, leaving governors with no authority to spend the new money. Some states waited several more months to ask the federal government for their share.Cities sometimes delayed decisions while soliciting suggestions from the public. And some government officials — still trying to figure out how to spend previous rounds of federal pandemic aid — simply didn’t see an urgent need for the additional cash.“It’s a lot of money that’s been put out there. I think it’s a good sign that it hasn’t been frivolously spent,” Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said. He was president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors when more than 400 mayors signed a letter urging Congress to quickly pass Biden’s plan.The law gives states until the end of 2024 to make spending commitments and the end of 2026 to spend the money. Any money not obligated or spent by those dates must be returned to the federal government.The Biden administration said it isn’t concerned about the early pace of the initiative. The aid to governments is intended both “to address any crisis needs” and to provide “longer-term fire power to ensure a durable and equitable recovery,” said Gene Sperling, White House American Rescue Plan coordinator.“The fact that you can spread your spending out is a feature, not a bug, of the program. It is by design,” Sperling told the AP.The Treasury Department set an aggressive reporting schedule to try to prod local planning. It required states, counties and cities with estimated populations of at least 250,000 to file reports by Aug. 31 detailing their spending as of the previous month as well as future plans.More than half the states and nearly two-thirds of the roughly 90 largest cities reported no initial spending. The governments reported future plans for about 40% of their total funds. The AP did not gather reports from counties because of the large number of them.To promote transparency, the Treasury Department also required governments to post the reports on a “prominent public-facing website,” such as their home page or a general coronavirus response site. But the AP found that many governments ignored that directive, instead tucking the documents behind numerous navigational steps. Idaho and Nebraska had not posted their reports online when contacted by the AP. Neither had some cities.Officials in Jersey City, New Jersey, required the AP to file a formal open-records request to get its report, though that shouldn’t have been necessary. City employees in Laredo, Texas, and Sacramento, California, also initially directed the AP to file open-records requests. Laredo later told the AP it had spent nothing. Sacramento relented and eventually provided a short report stating it had spent nothing but might put its entire $112 million allocation toward replacing lost revenue and providing government services.Among states, the largest share of initial spending went toward shoring up unemployment insurance trust funds that were depleted during the pandemic. Arizona reported pouring nearly $759 million into its unemployment account, New Mexico nearly $657 million and Kentucky almost $506 million.For large cities, the most common use of the money was to replenish their diminished revenue and fund government services. San Francisco reported using its entire initial allotment of $312 million for that purpose.Those reporting no initial spending included Pittsburgh, whose mayor joined with several other Pennsylvania mayors in February on a column urging Congress to pass “crucial” aid for state and local governments.“Congress must act, and they must act soon. Our communities cannot wait another day,” the Pennsylvania mayors wrote.Pittsburgh ultimately ended up waiting to spend the money until the Treasury guidelines were released, community members had a chance to comment and the City Council could sign off on the spending plans. In the future, the city plans to use part of its federal windfall to buy 78 electric vehicles, build technology labs at recreation centers and launch a pilot project paying 100 low-income Black women $500 a month for two years to test the merits of a guaranteed income program.The federal money also will help pay the salaries of more than 600 city employees“Even though the money hadn’t technically been expended” by the Treasury Department’s reporting timeline, “the receipt of the money was enough for us to hold off on major layoffs,” said Dan Gilman, chief of staff to Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto.Some officials are intentionally taking their time.Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, opted not to call a special session to appropriate money from the latest federal pandemic relief act. So far, he’s publicly outlined just one proposal — $400 million for broadband.Parson’s budget director said the administration will present more ideas to lawmakers when they convene for their regular session in January. Until then, the state should have enough money left from a previous federal relief law to cover the costs of fighting the virus, budget director Dan Haug said.“We want to try to find things that are going to benefit Missouri not just next year or the year after, but 10 or 20 years down the road,” Haug said. “That takes some thought and some planning.”Republican state Rep. Doug Richey, who leads a House panel on federal stimulus spending, said he’s not convinced Missouri needs to spend all of its American Rescue Plan funds.“To the extent that we spend these dollars, we are participating in an ever-increasing federal debt or bad monetary policy,” Richey said.Missouri was one several states that waited to request its initial allotment. Five other Republican-led states — Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas — waited so long that they weren’t required to file reports by the Treasury’s Aug. 31 deadline.Tennessee wanted to make sure small cities were prepared for a 30-day clock that starts ticking for them to seek funding once the dollars arrive at the state, said Lola Potter, a spokesperson for the state Department of Finance and Administration. A South Dakota official cited similar reasoning for the delay. Financial Systems Director Colin Keeler said it’s difficult for small towns to take the steps needed to apply.“The state was in no rush at all,” he said. “The cities wanted to get theirs, but we needed to be prepared.”

Report: States, cities slow to spend federal pandemic money

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a motorcyclist died early Monday morning in a crash on Omaha's Northwest Radial Highway.

 Police say the crash happened about 5:45 a.m. when a pickup truck traveling east on Nicholas Street collided with the motorcycle traveling south on the highway in northeastern Omaha. 

The crash closed a stretch of Northwest Radial for several hours Monday morning. 

Police have not released the name of the motorcyclist killed.

 Investigators say the truck driver was not injured, but was taken into custody following the crash.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a motorcyclist died early Monday morning in a crash on Omaha's Northwest Radial Highway. Police say the crash happened about 5:45 a.m. when a pickup truck traveling east on Nicholas Street collided with the motorcycle traveling south on the highway in northeastern Omaha. The crash closed a stretch of Northwest Radial for several hours Monday morning. Police have not released the name of the motorcyclist killed. Investigators say the truck driver was not injured, but was taken into custody following the crash.

Police say motorcyclist killed early Monday in Omaha crash

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing bipartisan criticism over its approach to immigration, the Biden administration on announced new rules that require authorities to only pursue migrants who recently crossed into the country without permission or are deemed to pose a threat to public safety.

The new guidelines replace interim rules issued in February that were initially blocked by a federal judge in August as part of a lawsuit brought by Texas and Louisiana. They break from a more aggressive approach to immigration enforcement under former President Donald Trump, who early in his presidency directed authorities to apprehend anyone who was illegally in the country.

The release comes as President Joe Biden has come under fire from allies for his reliance on a Trump-era public health authority to rapidly expel migrants encountered on the U.S.-Mexico border while also facing Republican criticism that he hasn’t done enough to counter a sharp increase in migrants seeking to enter the country.

The Biden administration has expelled about 5,000 Haitians who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border at Del Rio, Texas, in recent weeks. A federal appeals court in Washington on Thursday cleared the administration to continue expelling families under the public-health authority known as Title 42. The appeals court put on hold a lower court order barring the expulsions of families hours before the ban was to take effect.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters that the new policy was based on the reality that the U.S. can’t go after all people in the country without legal status and shouldn’t try because many “have been contributing members of our communities for years.”

Authorities will be directed to focus on noncitizens who have crossed recently, defined as after Nov. 1, 2020, or who determined to be a threat because of national security or “serious criminal activity.” Homeland Security includes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.

Unlike the interim rules, the criminal activity is not limited to the category known in legal terms as an aggravated felony but will depend on the “totality of the facts and circumstances,” Mayorkas said. Anyone would be considered a priority if they are engaged or even suspected of terrorism or espionage, according to the memo. The new rules take effect Nov. 29.

Immigration authorities would be prohibited from arresting and seeking to deport someone in retaliation for exercising First Amendment rights, such as joining a protest or taking part in union activities.

“We are requiring and frankly empowering our workforce, critically empowering our workforce, to exercise their judgment, their law enforcement judgment,” the secretary said.

Advocates for strict immigration enforcement have criticized the interim guidelines, which were similar in intent as the newly released rules, because they were seen as a top-down approach and one that precluded low-level arrests that might yield investigative leads into bigger cases or help serve as a deterrent to illegal immigration.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said on Twitter that Biden has “welcomed” the migrants who have crossed and would now promise those already in the country that “they may stay in the U.S. without repercussions” with the new rules.

Immigrant advocates, including some who have in the past called for eliminating ICE and immigrant detention altogether, welcomed limits on enforcement but are wary given the rapid detention and expulsion of thousands of Haitians at Del Rio.

“This policy is only going to be as good as the results,” said Jacinta Gonzalez, senior campaign organizer of Mijente. “If detention numbers continue to rise, as deportations continue to happen, if we still see human rights abuses at the border, this policy won’t mean anything.”

A federal judge in Texas blocked the interim rules in August, ruling that the administration did not have discretion to choose which migrants to detain, but a federal appeals court allowed the guidelines to take effect while the lawsuit proceeds.

Mayorkas said it makes little sense to pursue all of the estimated 11 million people in the country without legal status, even if the U.S. had the law enforcement capacity to do so.

“They contribute to the well-being of our country and justice requires that we exercise our discretion accordingly,” he said. “The fact that an individual is a removeable non-citizen should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them.”

Trump’s administration took hundreds of measures to restrict both legal and illegal immigration, including a zero-tolerance policy on border crossings that resulted in the forcible separation of thousands of families and requiring asylum seekers to await the processing of their cases in Mexico.

In the end, total deportations were higher under the first term of President Barack Obama, who enacted enforcement priorities similar to Biden’s, than under Trump. That was due in part to a lack of cooperation from many cities and states whose leaders opposed Trump’s immigration policies.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632317817548.png" alt="Migrants at the U.S. border in September- photo Rep. Tony Gonzales" />
 <figcaption>Migrants at the U.S. border in September- photo Rep. Tony Gonzales</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing bipartisan criticism over its approach to immigration, the Biden administration on announced new rules that require authorities to only pursue migrants who recently crossed into the country without permission or are deemed to pose a threat to public safety.The new guidelines replace interim rules issued in February that were initially blocked by a federal judge in August as part of a lawsuit brought by Texas and Louisiana. They break from a more aggressive approach to immigration enforcement under former President Donald Trump, who early in his presidency directed authorities to apprehend anyone who was illegally in the country.The release comes as President Joe Biden has come under fire from allies for his reliance on a Trump-era public health authority to rapidly expel migrants encountered on the U.S.-Mexico border while also facing Republican criticism that he hasn’t done enough to counter a sharp increase in migrants seeking to enter the country.The Biden administration has expelled about 5,000 Haitians who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border at Del Rio, Texas, in recent weeks. A federal appeals court in Washington on Thursday cleared the administration to continue expelling families under the public-health authority known as Title 42. The appeals court put on hold a lower court order barring the expulsions of families hours before the ban was to take effect.Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters that the new policy was based on the reality that the U.S. can’t go after all people in the country without legal status and shouldn’t try because many “have been contributing members of our communities for years.”Authorities will be directed to focus on noncitizens who have crossed recently, defined as after Nov. 1, 2020, or who determined to be a threat because of national security or “serious criminal activity.” Homeland Security includes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.Unlike the interim rules, the criminal activity is not limited to the category known in legal terms as an aggravated felony but will depend on the “totality of the facts and circumstances,” Mayorkas said. Anyone would be considered a priority if they are engaged or even suspected of terrorism or espionage, according to the memo. The new rules take effect Nov. 29.Immigration authorities would be prohibited from arresting and seeking to deport someone in retaliation for exercising First Amendment rights, such as joining a protest or taking part in union activities.“We are requiring and frankly empowering our workforce, critically empowering our workforce, to exercise their judgment, their law enforcement judgment,” the secretary said.Advocates for strict immigration enforcement have criticized the interim guidelines, which were similar in intent as the newly released rules, because they were seen as a top-down approach and one that precluded low-level arrests that might yield investigative leads into bigger cases or help serve as a deterrent to illegal immigration.Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said on Twitter that Biden has “welcomed” the migrants who have crossed and would now promise those already in the country that “they may stay in the U.S. without repercussions” with the new rules.Immigrant advocates, including some who have in the past called for eliminating ICE and immigrant detention altogether, welcomed limits on enforcement but are wary given the rapid detention and expulsion of thousands of Haitians at Del Rio.“This policy is only going to be as good as the results,” said Jacinta Gonzalez, senior campaign organizer of Mijente. “If detention numbers continue to rise, as deportations continue to happen, if we still see human rights abuses at the border, this policy won’t mean anything.”A federal judge in Texas blocked the interim rules in August, ruling that the administration did not have discretion to choose which migrants to detain, but a federal appeals court allowed the guidelines to take effect while the lawsuit proceeds.Mayorkas said it makes little sense to pursue all of the estimated 11 million people in the country without legal status, even if the U.S. had the law enforcement capacity to do so.“They contribute to the well-being of our country and justice requires that we exercise our discretion accordingly,” he said. “The fact that an individual is a removeable non-citizen should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them.”Trump’s administration took hundreds of measures to restrict both legal and illegal immigration, including a zero-tolerance policy on border crossings that resulted in the forcible separation of thousands of families and requiring asylum seekers to await the processing of their cases in Mexico.In the end, total deportations were higher under the first term of President Barack Obama, who enacted enforcement priorities similar to Biden’s, than under Trump. That was due in part to a lack of cooperation from many cities and states whose leaders opposed Trump’s immigration policies.__

New Biden rules limit arrest, deportation of migrants

WASHINGTON (AP) — The future of abortion rights is in the hands of a conservative Supreme Court that is beginning a new term Monday that also includes major cases on gun rights and religion.

The court’s credibility with the public also could be on the line, especially if a divided court were to overrule the landmark Roe v. Wade decision from 1973 that established a woman’s right to an abortion nationwide.

The justices are returning to the courtroom after an 18-month absence caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-us-supreme-court-health-coronavirus-pandemic-government-and-politics-20618b0444def88a865f37d5bb92d4a9">possible retirement of 83-year-old liberal Justice Stephen Breyer also looms</a>.

It’s the first full term with the court in its current alignment.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the last of former President Donald Trump’s three high-court appointees, is part of a six-justice conservative majority. Barrett was nominated and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-virus-outbreak-ruth-bader-ginsburg-amy-coney-barrett-82a02a618343c98b80ca2b6bf9eafe07">confirmed last year amid the pandemic</a>, little more than a month after the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ruth-bader-ginsburg-voting-rights-politics-joe-biden-elections-bf6704fa6e900967a705054c801a5495">death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg</a>.

rump and Republicans who controlled the Senate moved quickly to fill the seat shortly before the 2020 presidential election, bringing about a dramatic change in the court’s lineup that has set the stage for a potentially law-changing term on several high-profile issues.

With abortion, guns and religion already on the agenda, and a challenge to affirmative action waiting in the wings, the court will answer a key question over the next year, said University of Chicago law professor David Strauss. “Is this the term in which the culture wars return to the Supreme Court in a big way?” Strauss said.

The justices will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-abortion-15-week-ban-5d066a9dc0030a4f8297711f341c9f5a">hear arguments Dec. 1 in Mississippi’s bid to enforce a ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy</a>. Lower courts blocked the law because it is inconsistent with high court rulings that allow states to regulate but not prohibit abortion before viability, the point around 24 weeks of pregnancy when a fetus can survive outside the womb.

Mississippi is taking what conservative commentator Carrie Severino called a “rip-the-Band-Aid-off” approach to the case by asking the court to abandon its support of abortion rights that was laid out in Roe and the 1992 case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

Mississippi is among 12 states with so-called trigger laws that would take effect if Roe is overturned and ban abortion entirely.

By a 5-4 vote in early September, the court already has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-courts-us-supreme-court-32ee7ae7eeec9bdfd1471a848c163321">allowed a ban on most abortions to take effect in Texas</a>, though no court has yet ruled on the substance of the law.

But that vote and the Mississippi case highlight the potential risk to the court’s reputation, said David Cole, the American Civil Liberties Union’s legal director. The arguments advanced by Mississippi were considered and rejected by the Supreme Court in 1992, Cole said.

“The only difference between then and now is the identity of the justices,” he said.

Jeff Wall, a top Justice Department lawyer under Trump, said the court could sharply expand gun rights and end the use of race in college admissions, but only abortion is likely to move public perception of the court. “I still don’t think that’s going to create some groundswell in the public, unless it’s accompanied by some kind of watershed ruling on abortion,” Wall said.

In early November, the court will take up&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-guns-public-new-york-be5e3fe54da4eb3b9ca2337665974716">a challenge to New York restrictions on carrying a gun in public</a>, a case that offers the court the chance to expand gun rights under the Second Amendment. Before Barrett joined the court, the justices turned away similar cases, over the dissents of some conservative members of the court.

Until Barrett came along, some justices who favor gun rights questioned whether Chief Justice John Roberts would provide a fifth, majority-making vote “for a more expansive reading of the Second Amendment,” said George Washington University law professor Robert Cottrol, who said he hoped the court would now broaden gun rights.

More than 40 states already make it easy to be armed in public, but New York and California, two of the nation’s most populous states, are among the few with tighter regulations.

The case has gun control advocates worried.

“An expansive Second Amendment ruling by the Supreme Court could restrict or prohibit the sensible solutions that have been shown can end gun violence,” said Jonathan Lowy, vice president and chief counsel at the gun violence prevention group Brady. Lowy included state laws requiring a justification to carry a gun as examples of such “sensible solutions.”

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/me-state-wire-us-supreme-court-maine-religion-education-053be754922af11fe1bceaf408d0f910">A case from Maine</a>&nbsp;gives the court another opportunity to weigh religious rights in the area of education. The state excludes religious schools from a tuition program for families who live in towns that don’t have public schools.

Since even before Ginsburg’s death, the court has favored religion-based discrimination claims and the expectation among legal experts is that parents in Maine who sued to be able to use taxpayer money at religious schools will prevail, though it’s not clear how broadly the court might rule.

Affirmative action is not yet on the court’s agenda, but it could still get there this term in a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-college-admissions-us-supreme-court-harvard-courts-b2b55f8bfabe04424cd19281611939f4">lawsuit over Harvard’s use of race in college admissions</a>. Lower courts upheld the school’s policy, but this is another case in which the change in the composition of the court could prove decisive. The court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-texas-courts-relationships-race-and-ethnicity-87f9c6ae0150469f9204b5d79c7dc7ad">upheld race-conscious admission policies as recently as five years ago</a>&nbsp;but that was before Trump’s three appointments accentuated the court’s conservative tilt.

Among other notable cases, the justices will consider&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/court-could-reimpose-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-death-sentence-719087dcbe7145514094fe3c7da8d9bf">reinstating the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev</a>. The Biden administration is pushing for the capital sentence, even as it has suspended federal executions and President Joe Biden has called for an end to the federal death penalty.

The court will also weigh two cases involving “state secrets,” the idea that the government can block the release of information it claims would harm national security if disclosed.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/osama-bin-laden-prisons-us-supreme-court-abu-zubaydah-courts-7f17e01b2c037bbebfca2b999bf64490">One case involves a Guantanamo Bay detainee who a lower court said was tortured in CIA custody</a>. The other involves a group of Muslim residents of California who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-courts-supreme-courts-religion-government-and-politics-29dd3c85923fef7bda9bfa8156753ab9">allege the FBI targeted them for surveillance because of their religion</a>.

Decisions in the most of the big cases won’t come before spring because the justices typically spend months drafting and revising majority opinions and dissents.

Around then, Breyer might signal whether he is planning to retire from a job he has held since 1994. Retirement announcements often come in the spring, to give the president and the Senate enough time to choose and confirm a nominee before the court returns from its summer break and begins hearing cases again in October.

The consequences of Ginsburg’s decision to remain on the court through Barack Obama’s presidency and her death while Trump was in the White House can’t be lost on Breyer, said Tom Goldstein, the founder of the Scotusblog website and a frequent advocate before the court.

“It’s overwhelmingly likely he’ll retire this term,” Goldstein said.

The courthouse still is closed to the public, but live audio of the court’s arguments will be available and reporters who regularly cover the court will be in attendance. The tradition-bound court first provided live audio in May 2020, when the court began hearing arguments by telephone during the pandemic.

<a href="https://apnews.com/5c24ffb572dd34a8b24f226fc2211b7a">Justice Brett Kavanaugh</a>&nbsp;will participate remotely from his home next week during oral arguments after testing positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated. The court said Friday that the 54-year-old justice has no symptoms.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1633344982262.png" alt="Women marched in Kansas and cities nationwide Saturday demanding continued access to abortion-photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Women marched in Kansas and cities nationwide Saturday demanding continued access to abortion-photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The future of abortion rights is in the hands of a conservative Supreme Court that is beginning a new term Monday that also includes major cases on gun rights and religion.The court’s credibility with the public also could be on the line, especially if a divided court were to overrule the landmark Roe v. Wade decision from 1973 that established a woman’s right to an abortion nationwide.The justices are returning to the courtroom after an 18-month absence caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-us-supreme-court-health-coronavirus-pandemic-government-and-politics-20618b0444def88a865f37d5bb92d4a9">possible retirement of 83-year-old liberal Justice Stephen Breyer also looms</a>.It’s the first full term with the court in its current alignment.Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the last of former President Donald Trump’s three high-court appointees, is part of a six-justice conservative majority. Barrett was nominated and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-virus-outbreak-ruth-bader-ginsburg-amy-coney-barrett-82a02a618343c98b80ca2b6bf9eafe07">confirmed last year amid the pandemic</a>, little more than a month after the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ruth-bader-ginsburg-voting-rights-politics-joe-biden-elections-bf6704fa6e900967a705054c801a5495">death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg</a>.rump and Republicans who controlled the Senate moved quickly to fill the seat shortly before the 2020 presidential election, bringing about a dramatic change in the court’s lineup that has set the stage for a potentially law-changing term on several high-profile issues.With abortion, guns and religion already on the agenda, and a challenge to affirmative action waiting in the wings, the court will answer a key question over the next year, said University of Chicago law professor David Strauss. “Is this the term in which the culture wars return to the Supreme Court in a big way?” Strauss said.No issue is bigger than abortion.The justices will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-abortion-15-week-ban-5d066a9dc0030a4f8297711f341c9f5a">hear arguments Dec. 1 in Mississippi’s bid to enforce a ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy</a>. Lower courts blocked the law because it is inconsistent with high court rulings that allow states to regulate but not prohibit abortion before viability, the point around 24 weeks of pregnancy when a fetus can survive outside the womb.Mississippi is taking what conservative commentator Carrie Severino called a “rip-the-Band-Aid-off” approach to the case by asking the court to abandon its support of abortion rights that was laid out in Roe and the 1992 case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey.Mississippi is among 12 states with so-called trigger laws that would take effect if Roe is overturned and ban abortion entirely.By a 5-4 vote in early September, the court already has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-courts-us-supreme-court-32ee7ae7eeec9bdfd1471a848c163321">allowed a ban on most abortions to take effect in Texas</a>, though no court has yet ruled on the substance of the law.But that vote and the Mississippi case highlight the potential risk to the court’s reputation, said David Cole, the American Civil Liberties Union’s legal director. The arguments advanced by Mississippi were considered and rejected by the Supreme Court in 1992, Cole said.“The only difference between then and now is the identity of the justices,” he said.Jeff Wall, a top Justice Department lawyer under Trump, said the court could sharply expand gun rights and end the use of race in college admissions, but only abortion is likely to move public perception of the court. “I still don’t think that’s going to create some groundswell in the public, unless it’s accompanied by some kind of watershed ruling on abortion,” Wall said.In early November, the court will take up&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-guns-public-new-york-be5e3fe54da4eb3b9ca2337665974716">a challenge to New York restrictions on carrying a gun in public</a>, a case that offers the court the chance to expand gun rights under the Second Amendment. Before Barrett joined the court, the justices turned away similar cases, over the dissents of some conservative members of the court.Until Barrett came along, some justices who favor gun rights questioned whether Chief Justice John Roberts would provide a fifth, majority-making vote “for a more expansive reading of the Second Amendment,” said George Washington University law professor Robert Cottrol, who said he hoped the court would now broaden gun rights.More than 40 states already make it easy to be armed in public, but New York and California, two of the nation’s most populous states, are among the few with tighter regulations.The case has gun control advocates worried.“An expansive Second Amendment ruling by the Supreme Court could restrict or prohibit the sensible solutions that have been shown can end gun violence,” said Jonathan Lowy, vice president and chief counsel at the gun violence prevention group Brady. Lowy included state laws requiring a justification to carry a gun as examples of such “sensible solutions.”<a href="https://apnews.com/article/me-state-wire-us-supreme-court-maine-religion-education-053be754922af11fe1bceaf408d0f910">A case from Maine</a>&nbsp;gives the court another opportunity to weigh religious rights in the area of education. The state excludes religious schools from a tuition program for families who live in towns that don’t have public schools.Since even before Ginsburg’s death, the court has favored religion-based discrimination claims and the expectation among legal experts is that parents in Maine who sued to be able to use taxpayer money at religious schools will prevail, though it’s not clear how broadly the court might rule.Affirmative action is not yet on the court’s agenda, but it could still get there this term in a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-college-admissions-us-supreme-court-harvard-courts-b2b55f8bfabe04424cd19281611939f4">lawsuit over Harvard’s use of race in college admissions</a>. Lower courts upheld the school’s policy, but this is another case in which the change in the composition of the court could prove decisive. The court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-texas-courts-relationships-race-and-ethnicity-87f9c6ae0150469f9204b5d79c7dc7ad">upheld race-conscious admission policies as recently as five years ago</a>&nbsp;but that was before Trump’s three appointments accentuated the court’s conservative tilt.Among other notable cases, the justices will consider&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/court-could-reimpose-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-death-sentence-719087dcbe7145514094fe3c7da8d9bf">reinstating the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev</a>. The Biden administration is pushing for the capital sentence, even as it has suspended federal executions and President Joe Biden has called for an end to the federal death penalty.The court will also weigh two cases involving “state secrets,” the idea that the government can block the release of information it claims would harm national security if disclosed.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/osama-bin-laden-prisons-us-supreme-court-abu-zubaydah-courts-7f17e01b2c037bbebfca2b999bf64490">One case involves a Guantanamo Bay detainee who a lower court said was tortured in CIA custody</a>. The other involves a group of Muslim residents of California who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-courts-supreme-courts-religion-government-and-politics-29dd3c85923fef7bda9bfa8156753ab9">allege the FBI targeted them for surveillance because of their religion</a>.Decisions in the most of the big cases won’t come before spring because the justices typically spend months drafting and revising majority opinions and dissents.Around then, Breyer might signal whether he is planning to retire from a job he has held since 1994. Retirement announcements often come in the spring, to give the president and the Senate enough time to choose and confirm a nominee before the court returns from its summer break and begins hearing cases again in October.The consequences of Ginsburg’s decision to remain on the court through Barack Obama’s presidency and her death while Trump was in the White House can’t be lost on Breyer, said Tom Goldstein, the founder of the Scotusblog website and a frequent advocate before the court.“It’s overwhelmingly likely he’ll retire this term,” Goldstein said.The courthouse still is closed to the public, but live audio of the court’s arguments will be available and reporters who regularly cover the court will be in attendance. The tradition-bound court first provided live audio in May 2020, when the court began hearing arguments by telephone during the pandemic.<a href="https://apnews.com/5c24ffb572dd34a8b24f226fc2211b7a">Justice Brett Kavanaugh</a>&nbsp;will participate remotely from his home next week during oral arguments after testing positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated. The court said Friday that the 54-year-old justice has no symptoms.___

Abortion, guns, religion: Big Supreme Court term begins

As kids get adjusted to the return to school, many may struggle 
with new routines or difficult material. Many parents turn to a tutor to
 help keep kids motivated and learning. Hiring a tutor for your child is
 a great way to help them with a subject in which they struggle, ensure 
that they’re staying on top of their curriculum, or prepare them for an 
assessment.

When looking for a tutor, however, it can be difficult to know where 
to start. There are many different options out there: from frequency and
 subject matter to types of tutoring businesses. The following BBB tips 
will help find the best option for your child:

<a href="https://www.bbb.org/near-me/tutoring" target="_blank">Find a tutor near you.</a>

Look for businesses that adhere to the <a href="https://www.bbb.org/standards-for-trust">BBB Standards for Trust</a>. Read more about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbb.org/bbb-accreditation-standards">BBB's Accreditation Standards</a>.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.bbb.org/local-bbb/golden-gate-better-business-bureau" target="_blank">BBB serving the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern Coastal California</a>&nbsp; and <a href="https://www.bbb.org/local-bbb/bbb-serving-wisconsin" target="_blank">BBB serving Wisconsin</a> contributed to this article.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/10/1633364247969.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Better Business BureauAs kids get adjusted to the return to school, many may struggle 
with new routines or difficult material. Many parents turn to a tutor to
 help keep kids motivated and learning. Hiring a tutor for your child is
 a great way to help them with a subject in which they struggle, ensure 
that they’re staying on top of their curriculum, or prepare them for an 
assessment.When looking for a tutor, however, it can be difficult to know where 
to start. There are many different options out there: from frequency and
 subject matter to types of tutoring businesses. The following BBB tips 
will help find the best option for your child:<ul>
 <li>Know your options. There are many types of tutoring 
services: in-home one-on-one sessions, small group lessons, online 
instruction, and tutoring centers. You also have to choose between 
hiring an individual freelance tutor, and going through a tutoring 
company that will match you to a tutor. If you’re looking for a 
business, make sure to check&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbb.org/near-me/tutoring" target="_blank">BBB.org</a>. There you can see a business’ BBB Rating, complaint history and reviews from past customers. You can also use the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbb.org/search" target="_blank">BBB Directory</a>&nbsp;to find a trustworthy company.
</li><li>Ask for referrals. Asking friends and family if they
 have any recommendations is a great place to start. Consider asking 
your child’s favorite teacher, or other school employees for referrals. 
Make sure the tutor is knowledgeable in the specific area your child 
needs help in and has experience working with students your child’s age.
</li><li>Check references. You should ask the individual 
tutor or tutoring service for references, and contact them. It’s best to
 speak to at least three references. Ask about their experience with the
 tutor and what sort of results they saw. Is the tutor dependable? 
Friendly? Knowledgeable? When you’re interviewing potential tutors, make
 sure they understand what you’re looking for. Some tutors are better at
 homework help, some are better at long-term lessons, and some are 
better at quick test preparation. See what your tutor is used to doing, 
and examine if that’s what your child needs.
</li><li>Discuss the details. Don’t be afraid to ask 
questions! Make sure to talk about availability - when is the tutor free
 and how flexible are they? Having a consistent schedule is best, but 
additional sessions may be required if a big test is coming up. It’s 
important to discuss pricing before hiring a tutor. Price will depend on
 the level of experience of the tutor, frequency and type of sessions, 
and whether or not you’re going through a center. It’s also a good idea 
to talk to the tutor about benchmarks of success beforehand. Communicate
 the goals ahead of time and how they will be measured.
</li><li>Include your child. The most important factor to 
consider is your child’s comfort with the tutor. Make sure to include 
your child in the hiring process. Throughout the process, ask your child
 how they think the sessions are improving their school work. If your 
child is not comfortable with or doesn’t like a tutor, it can have a big
 impact on the session’s effectiveness. If a change needs to be made, 
don’t be afraid to find a different one.
</li><li>Find a qualified <a href="https://www.bbb.org/near-me/tutoring" target="_blank">tutor near you</a> in the BBB directory.&nbsp;Private tutors and tutoring companies promise to boost children's competence, but research before hiring.&nbsp;</li>
 </ul><a href="https://www.bbb.org/near-me/tutoring" target="_blank">Find a tutor near you.</a>Look for businesses that adhere to the <a href="https://www.bbb.org/standards-for-trust">BBB Standards for Trust</a>. Read more about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbb.org/bbb-accreditation-standards">BBB's Accreditation Standards</a>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbb.org/local-bbb/golden-gate-better-business-bureau" target="_blank">BBB serving the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern Coastal California</a>&nbsp; and <a href="https://www.bbb.org/local-bbb/bbb-serving-wisconsin" target="_blank">BBB serving Wisconsin</a> contributed to this article.&nbsp;Cover photo courtesy Unsplash

Child struggling in school? Tips on hiring the right tutor

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced that 18 new self-study seminars are available through the <a href="https://irstaxforumsonline.com/">IRS Nationwide Tax Forums Online</a>.

Tax professionals – CPAs, enrolled agents, Annual Filing Season 
Program participants and others – can earn continuing education for $29 
per credit.

The new seminars were recorded in July and August at the 2021 IRS Nationwide Tax Forum.

2021 Nationwide Tax Forums Online course listing

These 18 courses are now available in addition to 37 sessions from previous years that are also available for credit.

Information on continuing education credits

The Nationwide Tax Forums Online is a qualified sponsor of continuing
 education registered with the IRS Return Preparer Office (RPO) and the 
National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA).

To earn credit, tax pros need to create an account, answer review questions throughout the seminar and pass a short test.

The online seminars can be reviewed for free. Individuals who choose 
this option will not have access to the review questions or final 
examination and will not receive credit.

For more information, visit <a href="https://irstaxforumsonline.com/">IRS Nationwide Tax Forums Online</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRSWASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced that 18 new self-study seminars are available through the <a href="https://irstaxforumsonline.com/">IRS Nationwide Tax Forums Online</a>.Tax professionals – CPAs, enrolled agents, Annual Filing Season 
Program participants and others – can earn continuing education for $29 
per credit.The new seminars were recorded in July and August at the 2021 IRS Nationwide Tax Forum.<h2>2021 Nationwide Tax Forums Online course listing</h2><ol>
 <li>Advocating for Taxpayers in Order to Avoid Abusive Tax Schemes</li><li>Be Tax Ready – Understanding Rules for Due Diligence and the Child 
Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit Under the American Rescue Plan 
Act of 2021</li><li>Charities &amp; Tax-Exempt Organizations Update</li><li>Closer Look at the IRS Independent Office of Appeals</li><li>Collection Flexibilities During Difficult Economic Times</li><li>Common Issues Presented to OPR and Best Practices to Address Them</li><li>Determining an Individual's Tax Residency Status</li><li>e-Services and You</li><li>Gig Economy</li><li>&nbsp;Helping You and Your Clients Steer Clear of Fraud and Scams</li><li>&nbsp;Key Enforcement Issues</li><li>Keynote Address</li><li>Keys to Mastering Due Diligence Requirements and What to Expect During a Due Diligence Audit</li><li>&nbsp;Overview of Taxpayer Civil Rights</li><li>&nbsp;Professional Responsibility Obligations when Practicing before the IRS:&nbsp;OPR and Circular 230</li><li>&nbsp;Retirement Plans - IRS Compliance Initiatives</li><li>&nbsp;Tax Law Changes from a Forms Perspective</li><li>&nbsp;Virtual Currency</li>
 </ol>These 18 courses are now available in addition to 37 sessions from previous years that are also available for credit.<h2>Information on continuing education credits</h2>The Nationwide Tax Forums Online is a qualified sponsor of continuing
 education registered with the IRS Return Preparer Office (RPO) and the 
National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA).To earn credit, tax pros need to create an account, answer review questions throughout the seminar and pass a short test.The online seminars can be reviewed for free. Individuals who choose 
this option will not have access to the review questions or final 
examination and will not receive credit.For more information, visit <a href="https://irstaxforumsonline.com/">IRS Nationwide Tax Forums Online</a>.

IRS rolls out series of online training seminars on tax policy

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Saturday acknowledged frustrations as Democrats strain to rescue a scaled-back version&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-bills-11f832cdc6f9808bdc0cfdcfe399a0a6">of his $3.5 trillion government-overhaul plan</a>&nbsp;and salvage a related public works bill after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-financial-markets-nancy-pelosi-3b591443b048d2fbfb7a9f9b6f646f7a">frantic negotiations</a>&nbsp;failed to produce a deal.

“Everybody’s frustrated, it’s part of being in government, being frustrated,” Biden told reporters before leaving the White House for a weekend stay at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. He pledged to ”work like hell” to get the two pillars of his domestic agenda passed into law, but refrained from laying out a new deadline.

The president had gone to Capitol Hill on Friday for a private meeting with House Democrats that was partly a morale booster for the disjointed caucus of lawmakers. According to lawmakers in the room, he discussed a $1.9 trillion to $2 trillion-plus price tag for the larger package that would expand the country’s social safety net.

The White House and its allies in Congress are prepared for protracted negotiations. Biden said he would soon travel around the country to promote the legislation and he acknowledged concerns that the talk in Washington had become too focused on the trillions in new spending and taxes in the bill.

He pledged to do more to educate the public about the plan’s new and expanded programs, which he contended have the support of the vast majority of the electorate.

“I’m going to try to sell what I think the American people will buy,” Biden said Saturday, adding, “I believe that when the American people are aware of what’s in it we’ll get it done.”

The president said he believed the legislation will be signed into law with “plenty of time to change the tax code for people next year.”

It’s a pivotal time for Biden and the party. His approval ratings have dropped and Democrats are restless, eager to deliver on his signature campaign promise of rebuilding the country. His ideas go beyond roads-and-bridges infrastructure to delivering dental, vision and hearing care for seniors, free prekindergarten, major efforts to tackle climate change and other investments that would touch countless American lives.

Holdout Democratic&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-manchin">Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia</a>&nbsp;had dashed hopes for a swift compromise on a framework when he refused to budge late Thursday on his demands for a smaller overall package, about $1.5 trillion.

Without a broader deal, prospects for a vote on the companion public works bill stalled out as progressives refused to commit until senators reached agreement. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told colleagues that “more time is needed” as they shape the broader package.

The House on Friday night passed a 30-day measure to keep transportation programs running during the stalemate, essentially setting a new deadline for talks, Oct. 31. The Senate approved it without debate during a brief Saturday session, to halt the furloughs of more than 3,500 federal transportation workers, a byproduct of the political impasse. Biden signed it by evening.

Pelosi, keeping her promise to centrists, had insisted earlier Friday that there would be a “vote today” on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that is popular but is snared in the debate over Biden’s broader measure. But with Democratic progressives refusing to give their support for that slimmer roads-and-bridges bill unless advances were made on the president’s big bill, Pelosi was unwilling to call for a vote.

“Out of respect for our colleagues who support the bills and out of recognition for the need for both,” Pelosi said in a letter Saturday to House Democrats that she would not bring the smaller measure “to the floor to fail.”

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, a key centrist Democrat who helped steer the public works bill to Senate passage but has concerns that Biden’s overall bill is too big, was dismayed by the delay on the bipartisan package negotiated with the president.

In a statement Saturday, she said the canceled vote was “inexcusable, and deeply disappointing” and “erodes” the trust needed for “good-faith negotiations.”

With Republicans solidly opposed to Biden’s sweeping vision, the president and Democrats are reaching for a giant legislative accomplishment on their own — all to be paid for by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-joe-biden-business-personal-taxes-137e00b41f113f85cc241438c780785b">rewriting federal balance sheets&nbsp;</a>with tax increases on corporations and the wealthy, those earning more than $400,000 a year.

The larger of Biden’s proposals is a years-in-the-making collection of Democratic priorities with an ultimate&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-congress-budget-08d7ca3ffc7f438148570b04bc61ded0">price tag he says is zero</a>, because the tax revenue would cover the spending costs.

“We will and must pass both bills soon,” Pelosi said in her letter. “We have the responsibility and the opportunity to do so. People are waiting and want results.”

The White House and Democrats also are focusing on raising the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/debt-limit-explained-8c9cbcd3d0c4a8fe989a0110f5159f7c">nation’s borrowing limit</a>&nbsp;before the United States risks defaulting on its obligations — a deadline the Treasury Department estimates will be reached no later than Oct. 18. The House has already acted, but Republicans senators have indicated they will not provide votes for bipartisan passage and want Democrats to go it alone.

“I hope that the Republicans won’t be so irresponsible as to refuse to raise the debt limit and to filibuster the debt limit,” Biden said Saturday. “That would be totally unconscionable. Never been done before. And so I hope that won’t happen.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Saturday acknowledged frustrations as Democrats strain to rescue a scaled-back version&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-bills-11f832cdc6f9808bdc0cfdcfe399a0a6">of his $3.5 trillion government-overhaul plan</a>&nbsp;and salvage a related public works bill after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-financial-markets-nancy-pelosi-3b591443b048d2fbfb7a9f9b6f646f7a">frantic negotiations</a>&nbsp;failed to produce a deal.“Everybody’s frustrated, it’s part of being in government, being frustrated,” Biden told reporters before leaving the White House for a weekend stay at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. He pledged to ”work like hell” to get the two pillars of his domestic agenda passed into law, but refrained from laying out a new deadline.The president had gone to Capitol Hill on Friday for a private meeting with House Democrats that was partly a morale booster for the disjointed caucus of lawmakers. According to lawmakers in the room, he discussed a $1.9 trillion to $2 trillion-plus price tag for the larger package that would expand the country’s social safety net.The White House and its allies in Congress are prepared for protracted negotiations. Biden said he would soon travel around the country to promote the legislation and he acknowledged concerns that the talk in Washington had become too focused on the trillions in new spending and taxes in the bill.He pledged to do more to educate the public about the plan’s new and expanded programs, which he contended have the support of the vast majority of the electorate.“I’m going to try to sell what I think the American people will buy,” Biden said Saturday, adding, “I believe that when the American people are aware of what’s in it we’ll get it done.”The president said he believed the legislation will be signed into law with “plenty of time to change the tax code for people next year.”It’s a pivotal time for Biden and the party. His approval ratings have dropped and Democrats are restless, eager to deliver on his signature campaign promise of rebuilding the country. His ideas go beyond roads-and-bridges infrastructure to delivering dental, vision and hearing care for seniors, free prekindergarten, major efforts to tackle climate change and other investments that would touch countless American lives.Holdout Democratic&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-manchin">Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia</a>&nbsp;had dashed hopes for a swift compromise on a framework when he refused to budge late Thursday on his demands for a smaller overall package, about $1.5 trillion.Without a broader deal, prospects for a vote on the companion public works bill stalled out as progressives refused to commit until senators reached agreement. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told colleagues that “more time is needed” as they shape the broader package.The House on Friday night passed a 30-day measure to keep transportation programs running during the stalemate, essentially setting a new deadline for talks, Oct. 31. The Senate approved it without debate during a brief Saturday session, to halt the furloughs of more than 3,500 federal transportation workers, a byproduct of the political impasse. Biden signed it by evening.Pelosi, keeping her promise to centrists, had insisted earlier Friday that there would be a “vote today” on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that is popular but is snared in the debate over Biden’s broader measure. But with Democratic progressives refusing to give their support for that slimmer roads-and-bridges bill unless advances were made on the president’s big bill, Pelosi was unwilling to call for a vote.“Out of respect for our colleagues who support the bills and out of recognition for the need for both,” Pelosi said in a letter Saturday to House Democrats that she would not bring the smaller measure “to the floor to fail.”Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, a key centrist Democrat who helped steer the public works bill to Senate passage but has concerns that Biden’s overall bill is too big, was dismayed by the delay on the bipartisan package negotiated with the president.In a statement Saturday, she said the canceled vote was “inexcusable, and deeply disappointing” and “erodes” the trust needed for “good-faith negotiations.”With Republicans solidly opposed to Biden’s sweeping vision, the president and Democrats are reaching for a giant legislative accomplishment on their own — all to be paid for by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-joe-biden-business-personal-taxes-137e00b41f113f85cc241438c780785b">rewriting federal balance sheets&nbsp;</a>with tax increases on corporations and the wealthy, those earning more than $400,000 a year.The larger of Biden’s proposals is a years-in-the-making collection of Democratic priorities with an ultimate&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-congress-budget-08d7ca3ffc7f438148570b04bc61ded0">price tag he says is zero</a>, because the tax revenue would cover the spending costs.“We will and must pass both bills soon,” Pelosi said in her letter. “We have the responsibility and the opportunity to do so. People are waiting and want results.”The White House and Democrats also are focusing on raising the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/debt-limit-explained-8c9cbcd3d0c4a8fe989a0110f5159f7c">nation’s borrowing limit</a>&nbsp;before the United States risks defaulting on its obligations — a deadline the Treasury Department estimates will be reached no later than Oct. 18. The House has already acted, but Republicans senators have indicated they will not provide votes for bipartisan passage and want Democrats to go it alone.“I hope that the Republicans won’t be so irresponsible as to refuse to raise the debt limit and to filibuster the debt limit,” Biden said Saturday. “That would be totally unconscionable. Never been done before. And so I hope that won’t happen.”

'Everybody is frustrated,' Biden says as his agenda stalls

GREELEY COUNTY, Kan.—Authorities investigating a fatal Kansas crash that occurred just after 5p.m. Wednesday in Greeley County, Kansas have identified the victims.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2013 Chevy Silverado driven by&nbsp;:&nbsp; Robert Michael Vogt, 61, Tribune, Kansas, was northbound on County Road 14 just north of Road F

The Silverado and a southbound 2015 Mercury Mountaineer driven by Joshua Delene Sailor, 48, Bismark, North Dakota, collided head-on.&nbsp;

Vogt, Sailor and passengers in the Mercury identified as Joshua Jamie James Sailor, Jr., 20, Ramsey, North Dakota, and&nbsp; Jessie Renee Mason, 38, St. Michael, North Dakota, all died in the crash.&nbsp; None of of those involved were wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.

GREELEY COUNTY, Kan.—Authorities investigating a fatal Kansas crash that occurred just after 5p.m. Wednesday in Greeley County, Kansas have identified the victims.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2013 Chevy Silverado driven by&nbsp;:&nbsp; Robert Michael Vogt, 61, Tribune, Kansas, was northbound on County Road 14 just north of Road FThe Silverado and a southbound 2015 Mercury Mountaineer driven by Joshua Delene Sailor, 48, Bismark, North Dakota, collided head-on.&nbsp;Vogt, Sailor and passengers in the Mercury identified as Joshua Jamie James Sailor, Jr., 20, Ramsey, North Dakota, and&nbsp; Jessie Renee Mason, 38, St. Michael, North Dakota, all died in the crash.&nbsp; None of of those involved were wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.

KHP IDs 3 from North Dakota among 4 dead in head-on crash

The Federal Trade Commission is returning more than $1.1 million to consumers who paid for an allegedly bogus money-making opportunity that called itself “8 Figure Dream Lifestyle.”<a href="https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/federal.trade.commission/viz/Refunds_15797958402020/RefundsbyCase"></a>

The <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2019/06/ftc-law-enforcement-partners-announce-new-crackdown-illegal">FTC sued 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle LLC</a>
 and nine co-defendants in 2019 as part of a crackdown on robocallers 
across the country. In its complaint, the FTC alleged that the 
defendants used a combination of illegal robocalls, live telephone 
calls, text messaging, internet ads, emails, social media, and live 
events to market and sell consumers fraudulent money-making 
opportunities.

According to the FTC’s lawsuit, the defendants consistently made 
false or unsubstantiated claims in their marketing about how much 
consumers could earn using their programs. In reality, the lawsuit says,
 consumers who bought the programs rarely earned substantial income, 
typically lost their entire investment, and often incurred significant 
loans and credit card debt—tens of thousands of dollars, in some cases.

Under two stipulated court orders, the defendants <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2020/12/scammers-leverage-pandemic-fears-ftc-law-enforcement-partners">agreed to settle the FTC charges last year</a>.
 As a result, they are banned from selling money-making or business 
coaching programs, and nine of the defendants are banned from using 
robocalls for most purposes, including marketing or advertising. In 
addition, three defendants are banned from selling any investment 
opportunities. The defendants also surrendered funds to the FTC, which 
the agency is using to provide these refund payments to consumers.

Payments averaging $460 will be sent to 2,506 consumers, including 
1,498 checks and 1,008 PayPal payments. People who receive checks should
 deposit or cash them within 90 days, as indicated on the check. 
Recipients who have questions about their checks or the refund program 
can call JND Legal Administration at 1-888-691-3551. The FTC never 
requires people to pay money or provide account information to cash a 
refund check.

The FTC’s <a href="https://public.tableau.com/profile/federal.trade.commission#!/vizhome/Refunds_15797958402020/RefundsbyCase">interactive dashboards for refund data(link is external)</a>
 provide a state-by-state breakdown of FTC refunds. In 2020, FTC actions
 led to more than $483 million in refunds to consumers across the 
country, but the United States Supreme Court ruled earlier this year 
that the FTC lacks authority under Section 13(b) to seek monetary relief
 in federal court going forward. The <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/04/ftc-asks-congress-pass-legislation-reviving-agencys-authority">Commission has urged Congress</a> to restore the FTC’s ability to get money back for consumers.

The FTC’s <a href="https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/federal.trade.commission/viz/Refunds_15797958402020/RefundsbyCase">interactive dashboards for refund data(link is external)</a>
 provide a state-by-state breakdown of FTC refunds. In 2020, FTC actions
 led to more than $483 million in refunds to consumers across the 
country, but recently the United States Supreme Court ruled the FTC 
lacks authority under Section 13(b) to seek monetary relief in federal 
court going forward. The <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/04/ftc-asks-congress-pass-legislation-reviving-agencys-authority">Commission has urged Congress</a> to restore the FTC’s ability to get money back for consumers.

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and to <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/bureaus-offices/bureau-consumer-protection">protect and educate consumers</a>. You can <a href="https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/">learn more about consumer topics</a> and file a <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/complaint">consumer complaint online</a> or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357).&nbsp;For the latest news and resources, <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/social-media">follow the FTC on social media</a>, <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/stay-connected">subscribe to press releases</a> and read our <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs">blogs</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1619632629588.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>FTCThe Federal Trade Commission is returning more than $1.1 million to consumers who paid for an allegedly bogus money-making opportunity that called itself “8 Figure Dream Lifestyle.”<a href="https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/federal.trade.commission/viz/Refunds_15797958402020/RefundsbyCase"></a>The <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2019/06/ftc-law-enforcement-partners-announce-new-crackdown-illegal">FTC sued 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle LLC</a>
 and nine co-defendants in 2019 as part of a crackdown on robocallers 
across the country. In its complaint, the FTC alleged that the 
defendants used a combination of illegal robocalls, live telephone 
calls, text messaging, internet ads, emails, social media, and live 
events to market and sell consumers fraudulent money-making 
opportunities.According to the FTC’s lawsuit, the defendants consistently made 
false or unsubstantiated claims in their marketing about how much 
consumers could earn using their programs. In reality, the lawsuit says,
 consumers who bought the programs rarely earned substantial income, 
typically lost their entire investment, and often incurred significant 
loans and credit card debt—tens of thousands of dollars, in some cases.Under two stipulated court orders, the defendants <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2020/12/scammers-leverage-pandemic-fears-ftc-law-enforcement-partners">agreed to settle the FTC charges last year</a>.
 As a result, they are banned from selling money-making or business 
coaching programs, and nine of the defendants are banned from using 
robocalls for most purposes, including marketing or advertising. In 
addition, three defendants are banned from selling any investment 
opportunities. The defendants also surrendered funds to the FTC, which 
the agency is using to provide these refund payments to consumers.Payments averaging $460 will be sent to 2,506 consumers, including 
1,498 checks and 1,008 PayPal payments. People who receive checks should
 deposit or cash them within 90 days, as indicated on the check. 
Recipients who have questions about their checks or the refund program 
can call JND Legal Administration at 1-888-691-3551. The FTC never 
requires people to pay money or provide account information to cash a 
refund check.The FTC’s <a href="https://public.tableau.com/profile/federal.trade.commission#!/vizhome/Refunds_15797958402020/RefundsbyCase">interactive dashboards for refund data(link is external)</a>
 provide a state-by-state breakdown of FTC refunds. In 2020, FTC actions
 led to more than $483 million in refunds to consumers across the 
country, but the United States Supreme Court ruled earlier this year 
that the FTC lacks authority under Section 13(b) to seek monetary relief
 in federal court going forward. The <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/04/ftc-asks-congress-pass-legislation-reviving-agencys-authority">Commission has urged Congress</a> to restore the FTC’s ability to get money back for consumers.The FTC’s <a href="https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/federal.trade.commission/viz/Refunds_15797958402020/RefundsbyCase">interactive dashboards for refund data(link is external)</a>
 provide a state-by-state breakdown of FTC refunds. In 2020, FTC actions
 led to more than $483 million in refunds to consumers across the 
country, but recently the United States Supreme Court ruled the FTC 
lacks authority under Section 13(b) to seek monetary relief in federal 
court going forward. The <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/04/ftc-asks-congress-pass-legislation-reviving-agencys-authority">Commission has urged Congress</a> to restore the FTC’s ability to get money back for consumers.The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and to <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/bureaus-offices/bureau-consumer-protection">protect and educate consumers</a>. You can <a href="https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/">learn more about consumer topics</a> and file a <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/complaint">consumer complaint online</a> or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357).&nbsp;For the latest news and resources, <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/social-media">follow the FTC on social media</a>, <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/stay-connected">subscribe to press releases</a> and read our <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs">blogs</a>.

FTC: $1.1M returned to alleged victims of '8 Figure Dream Lifestyle' 

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has asked a federal judge in Florida to force Twitter to restore his account, which the company&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-media-michael-flynn-social-media-f41b11060d7703e3a3136ddb5eefa055">suspended in January</a>&nbsp;following the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol.

Trump’s attorneys on Friday filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Miami seeking a preliminary injunction against Twitter and its CEO, Jack Dorsey. They argue that Twitter is censoring Trump in violation of his First Amendment rights, according to the motion.

Twitter declined to comment Saturday on Trump’s filing.

The company permanently&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2020/suspension" target="_blank">banned Trump</a>&nbsp;from its platform days after his followers violently stormed the Capitol building to try to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential win. Twitter cited concerns that Trump would incite further violence. Prior to the ban, Trump had roughly 89 million followers on Twitter.

Trump was also suspended from&nbsp;<a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2021/06/facebook-response-to-oversight-board-recommendations-trump/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>&nbsp;and Google’s YouTube over similar concerns that he would provoke violence. Facebook’s ban will last two years, until Jan. 7, 2023, after which the company will review his suspension. YouTube’s ban is indefinite.

In July, Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lawsuits-business-government-and-politics-c7e26858dcb553f92d98706d12ad510c">filed lawsuits</a>&nbsp;in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against all three tech companies and their CEOs, claiming that he and other conservatives have been wrongfully censored. The motion for a preliminary injunction was filed as part of Trump’s case against Twitter.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610197339702.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has asked a federal judge in Florida to force Twitter to restore his account, which the company&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-media-michael-flynn-social-media-f41b11060d7703e3a3136ddb5eefa055">suspended in January</a>&nbsp;following the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol.Trump’s attorneys on Friday filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Miami seeking a preliminary injunction against Twitter and its CEO, Jack Dorsey. They argue that Twitter is censoring Trump in violation of his First Amendment rights, according to the motion.Twitter declined to comment Saturday on Trump’s filing.The company permanently&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2020/suspension" target="_blank">banned Trump</a>&nbsp;from its platform days after his followers violently stormed the Capitol building to try to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential win. Twitter cited concerns that Trump would incite further violence. Prior to the ban, Trump had roughly 89 million followers on Twitter.Trump was also suspended from&nbsp;<a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2021/06/facebook-response-to-oversight-board-recommendations-trump/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>&nbsp;and Google’s YouTube over similar concerns that he would provoke violence. Facebook’s ban will last two years, until Jan. 7, 2023, after which the company will review his suspension. YouTube’s ban is indefinite.In July, Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lawsuits-business-government-and-politics-c7e26858dcb553f92d98706d12ad510c">filed lawsuits</a>&nbsp;in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against all three tech companies and their CEOs, claiming that he and other conservatives have been wrongfully censored. The motion for a preliminary injunction was filed as part of Trump’s case against Twitter.

Trump asks US judge to force Twitter to restore his account

By STEVE VOCKRODT and DANIEL WHEATON <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-09-28/midwesterners-are-breathing-smoky-air-from-california-wildfires-new-research-shows">Kansas News Service</a>

Blood-red sunsets in the Midwest are striking but ominous 
illustrations of new data: Parts of the Midwest are being exposed to 
more wildfire smoke from the West Coast and Canada compared to more than
 a decade ago. Experts say the impact of the smoke on health in the 
region is a concern.

Meteorological patterns — weather, air 
currents, fronts — sweep wildfire smoke hundreds of miles across the 
country. Nowhere in the Midwest is this increased exposure to wildfire 
smoke more pronounced than in western Nebraska.

Take the case of 
Scottsbluff, a city of about 15,000 in Nebraska’s panhandle. From 2016 
to 2020, residents of Scottsbluff breathed smoke 52 days a year on 
average. That’s a 45% increase from just a few years earlier, 2009 to 
2013, when California wildfires were less common.

On Sept. 17, 
2020, Scottsbluff exceeded the concentration of the Environmental 
Protection Agency’s (EPA) air quality standards for particulate matter —
 tiny pieces of debris from smoke and combustion that’s suspended in the
 air. That was a result of smoke sweeping into western Nebraska from 
wildfires in the western U.S.

Western and central Kansas also saw meaningful increases in smoke days, according to a data <a href="https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/kcrw-features/smoke-story" target="_blank">analysis conducted by NPR California Newsroom</a> and the Stanford University Environmental Change and Human Outcomes Lab.

“Although
 we see variability from year to year, the trend appears to be 
increasing impacts of smoke across Kansas over the last several years,” 
said Matt Lara, a spokesman with the Kansas Department of Health and 
Environment in an email.

Lara said the effect from smoke may be mostly in the upper 
atmosphere, causing hazy skies and dramatic sunsets. He added that 
sometimes, such as late July and early August this year, federal air 
standards for daily particulate matter are exceeded.

Health
 and meteorology experts say the growing presence of wildfire smoke in 
parts of Kansas and Nebraska could pose health risks to those who 
breathe it in. That concern is compounded, given the likelihood that 
vast and intense fires from California and surrounding areas will 
persist.

“All the science — and there’s a lot of science on this —
 suggests if we don’t change our game on this, people should expect this
 to get worse,” said Marshall Burke, associate professor in Stanford 
University’s Department of Earth System Science, who helped NPR’s 
California Newsroom assemble its smoke data. “It’s going to be worse in 
the West, but it’s certainly going to get worse in the Midwest as well 
as more people are exposed to smoke from fires in the West.”

The analysis relied on satellite images captured every few hours by 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that showed 
plumes of smoke billowing into the atmosphere from western wildfires. 
Those images were then plotted over nearly every zip code across the 
continental United States to show the areas where the wildfire smoke 
reaches.

In California and more broadly along the West Coast, the 
growing frequency and intensity of wildfire pose clear air quality and 
health risks.

The NPR California Newsroom analysis also examined 
data from state health facilities and found there were 30,000 more 
hospitalizations from cardiac and respiratory conditions in 2018, then a
 record year for wildfires, than just two years before.

Shawn 
Jacobs, the warning coordination meteorologist at the North Platte 
National Weather Service office, said that the climate in central and 
western Nebraska may play a role in how smoke is distributed in the 
region. The state’s climate becomes more arid west of Kearney, Nebraska,
 and the lack of moisture allows for greater temperature swings. More 
fluctuation means more movement, preventing the smoke from settling, 
Jacobs said. These trends are being noticed by western Nebraskans.

“So
 much so that there are times when people have called us and asked, ‘Is 
there a fire nearby?’ because we’re seeing this smoke,” Jacobs said.

Colleen
 Reid, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Colorado
 who studies the health impacts of wildfire smoke, said the health 
effects are clear when there are high concentrations of smoke in the 
air.

That risk arises from tiny particles that are so small they 
get deep into the lungs of those who breathe it in and some can pass 
into the bloodstream.

The particulate matter can lead to asthma, cardiovascular problems and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

“In
 terms of the Midwest where you’re getting the smoke transmitted long 
distances, there needs to be more research to understand whether the 
long-range transport changes the way it affects health,” Reid said.

Iowa and Missouri have not experienced the type of increase in smoke days seen in Kansas and Nebraska.

That’s
 not to say that there hasn’t been wildfire smoke over Iowa and 
Missouri. In Iowa, there are on average 57 smoke days a year from 2016 
to 2020, about even from the 2009 to 2013 time period. In Missouri, the 
average number of smoke days a year actually dropped slightly, from 52 
in the initial period to 51 from 2016 to 2020.

Wide swaths of 
northwest Missouri had modest increases in exposure to smoke, but many 
areas of the state — including St. Louis and most of St. Louis County — 
had decreases in smoke days during the two periods analyzed by the NPR 
California Newsroom and Stanford.

Iowa’s western edge, particularly in border cities like Mondamin and 
Blencoe, saw an increase in smoke days between 7% and 12% from the 
2009-2013 time period and 2016-2020.

But further east, in cities like Ames and most of Des Moines, saw decreases in smoke days.

The presence of wildfire smoke does not often exceed EPA standards 
for air quality in the Midwest, and it has never been enough to result 
in a violation of the Clean Air Act's National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards. Even so, EPA officials keep an eye on wildfire smoke 
migrating from the west to the Midwest.

“It is something that is 
on our radar; it’s a concern,” said Lance Avey, an air and radiation 
division meteorologist for the EPA’s Region 7, which covers Kansas, 
Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri.

Doug Norsby, air quality planner with
 the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), said that while the occurrence
 of poor air quality days in the Kansas City region from wildfire smoke 
are infrequent, the presence of particulate matter from smoke is an 
issue that has captured the organization’s attention.

“I would say it’s a flashing warning light on our mental dashboard,” said Norsby.

In
 early August, MARC warned Kansas City residents to limit outdoor 
activity. That’s after wildfire smoke from Canada swept into the region.

The
 EPA is currently evaluating particulate matter from wildfire smoke and 
other sources to determine whether it should change its air quality 
standards. That review happens every five years.

Experts said two main 
causes have triggered the increase in wildfires along the West Coast, 
Canada and the Rockies. One is the tendency to extinguish small fires 
that, if allowed to burn, would clear acres of leaf litter and dead 
wood. Without those smaller fires, dry leaves and wood ignites and leads
 to the more intense and out-of-control fires that have plagued 
California and other western states in recent years.

“The <a href="https://smokeybear.com/" target="_blank">Smokey The Bear</a>
 campaign has been really successful,” said Marshall Burke, associate 
professor in Stanford University’s Department of Earth System Science. 
“What do we do when a fire starts? We put them out.”

In much of the Southeastern United States, where academic research shows prescribed burns are <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/2/2/30/htm?dom=prime&amp;src=syn" target="_blank">far more common</a>, NPR California Newsroom’s investigation shows a substantial decline in wildfire smoke over the past decade.

Burke
 said California should carry out prescribed burns — also known as 
controlled burns — on more than 1 million acres of land in California 
each year.

“We’re not doing anything close to that,” Burke said.

Reduced rainfall and rising temperatures from climate change also make for stronger wildfires.

Those blood-red sunsets are a telltale sign of smoke in the air.

Eric James, a University of Colorado scientist working at NOAA's Global Systems Lab, said
 large fires from the west pump smoke into the upper atmosphere that 
enters the jet stream and can travel across the continental United 
States.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632930612817.png" alt="Wildfires in California are on the rise. Now a new investigation shows how those blazes are affecting the air in the Midwest. Crysta Henthorne / KCUR 89.3" />
 <figcaption>Wildfires in California are on the rise. Now a new investigation shows how those blazes are affecting the air in the Midwest. Crysta Henthorne / KCUR 89.3</figcaption>
 </figure>By STEVE VOCKRODT and DANIEL WHEATON <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-09-28/midwesterners-are-breathing-smoky-air-from-california-wildfires-new-research-shows">Kansas News Service</a>Blood-red sunsets in the Midwest are striking but ominous 
illustrations of new data: Parts of the Midwest are being exposed to 
more wildfire smoke from the West Coast and Canada compared to more than
 a decade ago. Experts say the impact of the smoke on health in the 
region is a concern.Meteorological patterns — weather, air 
currents, fronts — sweep wildfire smoke hundreds of miles across the 
country. Nowhere in the Midwest is this increased exposure to wildfire 
smoke more pronounced than in western Nebraska.Take the case of 
Scottsbluff, a city of about 15,000 in Nebraska’s panhandle. From 2016 
to 2020, residents of Scottsbluff breathed smoke 52 days a year on 
average. That’s a 45% increase from just a few years earlier, 2009 to 
2013, when California wildfires were less common.On Sept. 17, 
2020, Scottsbluff exceeded the concentration of the Environmental 
Protection Agency’s (EPA) air quality standards for particulate matter —
 tiny pieces of debris from smoke and combustion that’s suspended in the
 air. That was a result of smoke sweeping into western Nebraska from 
wildfires in the western U.S.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632930839522.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Western and central Kansas also saw meaningful increases in smoke days, according to a data <a href="https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/kcrw-features/smoke-story" target="_blank">analysis conducted by NPR California Newsroom</a> and the Stanford University Environmental Change and Human Outcomes Lab.“Although
 we see variability from year to year, the trend appears to be 
increasing impacts of smoke across Kansas over the last several years,” 
said Matt Lara, a spokesman with the Kansas Department of Health and 
Environment in an email.Lara said the effect from smoke may be mostly in the upper 
atmosphere, causing hazy skies and dramatic sunsets. He added that 
sometimes, such as late July and early August this year, federal air 
standards for daily particulate matter are exceeded. <h2>‘Expect this to get worse’</h2>Health
 and meteorology experts say the growing presence of wildfire smoke in 
parts of Kansas and Nebraska could pose health risks to those who 
breathe it in. That concern is compounded, given the likelihood that 
vast and intense fires from California and surrounding areas will 
persist.“All the science — and there’s a lot of science on this —
 suggests if we don’t change our game on this, people should expect this
 to get worse,” said Marshall Burke, associate professor in Stanford 
University’s Department of Earth System Science, who helped NPR’s 
California Newsroom assemble its smoke data. “It’s going to be worse in 
the West, but it’s certainly going to get worse in the Midwest as well 
as more people are exposed to smoke from fires in the West.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632930887221.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The analysis relied on satellite images captured every few hours by 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that showed 
plumes of smoke billowing into the atmosphere from western wildfires. 
Those images were then plotted over nearly every zip code across the 
continental United States to show the areas where the wildfire smoke 
reaches.In California and more broadly along the West Coast, the 
growing frequency and intensity of wildfire pose clear air quality and 
health risks.The NPR California Newsroom analysis also examined 
data from state health facilities and found there were 30,000 more 
hospitalizations from cardiac and respiratory conditions in 2018, then a
 record year for wildfires, than just two years before.Shawn 
Jacobs, the warning coordination meteorologist at the North Platte 
National Weather Service office, said that the climate in central and 
western Nebraska may play a role in how smoke is distributed in the 
region. The state’s climate becomes more arid west of Kearney, Nebraska,
 and the lack of moisture allows for greater temperature swings. More 
fluctuation means more movement, preventing the smoke from settling, 
Jacobs said. These trends are being noticed by western Nebraskans.“So
 much so that there are times when people have called us and asked, ‘Is 
there a fire nearby?’ because we’re seeing this smoke,” Jacobs said.Colleen
 Reid, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Colorado
 who studies the health impacts of wildfire smoke, said the health 
effects are clear when there are high concentrations of smoke in the 
air.That risk arises from tiny particles that are so small they 
get deep into the lungs of those who breathe it in and some can pass 
into the bloodstream.The particulate matter can lead to asthma, cardiovascular problems and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.“In
 terms of the Midwest where you’re getting the smoke transmitted long 
distances, there needs to be more research to understand whether the 
long-range transport changes the way it affects health,” Reid said.<h2>Where skies are clearer</h2>Iowa and Missouri have not experienced the type of increase in smoke days seen in Kansas and Nebraska.That’s
 not to say that there hasn’t been wildfire smoke over Iowa and 
Missouri. In Iowa, there are on average 57 smoke days a year from 2016 
to 2020, about even from the 2009 to 2013 time period. In Missouri, the 
average number of smoke days a year actually dropped slightly, from 52 
in the initial period to 51 from 2016 to 2020.Wide swaths of 
northwest Missouri had modest increases in exposure to smoke, but many 
areas of the state — including St. Louis and most of St. Louis County — 
had decreases in smoke days during the two periods analyzed by the NPR 
California Newsroom and Stanford.Iowa’s western edge, particularly in border cities like Mondamin and 
Blencoe, saw an increase in smoke days between 7% and 12% from the 
2009-2013 time period and 2016-2020.But further east, in cities like Ames and most of Des Moines, saw decreases in smoke days.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632930937321.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The presence of wildfire smoke does not often exceed EPA standards 
for air quality in the Midwest, and it has never been enough to result 
in a violation of the Clean Air Act's National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards. Even so, EPA officials keep an eye on wildfire smoke 
migrating from the west to the Midwest.“It is something that is 
on our radar; it’s a concern,” said Lance Avey, an air and radiation 
division meteorologist for the EPA’s Region 7, which covers Kansas, 
Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri.Doug Norsby, air quality planner with
 the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), said that while the occurrence
 of poor air quality days in the Kansas City region from wildfire smoke 
are infrequent, the presence of particulate matter from smoke is an 
issue that has captured the organization’s attention.“I would say it’s a flashing warning light on our mental dashboard,” said Norsby.In
 early August, MARC warned Kansas City residents to limit outdoor 
activity. That’s after wildfire smoke from Canada swept into the region.The
 EPA is currently evaluating particulate matter from wildfire smoke and 
other sources to determine whether it should change its air quality 
standards. That review happens every five years.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/9/1632930973891.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Why wildfires?</h2>Experts said two main 
causes have triggered the increase in wildfires along the West Coast, 
Canada and the Rockies. One is the tendency to extinguish small fires 
that, if allowed to burn, would clear acres of leaf litter and dead 
wood. Without those smaller fires, dry leaves and wood ignites and leads
 to the more intense and out-of-control fires that have plagued 
California and other western states in recent years.“The <a href="https://smokeybear.com/" target="_blank">Smokey The Bear</a>
 campaign has been really successful,” said Marshall Burke, associate 
professor in Stanford University’s Department of Earth System Science. 
“What do we do when a fire starts? We put them out.”In much of the Southeastern United States, where academic research shows prescribed burns are <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/2/2/30/htm?dom=prime&amp;src=syn" target="_blank">far more common</a>, NPR California Newsroom’s investigation shows a substantial decline in wildfire smoke over the past decade.Burke
 said California should carry out prescribed burns — also known as 
controlled burns — on more than 1 million acres of land in California 
each year.“We’re not doing anything close to that,” Burke said.Reduced rainfall and rising temperatures from climate change also make for stronger wildfires.Those blood-red sunsets are a telltale sign of smoke in the air.Eric James, a University of Colorado scientist working at NOAA's Global Systems Lab, said
 large fires from the west pump smoke into the upper atmosphere that 
enters the jet stream and can travel across the continental United 
States.“We see this most years, this long-range transport of 
smoke,” James said “It has gotten more intense in the last few years 
from what we’ve seen.”The Midwest has the occasional wildfire, as
 well as controlled burns in places like the Flint Hills in Kansas. But 
James said most of the wildfire smoke in the Midwest is attributed to 
western blazes.“I think the majority of the impact is from these 
large forest fires in the Pacific coastal states, Colorado and the 
intermountain west,” James said.This article is the result of a collaboration with the NPR 
California Newsroom, which conducted an analysis of federal satellite 
imagery, and Stanford University’s Environmental Change and Human 
Outcomes Lab. Based at St. Louis Public Radio, Steve 
Vockrodt is the Midwest Newsroom’s investigative editor. You can follow 
him on Twitter @stevevockrodt.&nbsp;Based at Nebraska Public 
Media, Daniel Wheaton is the Midwest Newsroom’s data journalist. You can
 follow him on Twitter @theheroofthyme.&nbsp;The Midwest 
Newsroom is an investigative journalism collaboration including KCUR, 
IPR, Nebraska Public Media and St. Louis Public Radio and NPR.