CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming corrections officials plan to test all inmates and employees for the coronavirus. 

Wyoming and Hawaii are the only states that haven’t reported cases of COVID-19 among their inmate populations.

 Corrections Department Director Bob Lampert said Wednesday he wants to confirm that’s indeed the case in Wyoming. 

The testing will begin Monday at the Wyoming Honor Farm in Riverton, followed by the Women’s Center in Lusk, the Honor Camp in Newcastle and the state maximum- and medium-security prisons in Rawlins and Torrington.

 Regular surveillance testing will continue after every inmate is tested by the end of August.&nbsp;&nbsp;

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming corrections officials plan to test all inmates and employees for the coronavirus. Wyoming and Hawaii are the only states that haven’t reported cases of COVID-19 among their inmate populations. Corrections Department Director Bob Lampert said Wednesday he wants to confirm that’s indeed the case in Wyoming. The testing will begin Monday at the Wyoming Honor Farm in Riverton, followed by the Women’s Center in Lusk, the Honor Camp in Newcastle and the state maximum- and medium-security prisons in Rawlins and Torrington. Regular surveillance testing will continue after every inmate is tested by the end of August.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Wyoming to test all inmates for coronavirus

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota health officials report 45 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

 That raises the total number of cases in the state to 7,499. But that does not include people who show symptoms or are asymptomatic but are not tested. 

The South Dakota Department of Health on Sunday reported no new deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, so the state's death toll remains at 109. 

South Dakota has 868 active cases. A total of 53 patients are currently hospitalized, down 12 since Saturday. 

The Argus Leader reports the number of confirmed cases in Minnehaha County increased by five to 3,756. 

Lincoln County added six new cases while Pennington County added five.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota health officials report 45 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus. That raises the total number of cases in the state to 7,499. But that does not include people who show symptoms or are asymptomatic but are not tested. The South Dakota Department of Health on Sunday reported no new deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, so the state's death toll remains at 109. South Dakota has 868 active cases. A total of 53 patients are currently hospitalized, down 12 since Saturday. The Argus Leader reports the number of confirmed cases in Minnehaha County increased by five to 3,756. Lincoln County added six new cases while Pennington County added five.

South Dakota reports 45 new COVID-19 cases, no new deaths

By DAN MARGOLIES <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-07-09/planned-parenthood-great-plains-cuts-staff-amid-complaints-of-chaos-and-toxicity">Kansas News Service</a>

Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which operates health clinics in 
Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma, has offered severance packages 
to dozens of employees as it reels from a financial crisis caused in 
part by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thirty-six employees in 
communications, development, education, human resources, finance and 
public affairs were eligible to receive the offers. Friday is their 
deadline to accept. As of Thursday, nine had accepted.

The 
workforce reductions come in the wake of a sharp drop in patient demand 
caused by the pandemic, which led to canceled appointments from March 
through June, and a corresponding drop in revenues and fundraising.

The
 reductions also come atop significant employee turnover in the past 
year, with many current and former workers describing a toxic work 
culture that has added to the stress of working for an organization that
 finds itself under unremitting attack by abortion opponents.

“We 
are offering a voluntary separation program because, like many 
nonprofits, we’ve been affected by the pandemic and resultant economic 
downturn,” Mandy Culbertson, a spokeswoman for PPGP, told KCUR in an 
email. “As a nonprofit health organization serving low-income patients, 
we aim to keep patient costs down, so we look internally to control 
expenses.”

Unaffected by the buyout offers are the organization’s 
front-line health care workers, including doctors and nurses, as well as
 employees working in the areas of information technology and security.

But
 with financial projections showing PPGP with a negative cash balance as
 early as next month, additional layoffs and furloughs could be coming 
as soon as this fall, the organization has warned.

Based in 
Overland Park, Kansas, PPGP operates 10 health care centers in Kansas 
Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Besides medication and surgical 
abortions at some of those centers, it offers an array of sexual and 
reproductive health services at all of its clinics.

In addition to
 the fiscal problems brought on by the pandemic, PPGP has incurred 
substantial legal expenses over the last few years fighting <a href="https://www.kcur.org/health/2018-03-22/kansas-takes-its-effort-to-cut-off-planned-parenthood-to-the-u-s-supreme-court" target="_blank">efforts to cut off its Medicaid funding</a> and challenging <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/planned-parenthood-says-abortion-rule-would-affect-10000-patients-kansas-and-missouri" target="_blank">restrictions on abortion access and services</a> in the four states in which it operates.

Despite
 PPGP’s dire financial situation, employees who received separation 
offers, which were made in the middle of last month, said they were 
caught off-guard by the offers.

“We were only given until July 10 
to decide whether we were going to take it, which is not a lot of time, 
especially given that we’re in the midst of a pandemic,” said Ashley 
McCray, who works as an organizer for PPGP in Oklahoma and plans to 
accept the offer. “And most people living in red states can’t find 
comparable employment.”

At a tense 
“town hall” meeting via Zoom conference call in late June, employees 
sharply questioned PPGP President and CEO Brandon Hill about the moves 
and criticized pay disparities within the organization.

PPGP had told employees in April that their pay would be cut by 10% as the pandemic began to eat into PPGP’s revenues.

Hill
 draws a salary in excess of $200,000, more than six times as much as 
many lower-ranking employees make. And though he told employees at the 
meeting that he had taken a voluntary 10% pay cut, he said any further 
cuts would be up to PPGP’s board of directors.

In a phone 
interview, Hill said that PPGP’s senior leadership will be the last to 
have their full salaries restored, “which could be all the way through 
December or January, from what we’re projecting.”

Discontent at the organization had already been brewing before the 
pandemic. An employee satisfaction survey taken last year revealed 
widespread unhappiness among rank-and-file employees, who complained of a
 lack of transparency, pay inequities and a top-heavy management 
structure.

“My biggest takeaways, honestly, from my time there was
 just the lack of visibility and transparency,” said Maggie Horigan, who
 worked in the human relations department and left in January to take 
another job. “The lack of transparency was definitely reinforced by 
supervisors and the executive staff.”

While the overwhelming 
majority of employees surveyed said they found their work meaningful, 
only 31% said they were given career development opportunities, only 34%
 said different work units worked well together and only 39% responded 
affirmatively to the statement, “The environment at this organization 
makes employees in my work units want to go above and beyond what’s 
expected of them.”

“Of course, the pandemic has dealt a really 
debilitating blow to Planned Parenthood. … But it’s my hypothesis that 
there are a lot of things that contributed to the financial hardship, 
one being a toxic work environment,” said Alex Aguilar, an employee in 
the development department who accepted the severance offer.

Hill 
declined to discuss personnel matters, but he said the organization has 
policies and procedures in place to address employee complaints.

“Those
 are always taken very seriously and we do a real thorough 
investigation,” he said. “And then determinations are made, whether it’s
 discipline, whether it’s coaching, whether it’s mediation. And the one 
thing that can be tricky as we move through the process and final 
resolution is not necessarily known to everyone.”

But
 Amanda Steele, PPGP’s director of development for two years until she 
left in September, said she wondered if Hill recognized “the chaos and 
toxicity that manifested itself” at PPGP.

“Think about all of the 
incredibly hardworking, dedicated people at Planned Parenthood that have
 left, all of the talent,” Steele said. “It’s hard to leave an 
organization you believe in 100%. Planned Parenthood, that's a dream job
 for people who believe in that mission. And then to have that bad taste
 in all of our mouths. That's unfortunate.”

The organization has 
experienced a high rate of employee turnover – as many as half its 
nearly 150 employees left in the past year – although that problem 
predates <a href="https://www.kcur.org/health/2018-02-01/planned-parenthood-great-plains-names-new-president-and-ceo" target="_blank">Hill’s arrival in February 2018</a>
 and goes back to the tenure of former CEO Laura McQuade, who left to 
become CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, the biggest 
Planned Parenthood affiliate in the country.

<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-06-23/former-head-of-local-planned-parenthood-affiliate-departs-from-ny-affiliate-amid-scathing-criticism" target="_blank">McQuade stepped down</a>
 from Planned Parenthood of Greater New York last month after more than 
300 employees signed an open letter accusing her of abusive behavior, 
financial mismanagement, failing to address problems of systemic racism 
and pay disparities, and overseeing unprecedented turnover of senior 
staff.

PPGP employees acknowledge Hill inherited problems 
bequeathed to him by McQuade but say he has not done enough to quell the
 discontent.

“We have senior leaders making six figures and they have protected 
their status,” Aguilar said. “They’re not held accountable, they don’t 
do the same amount of work that lower-level staff do and they’re paid 
exorbitant amounts.”

Rachel Ulanowski, who worked in the 
development department as a data analyst, said she left last year 
because she could no longer tolerate the emotional abuse dealt out by 
her boss, PPGP’s vice president of development.

“I don’t think 
Brandon is a bad person,” Ulanowski said, referring to Hill. “But he 
doesn’t prioritize the well-being of his staff or address any of the 
complaints.”

Hill, however, said that many of the actions taken by
 the organization to address employee complaints are confidential and 
can’t be shared with employees.

“And that’s in everyone’s interest,” he said.

Luz
 Ortiz, who worked as a PPGP educator in a satellite office in Kansas 
City, Kansas, said the separation offers to employees were driven as 
much by the results of the employee satisfaction survey as by the 
pandemic.

“I kind of feel like they were just trying to get rid of
 all the external affairs people because we have been very vocal about 
how unsatisfied we have been,” Ortiz said.

Ulanowski recalled a 
time when Hill, addressing employees’ complaints that they were 
overworked, underpaid and under a great deal of stress, said that 
“everyone just needs to be sedated.”

“The environment working at 
Planned Parenthood in a purple or red state is stressful enough as it 
is,” Ulanowski said. “Like you have protesters there every single day. 
And for him to say, ‘Oh my staff – they’re just a bunch of whiners!’”

Hill
 said that since his arrival two-and-a-half years ago, he has worked 
hard to increase transparency and the employee town hall a couple of 
weeks ago was an example.

“We had staff that were seeking more information, and I very much welcomed the feedback,” he said.

“We
 share more employee satisfaction information than we ever have before, 
giving people actual reports, numbers, data, and not culling the 
information.”

One source of employee discontent has been the 
divide between PPGP’s health care side and its outward-facing side – the
 people involved in raising funds, engaging in community outreach, 
lobbying and other functions not directly related to the provision of 
health care. Employees said the two halves rarely communicated.

“There’s
 a huge silo between those two areas,” Aguilar said. “And I think that’s
 very intentional. Because external affairs, historically, have been the
 groups with very low satisfaction results.”

More than a dozen 
current and former PPGP employees interviewed by KCUR said they remain 
devoted to the organization’s mission and had been reluctant to speak 
about the work environment there for fear of imperiling that mission.

“A
 lot of the reasons why this behavior is allowed to thrive is because 
the employees are keenly aware of how much they’re up against just to 
continue to operate in our four states,” said Horigan, the former HR 
employee. “So nobody wants to be disparaging of their own organization 
because that’s just going to be fodder for the people” who want to see 
Planned Parenthood’s demise.

Hill acknowledged that working for 
Planned Parenthood can take an emotional toll, especially because 
“defeat is common in some of the fights that we have.”

“We’ve 
worked to promote as much transparency and push out as much internet 
communication as possible,” he said, “but I have no doubt that the level
 of uncertainty that our employees work in can take a toll. It’s 
inherent in the work that we do. We have great care providers who work 
for us, but we’re not invincible. We have to constantly respond to the 
external factors that are working to basically break down the health 
care system that we provide.”

Dan Margolies is senior reporter and editor at KCUR. He can be reached by email at dan@kcur.org or on Twitter @DanMargolies.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1594403879215.png" alt="Planned Parenthood Great Plains, based in Overland Park, operates 11 health centers in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. File photo / KCUR" />
 <figcaption>Planned Parenthood Great Plains, based in Overland Park, operates 11 health centers in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. File photo / KCUR</figcaption>
 </figure>By DAN MARGOLIES <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-07-09/planned-parenthood-great-plains-cuts-staff-amid-complaints-of-chaos-and-toxicity">Kansas News Service</a>Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which operates health clinics in 
Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma, has offered severance packages 
to dozens of employees as it reels from a financial crisis caused in 
part by the COVID-19 pandemic.Thirty-six employees in 
communications, development, education, human resources, finance and 
public affairs were eligible to receive the offers. Friday is their 
deadline to accept. As of Thursday, nine had accepted.The 
workforce reductions come in the wake of a sharp drop in patient demand 
caused by the pandemic, which led to canceled appointments from March 
through June, and a corresponding drop in revenues and fundraising.The
 reductions also come atop significant employee turnover in the past 
year, with many current and former workers describing a toxic work 
culture that has added to the stress of working for an organization that
 finds itself under unremitting attack by abortion opponents.“We 
are offering a voluntary separation program because, like many 
nonprofits, we’ve been affected by the pandemic and resultant economic 
downturn,” Mandy Culbertson, a spokeswoman for PPGP, told KCUR in an 
email. “As a nonprofit health organization serving low-income patients, 
we aim to keep patient costs down, so we look internally to control 
expenses.”Unaffected by the buyout offers are the organization’s 
front-line health care workers, including doctors and nurses, as well as
 employees working in the areas of information technology and security.But
 with financial projections showing PPGP with a negative cash balance as
 early as next month, additional layoffs and furloughs could be coming 
as soon as this fall, the organization has warned.Based in 
Overland Park, Kansas, PPGP operates 10 health care centers in Kansas 
Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Besides medication and surgical 
abortions at some of those centers, it offers an array of sexual and 
reproductive health services at all of its clinics.In addition to
 the fiscal problems brought on by the pandemic, PPGP has incurred 
substantial legal expenses over the last few years fighting <a href="https://www.kcur.org/health/2018-03-22/kansas-takes-its-effort-to-cut-off-planned-parenthood-to-the-u-s-supreme-court" target="_blank">efforts to cut off its Medicaid funding</a> and challenging <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/planned-parenthood-says-abortion-rule-would-affect-10000-patients-kansas-and-missouri" target="_blank">restrictions on abortion access and services</a> in the four states in which it operates.Despite
 PPGP’s dire financial situation, employees who received separation 
offers, which were made in the middle of last month, said they were 
caught off-guard by the offers.“We were only given until July 10 
to decide whether we were going to take it, which is not a lot of time, 
especially given that we’re in the midst of a pandemic,” said Ashley 
McCray, who works as an organizer for PPGP in Oklahoma and plans to 
accept the offer. “And most people living in red states can’t find 
comparable employment.”<h2>A long time coming</h2>At a tense 
“town hall” meeting via Zoom conference call in late June, employees 
sharply questioned PPGP President and CEO Brandon Hill about the moves 
and criticized pay disparities within the organization.PPGP had told employees in April that their pay would be cut by 10% as the pandemic began to eat into PPGP’s revenues.Hill
 draws a salary in excess of $200,000, more than six times as much as 
many lower-ranking employees make. And though he told employees at the 
meeting that he had taken a voluntary 10% pay cut, he said any further 
cuts would be up to PPGP’s board of directors.In a phone 
interview, Hill said that PPGP’s senior leadership will be the last to 
have their full salaries restored, “which could be all the way through 
December or January, from what we’re projecting.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1594403970344.png" alt="In April 2018, protesters at Planned Parenthood in Overland Park, Kansas, were met by counter-protesters, holding pink signs in support of the non-profit healthcare provider. Andrea Tudhope photo" />
 <figcaption>In April 2018, protesters at Planned Parenthood in Overland Park, Kansas, were met by counter-protesters, holding pink signs in support of the non-profit healthcare provider. Andrea Tudhope photo</figcaption>
 </figure>Discontent at the organization had already been brewing before the 
pandemic. An employee satisfaction survey taken last year revealed 
widespread unhappiness among rank-and-file employees, who complained of a
 lack of transparency, pay inequities and a top-heavy management 
structure.“My biggest takeaways, honestly, from my time there was
 just the lack of visibility and transparency,” said Maggie Horigan, who
 worked in the human relations department and left in January to take 
another job. “The lack of transparency was definitely reinforced by 
supervisors and the executive staff.”While the overwhelming 
majority of employees surveyed said they found their work meaningful, 
only 31% said they were given career development opportunities, only 34%
 said different work units worked well together and only 39% responded 
affirmatively to the statement, “The environment at this organization 
makes employees in my work units want to go above and beyond what’s 
expected of them.”“Of course, the pandemic has dealt a really 
debilitating blow to Planned Parenthood. … But it’s my hypothesis that 
there are a lot of things that contributed to the financial hardship, 
one being a toxic work environment,” said Alex Aguilar, an employee in 
the development department who accepted the severance offer.Hill 
declined to discuss personnel matters, but he said the organization has 
policies and procedures in place to address employee complaints.“Those
 are always taken very seriously and we do a real thorough 
investigation,” he said. “And then determinations are made, whether it’s
 discipline, whether it’s coaching, whether it’s mediation. And the one 
thing that can be tricky as we move through the process and final 
resolution is not necessarily known to everyone.”<h2>Leaving the dream</h2>But
 Amanda Steele, PPGP’s director of development for two years until she 
left in September, said she wondered if Hill recognized “the chaos and 
toxicity that manifested itself” at PPGP.“Think about all of the 
incredibly hardworking, dedicated people at Planned Parenthood that have
 left, all of the talent,” Steele said. “It’s hard to leave an 
organization you believe in 100%. Planned Parenthood, that's a dream job
 for people who believe in that mission. And then to have that bad taste
 in all of our mouths. That's unfortunate.”The organization has 
experienced a high rate of employee turnover – as many as half its 
nearly 150 employees left in the past year – although that problem 
predates <a href="https://www.kcur.org/health/2018-02-01/planned-parenthood-great-plains-names-new-president-and-ceo" target="_blank">Hill’s arrival in February 2018</a>
 and goes back to the tenure of former CEO Laura McQuade, who left to 
become CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, the biggest 
Planned Parenthood affiliate in the country.<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-06-23/former-head-of-local-planned-parenthood-affiliate-departs-from-ny-affiliate-amid-scathing-criticism" target="_blank">McQuade stepped down</a>
 from Planned Parenthood of Greater New York last month after more than 
300 employees signed an open letter accusing her of abusive behavior, 
financial mismanagement, failing to address problems of systemic racism 
and pay disparities, and overseeing unprecedented turnover of senior 
staff.PPGP employees acknowledge Hill inherited problems 
bequeathed to him by McQuade but say he has not done enough to quell the
 discontent.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1594404014125.png" alt="Planned Parenthood Great Plains" />
 <figcaption>Planned Parenthood Great Plains</figcaption>
 </figure>“We have senior leaders making six figures and they have protected 
their status,” Aguilar said. “They’re not held accountable, they don’t 
do the same amount of work that lower-level staff do and they’re paid 
exorbitant amounts.”Rachel Ulanowski, who worked in the 
development department as a data analyst, said she left last year 
because she could no longer tolerate the emotional abuse dealt out by 
her boss, PPGP’s vice president of development.“I don’t think 
Brandon is a bad person,” Ulanowski said, referring to Hill. “But he 
doesn’t prioritize the well-being of his staff or address any of the 
complaints.”Hill, however, said that many of the actions taken by
 the organization to address employee complaints are confidential and 
can’t be shared with employees.“And that’s in everyone’s interest,” he said.<h2>Discontent and divisions</h2>Luz
 Ortiz, who worked as a PPGP educator in a satellite office in Kansas 
City, Kansas, said the separation offers to employees were driven as 
much by the results of the employee satisfaction survey as by the 
pandemic.“I kind of feel like they were just trying to get rid of
 all the external affairs people because we have been very vocal about 
how unsatisfied we have been,” Ortiz said.Ulanowski recalled a 
time when Hill, addressing employees’ complaints that they were 
overworked, underpaid and under a great deal of stress, said that 
“everyone just needs to be sedated.”“The environment working at 
Planned Parenthood in a purple or red state is stressful enough as it 
is,” Ulanowski said. “Like you have protesters there every single day. 
And for him to say, ‘Oh my staff – they’re just a bunch of whiners!’”Hill
 said that since his arrival two-and-a-half years ago, he has worked 
hard to increase transparency and the employee town hall a couple of 
weeks ago was an example.“We had staff that were seeking more information, and I very much welcomed the feedback,” he said.“We
 share more employee satisfaction information than we ever have before, 
giving people actual reports, numbers, data, and not culling the 
information.”One source of employee discontent has been the 
divide between PPGP’s health care side and its outward-facing side – the
 people involved in raising funds, engaging in community outreach, 
lobbying and other functions not directly related to the provision of 
health care. Employees said the two halves rarely communicated.“There’s
 a huge silo between those two areas,” Aguilar said. “And I think that’s
 very intentional. Because external affairs, historically, have been the
 groups with very low satisfaction results.”More than a dozen 
current and former PPGP employees interviewed by KCUR said they remain 
devoted to the organization’s mission and had been reluctant to speak 
about the work environment there for fear of imperiling that mission.“A
 lot of the reasons why this behavior is allowed to thrive is because 
the employees are keenly aware of how much they’re up against just to 
continue to operate in our four states,” said Horigan, the former HR 
employee. “So nobody wants to be disparaging of their own organization 
because that’s just going to be fodder for the people” who want to see 
Planned Parenthood’s demise.Hill acknowledged that working for 
Planned Parenthood can take an emotional toll, especially because 
“defeat is common in some of the fights that we have.”“We’ve 
worked to promote as much transparency and push out as much internet 
communication as possible,” he said, “but I have no doubt that the level
 of uncertainty that our employees work in can take a toll. It’s 
inherent in the work that we do. We have great care providers who work 
for us, but we’re not invincible. We have to constantly respond to the 
external factors that are working to basically break down the health 
care system that we provide.”Dan Margolies is senior reporter and editor at KCUR. He can be reached by email at dan@kcur.org or on Twitter @DanMargolies.&nbsp;

Planned Parenthood cuts staff amid complaints of 'chaos and toxicity'

BEIJING (AP) — China on Monday said it will ban entry to U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, Representative Chris Smith and Ambassador for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback over their criticism of the ruling Communist Party’s policies toward minority groups and people of faith.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said actions by the U.S. had “seriously damaged China-U.S. relations" and that China was determined to uphold its national sovereignty against what it sees as interference in its internal affairs.

“China will respond further according to the development of the situation," Hua said.

There was no indication that any of the four had plans to travel to China.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1586052372246.png" alt="Former Kansas governor Sam Brownback, President Trump’s special envoy for religious freedom-photo courtesy U.S. State Department" />
 <figcaption>Former Kansas governor Sam Brownback, President Trump’s special envoy for religious freedom-photo courtesy U.S. State Department</figcaption>
 </figure>BEIJING (AP) — China on Monday said it will ban entry to U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, Representative Chris Smith and Ambassador for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback over their criticism of the ruling Communist Party’s policies toward minority groups and people of faith.Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said actions by the U.S. had “seriously damaged China-U.S. relations" and that China was determined to uphold its national sovereignty against what it sees as interference in its internal affairs.“China will respond further according to the development of the situation," Hua said.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Accountability a long time coming for Chen Quanguo, Zhu Hailun, &amp; Wang Mingshan, the CCP officials for whom <a href="https://twitter.com/SecPompeo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecPompeo</a> restricted visas for gross violations of human rights in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Xinjiang?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Xinjiang</a>, including <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/religiousfreedom?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#religiousfreedom</a> abuses, against <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Uyghurs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Uyghurs</a> &amp; other Muslims. <a href="https://t.co/lkjfu7nLYL">https://t.co/lkjfu7nLYL</a>&mdash; Ambassador Sam Brownback (@IRF_Ambassador) <a href="https://twitter.com/IRF_Ambassador/status/1281258937543798789?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>There was no indication that any of the four had plans to travel to China.___

China bans former Kan. governor, 2 U.S. Senators over criticism

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska's three largest counties plan to send ballot request forms to every voter before this fall's general election, but it's not yet clear whether those forms will be sent statewide as they were before the primary.

Officials in Douglas, Sarpy and Lancaster counties say they are planning to send out the ballot-request forms because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and because it will help them plan for the election. Nebraska also has 11 rural counties that routinely vote entirely by mail.

Heavy use of mail-in ballots during the May primary helped the state set a record for turnout when more than 471,000 people voted.

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen told The Omaha World-Herald he hasn't decided whether to send out ballot request forms to every registered voter in the state. He said anyone who wants to vote by mail can contact local election officials to request a ballot.

Gov. Pete Ricketts doesn't think it is necessary to send out the forms this fall, spokesman Taylor Gage said.

Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse and Sarpy County Election Commissioner Michelle Andahl said they want to be prepared in case there is a resurgence of coronavirus cases this fall.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska's three largest counties plan to send ballot request forms to every voter before this fall's general election, but it's not yet clear whether those forms will be sent statewide as they were before the primary.Officials in Douglas, Sarpy and Lancaster counties say they are planning to send out the ballot-request forms because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and because it will help them plan for the election. Nebraska also has 11 rural counties that routinely vote entirely by mail.Heavy use of mail-in ballots during the May primary helped the state set a record for turnout when more than 471,000 people voted.Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen told The Omaha World-Herald he hasn't decided whether to send out ballot request forms to every registered voter in the state. He said anyone who wants to vote by mail can contact local election officials to request a ballot.Gov. Pete Ricketts doesn't think it is necessary to send out the forms this fall, spokesman Taylor Gage said.Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse and Sarpy County Election Commissioner Michelle Andahl said they want to be prepared in case there is a resurgence of coronavirus cases this fall.

Nebraska's 3 largest counties to send ballot request forms

As the Trump administration pushes full steam ahead to force schools to resume in-person education, public health experts warn that a one-size-fits-all reopening could drive infection and death rates even higher.

They’re urging a more cautious approach, which many local governments and school districts are already pursuing.

But U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos doubled down on President Donald Trump’s insistence that kids can safely return to the classroom.

“There’s nothing in the data that suggests that kids being in school is in any way dangerous,” she told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”

Still, health experts say there are too many uncertainties and variables for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/f3d8baf703ae4ff1af917b6202d26888">back-to-school to be back-to-normal.</a>

Where is the virus spreading rapidly? Do students live with aged grandparents? Do teachers have high-risk health conditions that would make online teaching safest? Do infected children easily spread COVID-19 to each other and to adults?

Regarding the latter, some evidence suggests they don’t, but a big government study aims to find better proof. Results won’t be available before the fall, and some schools are slated to reopen in just a few weeks.

“These are complicated issues. You can’t just charge straight ahead,” Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday during an online briefing.

Children infected with coronavirus are more likely than adults to have mild illnesses, but their risk for severe disease and death isn’t zero. While a virus-linked inflammatory condition is uncommon, most children who develop it require intensive care, and a few have died. Doctors don’t know which children are at risk.

“The single most important thing we can do to keep our schools safe has nothing to do with what happens in school. It’s how well we control COVID-19 in the community,” Frieden said. “Right now there are places around the country where the virus is spreading explosively and it would be difficult if not impossible to operate schools safely until the virus is under better control.”

Zahrah Wattier teaches high school in Galveston, Texas, where cases and deaths have been spiking. Until the state recently said schools must reopen to in-person classes, her district had been weighing options many others are considering, including full-time online teaching or a hybrid mix.

Wattier’s school has mostly Hispanic and Black students, many from low-income families; almost 70% qualify for free or reduced-cost lunches and many have parents who work in “essential” jobs that increase potential exposure to the virus. Online education was hard for many with limited internet access, and Wattier knows in-person classes can help even the playing field.

“My school has over 2,000 students. That’s over 2,000 exposures in a day,” said Wattier, whose parents live with the family and are both high-risk. “It’s a lot to think about. It’s my job. It’s something I choose to do, it’s something I love. Now it comes at a really high risk.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics, whose guidance the Trump administration has cited to support its demands, says the goal is for all students to be physically present in school. But, it adds, districts must be flexible, consult with health authorities and be ready to pivot as virus activity waxes and wanes.

“It is not that the American Academy of Pediatrics thinks this is a done deal because we have put out guidance,” said Dr. Nicholas Beers, a member of the academy’s school health council. “But what we do know is that we need to have a more realistic dialogue about the implications of virtual learning on the future of children. We have left whole swaths of society behind, whether it’s because they have limited access to a computer, or broadband internet,” or because of other challenges that online education can’t address.

DeVos said local school officials are smart enough to know when conditions are not right.

“There’s going to be the exception to the rule, but the rule should be that kids go back to school this fall,” she told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“And where there are little flare-ups or hot spots, that can be dealt with on a school by school or a case by case basis.”

Following CDC and academy guidelines would mean big changes for most schools. Mask-wearing would be strongly encouraged for adult staff and students except the youngest. Desks would be distanced at least 3 feet apart; the CDC recommends 6 feet. Both suggest limiting adults allowed in schools, including parents, and canceling group activities like choir and assemblies. Staggered arrival and dismissal times, outdoor classes, and keeping kids in the same classroom all day are other options.

President Trump has threatened federal funding cuts for districts that don’t fully reopen.

DeVos defended that stance, saying, “American investment in education is a promise to students and their families.”

“If schools aren’t going to reopen and not fulfill that promise, they shouldn’t get the funds, and give it to the families to decide to go to a school that is going to meet that promise,” she said on “Fox News Sunday.”

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called DeVos’ comments “malfeasance and dereliction of duty.”

“They’re messing, the president and his administration are messing with the health of our children,” the California Democrat told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

While most funding typically comes from state and local sources, experts say schools will need more federal funding, not less, to reopen safely. Masks, extra cleaning supplies or janitors, additional classroom space, and mental health support for students and staff traumatized by the pandemic are among potential costs. And with more parents out of work, more children will qualify for federally funded school lunches.

Lynn Morales, 49, teaches 8th grade English at a high-poverty public school in Bloomington, Minnesota, that is considering several options including in-person classes; a final decision is expected Aug. 1.

Some colleagues are considering not returning to the classroom because their children’s day care centers aren’t reopening. Some say they won’t come back until there’s a vaccine.

“I am concerned and it’s because of the age group,” Morales said. ’’Middle school students ... are lovely and I love them, but they touch, they get close, they roughhouse. It is their nature. They’re 13 years old. They are defiant.”

“If masks are required and a kid isn’t wearing a mask, is my job description going to be to chase down this kid and insist they wear a mask? And what if they don’t?”

Dr. Emily Landon, a University of Chicago infectious disease specialist, is helping the university and a campus preK-12 school decide how to reopen safely.

“Things are evolving from, ‘We can’t do it unless it’s perfectly safe’ to more of a harm reduction model, with the caveat that you can always step back” if virus activity flares, Landon said.

Single-occupancy dorms, outdoor classes, socially distanced classrooms and mask-wearing by students and faculty are on tap for the university. Face coverings will be required at the school too. Policies may change depending on virus activity.

She dismisses complaints from some parents who say masks are a loss of personal freedom.

“It’s not harmful for your child,” she said. “If you see wearing masks as a loss of personal freedom, then you have to think the same of pants.”

Dr. Tina Hartert of Vanderbilt University is leading a National Institutes of Health-funded study to determine what role children play in transmitting COVID-19. Almost 2,000 families are enrolled and self-test every two weeks. The idea is to find infected children without symptoms and see how easily disease spreads within families. Results may come by year’s end.

“If we don’t see significant transmission within households, that would be very reassuring,” Hartert said.

She noted that in other countries where schools have reopened, evidence suggests no widespread transmission from children.

In France, public schools reopened briefly before a summer break, with no sign of widespread virus transmission. Masks were only required for upper grades, but students stayed in the same classroom all day. A better test will be when the new school year starts Sept. 1.

In Norway, schools closed in March for several weeks. Nursery schools reopened first, then other grades. Children were put in smaller groups that stay together all day. Masks aren’t required. There have been only a few virus cases, said Dr. Margrethe Greve-Isdahl of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, but she noted virus activity is much lower than in the U.S.

Kati Spaniak, a realtor in Northbrook, Illinois, says her five teenage daughters have struggled to cope with pandemic fears, school closures and deficits of online learning. She strongly supports getting kids back in the classroom, and all her girls will return to some form of that in the fall.

It’s been hard for her high school senior, Kylie Ciesla. Prom, graduation and other senior rituals were canceled, and there were no good-byes. “Just to get ripped away from everything I’ve worked for 12 years, it’s really hard,” Kylie said.

At college, classes will be in person, masks mandated and a COVID-19 test required before she can move into her dorm. Kylie isn’t sure all that is needed.

“I hate that this thing has become so political. I just want the science. I want to know what we need to do to fix it,” she said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1593205499970.png" alt="U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos -courtesy image" />
 <figcaption>U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos -courtesy image</figcaption>
 </figure>By LINDSEY TANNERAs the Trump administration pushes full steam ahead to force schools to resume in-person education, public health experts warn that a one-size-fits-all reopening could drive infection and death rates even higher.They’re urging a more cautious approach, which many local governments and school districts are already pursuing.But U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos doubled down on President Donald Trump’s insistence that kids can safely return to the classroom.“There’s nothing in the data that suggests that kids being in school is in any way dangerous,” she told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”Still, health experts say there are too many uncertainties and variables for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/f3d8baf703ae4ff1af917b6202d26888">back-to-school to be back-to-normal.</a>Where is the virus spreading rapidly? Do students live with aged grandparents? Do teachers have high-risk health conditions that would make online teaching safest? Do infected children easily spread COVID-19 to each other and to adults?ADVERTISEMENTRegarding the latter, some evidence suggests they don’t, but a big government study aims to find better proof. Results won’t be available before the fall, and some schools are slated to reopen in just a few weeks.“These are complicated issues. You can’t just charge straight ahead,” Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday during an online briefing.Children infected with coronavirus are more likely than adults to have mild illnesses, but their risk for severe disease and death isn’t zero. While a virus-linked inflammatory condition is uncommon, most children who develop it require intensive care, and a few have died. Doctors don’t know which children are at risk.“The single most important thing we can do to keep our schools safe has nothing to do with what happens in school. It’s how well we control COVID-19 in the community,” Frieden said. “Right now there are places around the country where the virus is spreading explosively and it would be difficult if not impossible to operate schools safely until the virus is under better control.”Zahrah Wattier teaches high school in Galveston, Texas, where cases and deaths have been spiking. Until the state recently said schools must reopen to in-person classes, her district had been weighing options many others are considering, including full-time online teaching or a hybrid mix.Wattier’s school has mostly Hispanic and Black students, many from low-income families; almost 70% qualify for free or reduced-cost lunches and many have parents who work in “essential” jobs that increase potential exposure to the virus. Online education was hard for many with limited internet access, and Wattier knows in-person classes can help even the playing field.But she’s worried.“My school has over 2,000 students. That’s over 2,000 exposures in a day,” said Wattier, whose parents live with the family and are both high-risk. “It’s a lot to think about. It’s my job. It’s something I choose to do, it’s something I love. Now it comes at a really high risk.”The American Academy of Pediatrics, whose guidance the Trump administration has cited to support its demands, says the goal is for all students to be physically present in school. But, it adds, districts must be flexible, consult with health authorities and be ready to pivot as virus activity waxes and wanes.“It is not that the American Academy of Pediatrics thinks this is a done deal because we have put out guidance,” said Dr. Nicholas Beers, a member of the academy’s school health council. “But what we do know is that we need to have a more realistic dialogue about the implications of virtual learning on the future of children. We have left whole swaths of society behind, whether it’s because they have limited access to a computer, or broadband internet,” or because of other challenges that online education can’t address.DeVos said local school officials are smart enough to know when conditions are not right.“There’s going to be the exception to the rule, but the rule should be that kids go back to school this fall,” she told CNN’s “State of the Union.”“And where there are little flare-ups or hot spots, that can be dealt with on a school by school or a case by case basis.”Following CDC and academy guidelines would mean big changes for most schools. Mask-wearing would be strongly encouraged for adult staff and students except the youngest. Desks would be distanced at least 3 feet apart; the CDC recommends 6 feet. Both suggest limiting adults allowed in schools, including parents, and canceling group activities like choir and assemblies. Staggered arrival and dismissal times, outdoor classes, and keeping kids in the same classroom all day are other options.President Trump has threatened federal funding cuts for districts that don’t fully reopen.DeVos defended that stance, saying, “American investment in education is a promise to students and their families.”“If schools aren’t going to reopen and not fulfill that promise, they shouldn’t get the funds, and give it to the families to decide to go to a school that is going to meet that promise,” she said on “Fox News Sunday.”U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called DeVos’ comments “malfeasance and dereliction of duty.”“They’re messing, the president and his administration are messing with the health of our children,” the California Democrat told CNN’s “State of the Union.”While most funding typically comes from state and local sources, experts say schools will need more federal funding, not less, to reopen safely. Masks, extra cleaning supplies or janitors, additional classroom space, and mental health support for students and staff traumatized by the pandemic are among potential costs. And with more parents out of work, more children will qualify for federally funded school lunches.Lynn Morales, 49, teaches 8th grade English at a high-poverty public school in Bloomington, Minnesota, that is considering several options including in-person classes; a final decision is expected Aug. 1.Some colleagues are considering not returning to the classroom because their children’s day care centers aren’t reopening. Some say they won’t come back until there’s a vaccine.“I am concerned and it’s because of the age group,” Morales said. ’’Middle school students ... are lovely and I love them, but they touch, they get close, they roughhouse. It is their nature. They’re 13 years old. They are defiant.”“If masks are required and a kid isn’t wearing a mask, is my job description going to be to chase down this kid and insist they wear a mask? And what if they don’t?”Dr. Emily Landon, a University of Chicago infectious disease specialist, is helping the university and a campus preK-12 school decide how to reopen safely.“Things are evolving from, ‘We can’t do it unless it’s perfectly safe’ to more of a harm reduction model, with the caveat that you can always step back” if virus activity flares, Landon said.Single-occupancy dorms, outdoor classes, socially distanced classrooms and mask-wearing by students and faculty are on tap for the university. Face coverings will be required at the school too. Policies may change depending on virus activity.She dismisses complaints from some parents who say masks are a loss of personal freedom.“It’s not harmful for your child,” she said. “If you see wearing masks as a loss of personal freedom, then you have to think the same of pants.”Dr. Tina Hartert of Vanderbilt University is leading a National Institutes of Health-funded study to determine what role children play in transmitting COVID-19. Almost 2,000 families are enrolled and self-test every two weeks. The idea is to find infected children without symptoms and see how easily disease spreads within families. Results may come by year’s end.“If we don’t see significant transmission within households, that would be very reassuring,” Hartert said.She noted that in other countries where schools have reopened, evidence suggests no widespread transmission from children.In France, public schools reopened briefly before a summer break, with no sign of widespread virus transmission. Masks were only required for upper grades, but students stayed in the same classroom all day. A better test will be when the new school year starts Sept. 1.In Norway, schools closed in March for several weeks. Nursery schools reopened first, then other grades. Children were put in smaller groups that stay together all day. Masks aren’t required. There have been only a few virus cases, said Dr. Margrethe Greve-Isdahl of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, but she noted virus activity is much lower than in the U.S.Kati Spaniak, a realtor in Northbrook, Illinois, says her five teenage daughters have struggled to cope with pandemic fears, school closures and deficits of online learning. She strongly supports getting kids back in the classroom, and all her girls will return to some form of that in the fall.It’s been hard for her high school senior, Kylie Ciesla. Prom, graduation and other senior rituals were canceled, and there were no good-byes. “Just to get ripped away from everything I’ve worked for 12 years, it’s really hard,” Kylie said.At college, classes will be in person, masks mandated and a COVID-19 test required before she can move into her dorm. Kylie isn’t sure all that is needed.“I hate that this thing has become so political. I just want the science. I want to know what we need to do to fix it,” she said.___

Doctors: Virus spread, not politics should guide schools

OMAHA, Neb. (AP)-A Creighton University religion professor’s tweet referring to a support-the-police rally as a white supremacist event unleashed a backlash before it was taken down Friday.

The university issue a statement saying Zachary Smith’s view didn’t represent the school. Further, the statement said, Smith “regrets his statement and sincerely apologizes for the offense it has caused.”

The Creighton University College Republicans condemned Smith’s tweet, the Omaha World-Herald&nbsp;<a href="https://www.omaha.com/news/education/creighton-professor-regrets-tweet-calling-police-rally-a-white-supremacist-event/article_b0937562-4be9-5940-bff3-f553bf932eb6.html" target="_blank">reported</a>. The Omaha police union also expressed disappointment.

The dustup stems from an item the newspaper posted on its website Monday under the headline: “ ‘Back the Blue’ rally in Omaha to show support for law enforcement.” Smith responded: “Lemme fix this headline for you … ‘White supremacist rally in Omaha to showcase Midwestern racism.’ ”

Creighton College Republican President Tyler Henningsen of Papillion said he first saw the tweet Friday morning. He issued a response calling Smith’s message “morally repugnant,” saying it stood in contrast with Creighton’s Jesuit tradition of pursuing justice.

The episode comes as nationwide protests have taken place to condemn police brutality following the death of George Floyd, a black man killed while in police custody.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1594564742895.png" alt="Zachary Smith (Photo: Creighton University)" />
 <figcaption>Zachary Smith (Photo: Creighton University)</figcaption>
 </figure>OMAHA, Neb. (AP)-A Creighton University religion professor’s tweet referring to a support-the-police rally as a white supremacist event unleashed a backlash before it was taken down Friday.The university issue a statement saying Zachary Smith’s view didn’t represent the school. Further, the statement said, Smith “regrets his statement and sincerely apologizes for the offense it has caused.”The Creighton University College Republicans condemned Smith’s tweet, the Omaha World-Herald&nbsp;<a href="https://www.omaha.com/news/education/creighton-professor-regrets-tweet-calling-police-rally-a-white-supremacist-event/article_b0937562-4be9-5940-bff3-f553bf932eb6.html" target="_blank">reported</a>. The Omaha police union also expressed disappointment.The dustup stems from an item the newspaper posted on its website Monday under the headline: “ ‘Back the Blue’ rally in Omaha to show support for law enforcement.” Smith responded: “Lemme fix this headline for you … ‘White supremacist rally in Omaha to showcase Midwestern racism.’ ”Creighton College Republican President Tyler Henningsen of Papillion said he first saw the tweet Friday morning. He issued a response calling Smith’s message “morally repugnant,” saying it stood in contrast with Creighton’s Jesuit tradition of pursuing justice.The episode comes as nationwide protests have taken place to condemn police brutality following the death of George Floyd, a black man killed while in police custody.

Creighton professor apologizes for tweet over police rally

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump wore a mask during a visit to a military hospital on Saturday, the first time the president has been seen in public with the type of facial covering recommended by health officials as a precaution against spreading or becoming infected by the novel coronavirus.

Trump flew by helicopter to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in suburban Washington to meet wounded servicemembers and health care providers caring for COVID-19 patients. As he left the White House, he told reporters: “When you’re in a hospital, especially ... I think it’s expected to wear a mask.”

Trump was wearing a mask in Walter Reed’s hallway as he began his visit. He was not wearing one when he stepped off the helicopter at the facility.

The president was a latecomer to wearing a mask during the pandemic, which has raged across the U.S. since March and infected more than 3.2 million and killed at least 134,000. Most prominent Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence, endorsed wearing masks as the coronavirus gained ground this summer.

Trump, however, has declined to wear a mask at news conferences, coronavirus task force updates, rallies and other public events. People close to him have told The Associated Press that the president feared a mask would make him look weak and was concerned that it shifted focus to the public health crisis rather than the economic recovery. They spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private matters.

While not wearing one himself, Trump has sent mixed signals about masks, acknowledging that they would be appropriate if worn in an indoor setting where people were close together. But he has accused reporters of wearing them to be politically correct and has retweeted messages making fun of Democrat Joe Biden for wearing a mask and implying that Biden looks weak.

The wearing of masks became another political dividing line, with Republicans more resistant to wearing them than Democrats. Few masks were seen at recent Trump campaign events in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Phoenix and South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore.

The only time Trump has been known to wear a mask was during a private part of a tour of a Ford plant in Michigan.

On its website, Walter Reed carries this recommendation: “Whenever you’re out in public, like at your local grocery store or pharmacy, where it’s difficult to maintain 6 feet of social distance, you should wear a cloth face covering.” The facility also notes that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing cloth face coverings to slow the spread of the coronavirus.”

ADVERTISEMENTTrending on AP News<a href="https://apnews.com/e4733210ebf43a43d3b96b7cf19dbd96">Dutch short-track world champion Van Ruijven dies at age 27</a><a href="https://apnews.com/12bec4013ad5fc13c7df8555dd44e4c1">Noem vaunts hands-off virus approach; testing draws concern</a><a href="https://apnews.com/155113ab0bcf63d42b95169e7e5f1af7">Ghislaine Maxwell seeks jail release in Epstein abuse case</a><a href="https://popup.taboola.com/en/?template=colorbox&amp;utm_source=associatedpress-apnews&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=organic-thumbnails-rr:Right%20Rail%20Thumbnails:" target="_blank">by Taboola</a>ADVERTISEMENT

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1594505499981.png" alt="President Trump during a visit to&nbsp;Walter Reed National Military Medical Center&nbsp; -image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>President Trump during a visit to&nbsp;Walter Reed National Military Medical Center&nbsp; -image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump wore a mask during a visit to a military hospital on Saturday, the first time the president has been seen in public with the type of facial covering recommended by health officials as a precaution against spreading or becoming infected by the novel coronavirus.Trump flew by helicopter to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in suburban Washington to meet wounded servicemembers and health care providers caring for COVID-19 patients. As he left the White House, he told reporters: “When you’re in a hospital, especially ... I think it’s expected to wear a mask.”Trump was wearing a mask in Walter Reed’s hallway as he began his visit. He was not wearing one when he stepped off the helicopter at the facility.The president was a latecomer to wearing a mask during the pandemic, which has raged across the U.S. since March and infected more than 3.2 million and killed at least 134,000. Most prominent Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence, endorsed wearing masks as the coronavirus gained ground this summer.Trump, however, has declined to wear a mask at news conferences, coronavirus task force updates, rallies and other public events. People close to him have told The Associated Press that the president feared a mask would make him look weak and was concerned that it shifted focus to the public health crisis rather than the economic recovery. They spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private matters.While not wearing one himself, Trump has sent mixed signals about masks, acknowledging that they would be appropriate if worn in an indoor setting where people were close together. But he has accused reporters of wearing them to be politically correct and has retweeted messages making fun of Democrat Joe Biden for wearing a mask and implying that Biden looks weak.The wearing of masks became another political dividing line, with Republicans more resistant to wearing them than Democrats. Few masks were seen at recent Trump campaign events in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Phoenix and South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore.The only time Trump has been known to wear a mask was during a private part of a tour of a Ford plant in Michigan.On its website, Walter Reed carries this recommendation: “Whenever you’re out in public, like at your local grocery store or pharmacy, where it’s difficult to maintain 6 feet of social distance, you should wear a cloth face covering.” The facility also notes that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing cloth face coverings to slow the spread of the coronavirus.”ADVERTISEMENTTrending on AP News<a href="https://apnews.com/e4733210ebf43a43d3b96b7cf19dbd96">Dutch short-track world champion Van Ruijven dies at age 27</a><a href="https://apnews.com/12bec4013ad5fc13c7df8555dd44e4c1">Noem vaunts hands-off virus approach; testing draws concern</a><a href="https://apnews.com/155113ab0bcf63d42b95169e7e5f1af7">Ghislaine Maxwell seeks jail release in Epstein abuse case</a><a href="https://popup.taboola.com/en/?template=colorbox&amp;utm_source=associatedpress-apnews&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=organic-thumbnails-rr:Right%20Rail%20Thumbnails:" target="_blank">by Taboola</a>ADVERTISEMENT

Trump wears mask in public for first time during pandemic

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The father of a missing 3-year-old Kansas girl was arrested late Friday after police said they believe they found her body.&nbsp; Howard Jansen III, 29, of Kansas City, Kansas, has not been formally charged in the death of Olivia Ann Jansen. 

Jansen was booked into the Wyandotte County jail on suspicion of first-degree murder and child abuse. 

Saturday morning, Jacqulyn Kirkpatrick, 33, was also  held on suspicion of first-degree murder and child abuse. The body was found about 5:45 p.m. Friday about nine blocks from her home, from which her father had reported her missing.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities believe they found the body of a 3-year-old girl who was reported missing Friday morning from her Kansas City, Kansas, home. Her father is in jail on murder charges.

Investigators are “pretty sure” the body found Friday afternoon is Olivia Jansen’s, said Officer Tom Tomasic, a police spokesman. The body was found about 5:45 p.m. Friday about nine blocks from her home, from which her father had reported her missing.

Police had said that, because of Olivia’s age and the distance from home where her body was found, she had been taken from her home. Tomasic said they have had “several stories throughout the day” and “none of them made sense.”

The child’s father 29-year-old Howard Jansen told investigators he saw her around 11 p.m. Thursday when he went to sleep, Officer Dustin Dierenfeldt said. He said he awoke Friday morning to find her gone and a door opened to the outside.

An&nbsp;<a href="https://kbi.kansas.gov/ksamber/alert/3804" target="_blank">Amber Alert</a>&nbsp;was issued that said that although there was no known suspect of suspect vehicle, “Due to her age and a search of the area, investigators believe that she was taken from the location.”

Investigators had searched the area around the child’s home all day Friday with all-terrain vehicles, drones, and K-9 teams.

Although Jansen, was cooperating with the investigation, police booked him into jail on requested charges of first-degree murder and child abuse, according to online booking records.

The KBI cancelled the Amber Alert for missing 3-year-old&nbsp; Olivia Jansen just after 6p.m. Friday.

Authorities located the body of deceased child believed to be her. Police released no additional details.&nbsp;

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation issued an Amber Alert Friday morning for 3-year-old Olivia A. Jansen. At 6:30 a.m. Friday, the father of Olivia woke up and discovered that she was not in the residence, 4444 Gibbs Road, Kansas City, Kansas and the back door of the location was standing open.

Due to her age and a search of the area, investigators believe that she was taken from the location. There is no known suspect at this time and no known suspect vehicle.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Olivia is described as 3-feet tall, 50 pounds with brown hair and blue-green eyes. She had been dressed in pajamas - pink top and purple or teal bottom. Her hair was in a ponytail.&nbsp;

She was last seen at her home 4444 Gibbs Road, Kansas City, Kansas. Call 911 immediately if you see Olivia. If you have other information, please call the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department at 913-596-3000

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1594468009097.png" alt="Jansen photo Wyandotte Co." />
 <figcaption>Jansen photo Wyandotte Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The father of a missing 3-year-old Kansas girl was arrested late Friday after police said they believe they found her body.&nbsp; Howard Jansen III, 29, of Kansas City, Kansas, has not been formally charged in the death of Olivia Ann Jansen. Jansen was booked into the Wyandotte County jail on suspicion of first-degree murder and child abuse. <figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1594490776368.png" alt="Kirkpatrick-photo Wyandotte Co." />
 <figcaption>Kirkpatrick-photo Wyandotte Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Saturday morning, Jacqulyn Kirkpatrick, 33, was also held on suspicion of first-degree murder and child abuse. The body was found about 5:45 p.m. Friday about nine blocks from her home, from which her father had reported her missing.--------KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities believe they found the body of a 3-year-old girl who was reported missing Friday morning from her Kansas City, Kansas, home. Her father is in jail on murder charges.Investigators are “pretty sure” the body found Friday afternoon is Olivia Jansen’s, said Officer Tom Tomasic, a police spokesman. The body was found about 5:45 p.m. Friday about nine blocks from her home, from which her father had reported her missing.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1594400012536.png" alt="Olivia Jansen-photo KBI" />
 <figcaption>Olivia Jansen-photo KBI</figcaption>
 </figure>Police had said that, because of Olivia’s age and the distance from home where her body was found, she had been taken from her home. Tomasic said they have had “several stories throughout the day” and “none of them made sense.”The child’s father 29-year-old Howard Jansen told investigators he saw her around 11 p.m. Thursday when he went to sleep, Officer Dustin Dierenfeldt said. He said he awoke Friday morning to find her gone and a door opened to the outside.An&nbsp;<a href="https://kbi.kansas.gov/ksamber/alert/3804" target="_blank">Amber Alert</a>&nbsp;was issued that said that although there was no known suspect of suspect vehicle, “Due to her age and a search of the area, investigators believe that she was taken from the location.”Investigators had searched the area around the child’s home all day Friday with all-terrain vehicles, drones, and K-9 teams.Although Jansen, was cooperating with the investigation, police booked him into jail on requested charges of first-degree murder and child abuse, according to online booking records.--------The KBI cancelled the Amber Alert for missing 3-year-old&nbsp; Olivia Jansen just after 6p.m. Friday.Authorities located the body of deceased child believed to be her. Police released no additional details.&nbsp;---------The Kansas Bureau of Investigation issued an Amber Alert Friday morning for 3-year-old Olivia A. Jansen. At 6:30 a.m. Friday, the father of Olivia woke up and discovered that she was not in the residence, 4444 Gibbs Road, Kansas City, Kansas and the back door of the location was standing open. Due to her age and a search of the area, investigators believe that she was taken from the location. There is no known suspect at this time and no known suspect vehicle.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1594403105823.png" alt="Olivia Jansen-photo KCK Police" />
 <figcaption>Olivia Jansen-photo KCK Police</figcaption>
 </figure>Olivia is described as 3-feet tall, 50 pounds with brown hair and blue-green eyes. She had been dressed in pajamas - pink top and purple or teal bottom. Her hair was in a ponytail.&nbsp;She was last seen at her home 4444 Gibbs Road, Kansas City, Kansas. Call 911 immediately if you see Olivia. If you have other information, please call the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department at 913-596-3000

Update: 2 arrested in case of missing Kansas girl after body found

LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska resident physician accused of fatally shooting her husband in front of their two children last month has been released on $100,000 bond. 

North Platte television station KNOP reports that 31-year-old Kathleen Jourdan put up 10% of her $1 million bail to be released from jail on Thursday.

 Jourdan is charged with second-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon in the June 17 killing of her husband, 35-year-old Joshua Jourdan.

 Kathleen Jourdan told police she shot her husband because she feared for herself and children during an argument between the couple inside their vehicle, which pulled over alongside Interstate 80.&nbsp;&nbsp;

LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska resident physician accused of fatally shooting her husband in front of their two children last month has been released on $100,000 bond. North Platte television station KNOP reports that 31-year-old Kathleen Jourdan put up 10% of her $1 million bail to be released from jail on Thursday. Jourdan is charged with second-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon in the June 17 killing of her husband, 35-year-old Joshua Jourdan. Kathleen Jourdan told police she shot her husband because she feared for herself and children during an argument between the couple inside their vehicle, which pulled over alongside Interstate 80.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Nebraska physician charged in husband's death out on bond

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Roman Catholic Church used a special and unprecedented exemption from federal rules to amass at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus aid, with many millions going to dioceses that have paid huge settlements or sought bankruptcy protection because of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/TheReckoning">clergy sexual abuse cover-ups</a>.

The church’s haul may have reached -- or even exceeded -- $3.5 billion, making a global religious institution with more than a billion followers among the biggest winners in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/b483d9691de2b83a8b35951508c3b4d1">the U.S. government’s pandemic relief efforts</a>, an Associated Press analysis of federal data released this week found.

Houses of worship and faith-based organizations that promote religious beliefs aren’t usually eligible for money from the U.S. Small Business Administration. But as the economy plummeted and jobless rates soared, Congress let faith groups and other nonprofits tap into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/b0d2a36521f39010273317fa3562c2e4">the Paycheck Protection Program</a>, a $659 billion fund created to keep Main Street open and Americans employed.

By aggressively promoting the payroll program and marshaling resources to help affiliates navigate its shifting rules, Catholic dioceses, parishes, schools and other ministries have so far received approval for at least 3,500 forgivable loans, AP found.

The Archdiocese of New York, for example, received 15 loans worth at least $28 million just for its top executive offices. Its iconic St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue was approved for at least $1 million.

In Orange County, California, where a sparkling glass cathedral estimated to cost over $70 million recently opened, diocesan officials working at the complex received four loans worth at least $3 million.

And elsewhere, a loan of at least $2 million went to the diocese covering Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, where a church investigation revealed last year that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/2ff78299709e48dbb45b5e7283459df8">then-Bishop Michael Bransfield</a>&nbsp;embezzled funds and made sexual advances toward young priests.

Simply being eligible for low-interest loans was a new opportunity. But the church couldn’t have been approved for so many loans -- which the government will forgive if they are used for wages, rent and utilities -- without a second break.

Religious groups persuaded the Trump administration to free them from a rule that typically disqualifies an applicant with more than 500 workers. Without this preferential treatment, many Catholic dioceses would have been ineligible because -- between their head offices, parishes and other affiliates -- their employees exceed the 500-person cap.

“The government grants special dispensation, and that creates a kind of structural favoritism,” said Micah Schwartzman, a University of Virginia law professor specializing in constitutional issues and religion who has studied the Paycheck Protection Program. “And that favoritism was worth billions of dollars.”

The amount that the church collected, between $1.4 billion and $3.5 billion, is an undercount. The Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference, an organization of Catholic financial officers, surveyed members and reported that about 9,000 Catholic entities received loans. That is nearly three times the number of Catholic recipients the AP could identify.

The AP couldn’t find more Catholic beneficiaries because the government’s data, released after pressure from Congress and a lawsuit from news outlets including the AP, didn’t name recipients of loans under $150,000 -- a category in which many smaller churches would fall. And because the government released only ranges of loan amounts, it wasn’t possible to be more precise.

Even without a full accounting, AP’s analysis places the Catholic Church among the major beneficiaries in the Paycheck Protection Program, which also has helped companies backed by celebrities, billionaires, state governors and members of Congress.

The program was open to all religious groups, and many took advantage. Evangelical advisers to President Donald Trump, including his White House spiritual czar, Paula White-Cain,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/88a957426a09eb3b7db2dbceeffa25c0">also received loans</a>.

There is no doubt that state shelter-in-place orders disrupted houses of worship and businesses alike.

Masses were canceled, even during the Holy Week and Easter holidays, depriving parishes of expected revenue and contributing to layoffs in some dioceses. Some families of Catholic school students are struggling to make tuition payments. And the expense of disinfecting classrooms once classes resume will put additional pressure on budgets.

But other problems were self-inflicted. Long before the pandemic, scores of dioceses faced increasing financial pressure because of a dramatic rise in recent clergy sex abuse claims.

The scandals that erupted in 2018 reverberated throughout the world. Pope Francis ordered the former archbishop of Washington,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/33645dd626674bec9ef6198528267dc6">Cardinal Theodore McCarrick</a>, to a life of “prayer and penance” following allegations he abused minors and adult seminarians. And&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/301822e3d7a04b0b88a1c40738c4a513/Report:-Pennsylvania-priests-molested-over-1,000-children">a damning grand jury report</a>&nbsp;about abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses revealed bishops had long covered for predator priests, spurring investigations in more than 20 other states.

As the church again reckoned with its longtime crisis, abuse reports tripled during the year ending June 2019 to a total of nearly 4,500 nationally. Meanwhile, dioceses and religious orders shelled out $282 million that year — up from $106 million just five years earlier. Most of that went to settlements, in addition to legal fees and support for offending clergy.

Loan recipients included about 40 dioceses that have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the past few years paying victims through compensation funds or bankruptcy proceedings. AP’s review found that these dioceses were approved for about $200 million, though the value is likely much higher.

One was the New York Archdiocese. As a successful battle to lift the statute of limitations on the filing of child sexual abuse lawsuits gathered steam,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/0214b26e59db4e1eaf30fcb856b43b0a">Cardinal Timothy Dolan established a victim compensation fund</a>&nbsp;in 2016. Since then, other dioceses have established similar funds, which offer victims relatively quick settlements while dissuading them from filing lawsuits.

Spokesperson Joseph Zwilling said the archdiocese simply wanted to be “treated equally and fairly under the law.” When asked about the waiver from the 500-employee cap that religious organizations received, Zwilling deferred to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

A spokesperson for the bishops’ conference acknowledged its officials lobbied for the paycheck program, but said the organization wasn’t tracking what dioceses and Catholic agencies received.

“These loans are an essential lifeline to help faith-based organizations to stay afloat and continue serving those in need during this crisis,” spokesperson Chieko Noguchi said in a written statement. According to AP’s data analysis, the church and all its organizations reported retaining at least 407,900 jobs with the money they were awarded.

Noguchi also wrote the conference felt strongly that “the administration write and implement this emergency relief fairly for all applicants.”

Not every Catholic institution sought government loans. The Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy based in Stamford, Connecticut, told AP that even though its parishes experienced a decline in donations, none of the organizations in its five-state territory submitted applications.

Deacon Steve Wisnowski, a financial officer for the eparchy, said pastors and church managers used their rainy-day savings and that parishioners responded generously with donations. As a result, parishes “did not experience a severe financial crisis.”

Wisnowski said his superiors understood the program was for “organizations and businesses truly in need of assistance.”

The law that created the Paycheck Protection Program let nonprofits participate, as long as they abided by SBA’s “affiliation rule.” The rule typically says that only businesses with fewer than 500 employees, including at all subsidiaries, are eligible.

Lobbying by the church helped religious organizations get an exception.

The Catholic News Service reported that the bishops’ conference and several major Catholic nonprofit agencies worked throughout the week of March 30 to ensure that the “unique nature of the entities would not make them ineligible for the program” because of how SBA defines a “small” business. Those conversations came just days after President Trump signed the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which included the Paycheck Protection Program.

In addition, federal records show the Los Angeles archdiocese, whose leader heads the bishops’ conference, paid $20,000 to lobby the U.S. Senate and House on “eligibility for non-profits” under the CARES Act. The records also show that Catholic Charities USA, a social service arm of the church with member agencies in dioceses across the country, paid another $30,000 to lobby on the act and other issues.

In late April, after thousands of Catholic institutions had secured loans, several hundred Catholic leaders pressed for additional help on a call with President Trump. During the call, Trump underscored the coming presidential election and touted himself as the candidate best aligned with religious conservatives, boasting he was the “best (president) the Catholic church has ever seen,” according to Crux, an online publication that covers church-related news.

Catholic Charities USA and its member agencies were approved for about 110 loans worth between $90 million and $220 million at least, according to the data.

In a statement, Catholic Charities said: “Each organization is a separate legal entity under the auspices of the bishop in the diocese in which the agency is located. CCUSA supports agencies that choose to become members, but does not have any role in their daily operations or governance.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1594388235726.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Roman Catholic Church used a special and unprecedented exemption from federal rules to amass at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus aid, with many millions going to dioceses that have paid huge settlements or sought bankruptcy protection because of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/TheReckoning">clergy sexual abuse cover-ups</a>.The church’s haul may have reached -- or even exceeded -- $3.5 billion, making a global religious institution with more than a billion followers among the biggest winners in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/b483d9691de2b83a8b35951508c3b4d1">the U.S. government’s pandemic relief efforts</a>, an Associated Press analysis of federal data released this week found.Houses of worship and faith-based organizations that promote religious beliefs aren’t usually eligible for money from the U.S. Small Business Administration. But as the economy plummeted and jobless rates soared, Congress let faith groups and other nonprofits tap into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/b0d2a36521f39010273317fa3562c2e4">the Paycheck Protection Program</a>, a $659 billion fund created to keep Main Street open and Americans employed.By aggressively promoting the payroll program and marshaling resources to help affiliates navigate its shifting rules, Catholic dioceses, parishes, schools and other ministries have so far received approval for at least 3,500 forgivable loans, AP found.The Archdiocese of New York, for example, received 15 loans worth at least $28 million just for its top executive offices. Its iconic St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue was approved for at least $1 million.In Orange County, California, where a sparkling glass cathedral estimated to cost over $70 million recently opened, diocesan officials working at the complex received four loans worth at least $3 million.And elsewhere, a loan of at least $2 million went to the diocese covering Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, where a church investigation revealed last year that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/2ff78299709e48dbb45b5e7283459df8">then-Bishop Michael Bransfield</a>&nbsp;embezzled funds and made sexual advances toward young priests.Simply being eligible for low-interest loans was a new opportunity. But the church couldn’t have been approved for so many loans -- which the government will forgive if they are used for wages, rent and utilities -- without a second break.Religious groups persuaded the Trump administration to free them from a rule that typically disqualifies an applicant with more than 500 workers. Without this preferential treatment, many Catholic dioceses would have been ineligible because -- between their head offices, parishes and other affiliates -- their employees exceed the 500-person cap.“The government grants special dispensation, and that creates a kind of structural favoritism,” said Micah Schwartzman, a University of Virginia law professor specializing in constitutional issues and religion who has studied the Paycheck Protection Program. “And that favoritism was worth billions of dollars.”The amount that the church collected, between $1.4 billion and $3.5 billion, is an undercount. The Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference, an organization of Catholic financial officers, surveyed members and reported that about 9,000 Catholic entities received loans. That is nearly three times the number of Catholic recipients the AP could identify.The AP couldn’t find more Catholic beneficiaries because the government’s data, released after pressure from Congress and a lawsuit from news outlets including the AP, didn’t name recipients of loans under $150,000 -- a category in which many smaller churches would fall. And because the government released only ranges of loan amounts, it wasn’t possible to be more precise.Even without a full accounting, AP’s analysis places the Catholic Church among the major beneficiaries in the Paycheck Protection Program, which also has helped companies backed by celebrities, billionaires, state governors and members of Congress.The program was open to all religious groups, and many took advantage. Evangelical advisers to President Donald Trump, including his White House spiritual czar, Paula White-Cain,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/88a957426a09eb3b7db2dbceeffa25c0">also received loans</a>.___‘TRULY IN NEED’There is no doubt that state shelter-in-place orders disrupted houses of worship and businesses alike.Masses were canceled, even during the Holy Week and Easter holidays, depriving parishes of expected revenue and contributing to layoffs in some dioceses. Some families of Catholic school students are struggling to make tuition payments. And the expense of disinfecting classrooms once classes resume will put additional pressure on budgets.But other problems were self-inflicted. Long before the pandemic, scores of dioceses faced increasing financial pressure because of a dramatic rise in recent clergy sex abuse claims.The scandals that erupted in 2018 reverberated throughout the world. Pope Francis ordered the former archbishop of Washington,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/33645dd626674bec9ef6198528267dc6">Cardinal Theodore McCarrick</a>, to a life of “prayer and penance” following allegations he abused minors and adult seminarians. And&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/301822e3d7a04b0b88a1c40738c4a513/Report:-Pennsylvania-priests-molested-over-1,000-children">a damning grand jury report</a>&nbsp;about abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses revealed bishops had long covered for predator priests, spurring investigations in more than 20 other states.As the church again reckoned with its longtime crisis, abuse reports tripled during the year ending June 2019 to a total of nearly 4,500 nationally. Meanwhile, dioceses and religious orders shelled out $282 million that year — up from $106 million just five years earlier. Most of that went to settlements, in addition to legal fees and support for offending clergy.Loan recipients included about 40 dioceses that have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the past few years paying victims through compensation funds or bankruptcy proceedings. AP’s review found that these dioceses were approved for about $200 million, though the value is likely much higher.One was the New York Archdiocese. As a successful battle to lift the statute of limitations on the filing of child sexual abuse lawsuits gathered steam,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/0214b26e59db4e1eaf30fcb856b43b0a">Cardinal Timothy Dolan established a victim compensation fund</a>&nbsp;in 2016. Since then, other dioceses have established similar funds, which offer victims relatively quick settlements while dissuading them from filing lawsuits.Spokesperson Joseph Zwilling said the archdiocese simply wanted to be “treated equally and fairly under the law.” When asked about the waiver from the 500-employee cap that religious organizations received, Zwilling deferred to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.A spokesperson for the bishops’ conference acknowledged its officials lobbied for the paycheck program, but said the organization wasn’t tracking what dioceses and Catholic agencies received.“These loans are an essential lifeline to help faith-based organizations to stay afloat and continue serving those in need during this crisis,” spokesperson Chieko Noguchi said in a written statement. According to AP’s data analysis, the church and all its organizations reported retaining at least 407,900 jobs with the money they were awarded.Noguchi also wrote the conference felt strongly that “the administration write and implement this emergency relief fairly for all applicants.”Not every Catholic institution sought government loans. The Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy based in Stamford, Connecticut, told AP that even though its parishes experienced a decline in donations, none of the organizations in its five-state territory submitted applications.Deacon Steve Wisnowski, a financial officer for the eparchy, said pastors and church managers used their rainy-day savings and that parishioners responded generously with donations. As a result, parishes “did not experience a severe financial crisis.”Wisnowski said his superiors understood the program was for “organizations and businesses truly in need of assistance.”___LOBBYING FOR A BREAKThe law that created the Paycheck Protection Program let nonprofits participate, as long as they abided by SBA’s “affiliation rule.” The rule typically says that only businesses with fewer than 500 employees, including at all subsidiaries, are eligible.Lobbying by the church helped religious organizations get an exception.The Catholic News Service reported that the bishops’ conference and several major Catholic nonprofit agencies worked throughout the week of March 30 to ensure that the “unique nature of the entities would not make them ineligible for the program” because of how SBA defines a “small” business. Those conversations came just days after President Trump signed the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which included the Paycheck Protection Program.In addition, federal records show the Los Angeles archdiocese, whose leader heads the bishops’ conference, paid $20,000 to lobby the U.S. Senate and House on “eligibility for non-profits” under the CARES Act. The records also show that Catholic Charities USA, a social service arm of the church with member agencies in dioceses across the country, paid another $30,000 to lobby on the act and other issues.In late April, after thousands of Catholic institutions had secured loans, several hundred Catholic leaders pressed for additional help on a call with President Trump. During the call, Trump underscored the coming presidential election and touted himself as the candidate best aligned with religious conservatives, boasting he was the “best (president) the Catholic church has ever seen,” according to Crux, an online publication that covers church-related news.The lobbying paid off.Catholic Charities USA and its member agencies were approved for about 110 loans worth between $90 million and $220 million at least, according to the data.In a statement, Catholic Charities said: “Each organization is a separate legal entity under the auspices of the bishop in the diocese in which the agency is located. CCUSA supports agencies that choose to become members, but does not have any role in their daily operations or governance.”The Los Angeles archdiocese told AP in a survey that reporters sent before the release of federal data that 247 of its 288 parishes -- and all but one of its 232 schools -- received loans. The survey covered more than 180 dioceses and eparchies.Like most dioceses, Los Angeles wouldn’t disclose its total dollar amount. While the federal data doesn’t link Catholic recipients to their home dioceses, AP found 37 loans to the archdiocese and its affiliates worth between $9 million and $23 million, including one for its downtown cathedral.In 2014, the archdiocese paid a record $660 million to settle sex abuse claims from more than 500 victims. Spokespeople for Los Angeles Archbishop Jose M. Gomez did not respond to additional questions about the archdiocese’s finances and lobbying.In program materials, SBA officials said they provided the affiliation waiver to religious groups in deference to their unique organizational structure, and because the public health response to slow the coronavirus’ spread disrupted churches just as it did businesses.A senior official in the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which oversees the SBA, acknowledged in a statement the wider availability of SBA loans to religious organizations. “The CARES Act expanded eligibility to include nonprofits in the PPP, and SBA’s regulations ensured that no eligible religious nonprofit was excluded from participation due to its beliefs or denomination,” the statement said.Meanwhile, some legal experts say that the special consideration the government gave faith groups in the loan program has further eroded the wall between church and state provided in the First Amendment. With that erosion, religious groups that don’t pay taxes have gained more access to public money, said Marci Hamilton, a University of Pennsylvania professor and attorney who has represented clergy abuse victims on constitutional issues during bankruptcy proceedings.“At this point, the argument is you’re anti-religious if in fact you would say the Catholic Church shouldn’t be getting government funding,” Hamilton said.___CASHING IN FASTAfter its lobbying blitz, the Catholic Church worked with parishes and schools to access the money.Many dioceses -- from large ones such as the Archdiocese of Boston to smaller ones such as the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin -- assembled how-to guides to help their affiliates apply. The national Catholic fiscal conference also hosted multiple webinars with legal and financial experts to help coach along local leaders.Federal data show that the bulk of the church’s money was approved during the loan program’s first two weeks. That’s when demand for the first-come, first-served assistance was so high that the initial $349 billion was quickly exhausted, shutting out many local businesses.Overall, nearly 500 loans approved to Catholic entities exceeded $1 million each. The AP found that at least eight hit the maximum range of $5 million to $10 million. Many of the listed recipients were the offices of bishops, headquarters of leading religious orders, major churches, schools and chapters of Catholic Charities.Also among recipients was the Saint Luke Institute. The Catholic treatment center for priests accused of sexual abuse and those suffering from other disorders received a loan ranging from $350,000 to $1 million. Based in Silver Spring, Maryland, the institute has at times been a way station for priests accused of sexual abuse who returned to active ministry only to abuse again.Perhaps nothing illustrates the church’s aggressive pursuit of funds better than four dioceses that sued the federal government to receive loans, even though they entered bankruptcy proceedings due to mounting clergy sex-abuse claims. Small Business Administration rules prohibit loans to applicants in bankruptcy.The Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico -- once home to a now-closed and notorious treatment center for predator priests -- prevailed in court, clearing the way for its administrative offices to receive nearly $1 million. It accused the SBA of overreaching by blocking bankruptcy applications when Congress didn’t spell that out.Yet even when a diocese has lost in bankruptcy court, or its case is pending, its affiliated parishes, schools and other organizations remain eligible for loans.On the U.S. territory of Guam, well over 200 clergy abuse lawsuits led church leaders in the tiny Archdiocese of Agana to seek bankruptcy protection, as they estimated at least $45 million in liabilities. Even so, the archdiocese’s parishes, schools and other organizations have received at least $1.7 million as it sues the SBA for approval to get a loan for its headquarters, according to bankruptcy filings.The U.S. church may have a troubling record on sex abuse, but Bishop Lawrence Persico of Erie, Pennsylvania, pushed back on the idea that dioceses should be excluded from the government’s rescue package. Approximately 80 organizations within his diocese received loans worth $10.3 million, the diocese said, with most of the money going to parishes and schools.Persico pointed out that church entities help feed, clothe and shelter the poor -- and in doing so keep people employed.“I know some people may react with surprise that government funding helped support faith-based schools, parishes and dioceses,” he said. “The separation of church and state does not mean that those motivated by their faith have no place in the public square.”___