JOHNSON COUNTY —A Kansas man accused in the death of his mother at her home in Olathe has been charged for the crime.

Last week, 40-year-old Brian Christopher Thode was charged with first degree murder and cruelty to animals, according to the Johnson County District Attorney's office. The charges are in connection with the June 29, death of 72-year-old Nancy Thode.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Just before 6 p.m. June 29, police were dispatched to the 1000 block of East Oakview Street in Olathe for a death investigation, according to&nbsp;Police Sergeant John Moncayo.

Officers arrived and discovered Nancy Thode unresponsive with significant injuries. She was pronounced deceased at the scene.&nbsp;

&nbsp;Brian Thode also “unlawfully, knowingly, maliciously and feloniously” killed a cat and a bird, according to a charging document in the case. Thode remains jailed on a $3,000,000.00 bond. He is due back in court July 17, according to online jail records.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/7/1720003596616.png" alt="Thode-photo Johnson Co." />
 <figcaption>Thode-photo Johnson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>JOHNSON COUNTY —A Kansas man accused in the death of his mother at her home in Olathe has been charged for the crime.Last week, 40-year-old Brian Christopher Thode was charged with first degree murder and cruelty to animals, according to the Johnson County District Attorney's office. The charges are in connection with the June 29, death of 72-year-old Nancy Thode.&nbsp;&nbsp;Just before 6 p.m. June 29, police were dispatched to the 1000 block of East Oakview Street in Olathe for a death investigation, according to&nbsp;Police Sergeant John Moncayo.Officers arrived and discovered Nancy Thode unresponsive with significant injuries. She was pronounced deceased at the scene.&nbsp;&nbsp;Brian Thode also “unlawfully, knowingly, maliciously and feloniously” killed a cat and a bird, according to a charging document in the case. Thode remains jailed on a $3,000,000.00 bond. He is due back in court July 17, according to online jail records.

Kan. man charged with his mother's murder, animal cruelty

JACKSON COUNTY, Kan.—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug allegations.

Just after 9:30p.m. July 3, a Sheriff’s Deputy stopped a vehicle on 150th near U.S. Highway 75 for a traffic infraction, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

The driver Kathy Lynn Jauch, 56, of Golden, Colorado, was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail on a requested charge of possession of methamphetamine, possession of a hallucinogenic drug and possession of drug paraphernalia.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/7/1720316459572.png" alt="Jauch photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Jauch photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY, Kan.—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug allegations.Just after 9:30p.m. July 3, a Sheriff’s Deputy stopped a vehicle on 150th near U.S. Highway 75 for a traffic infraction, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.The driver Kathy Lynn Jauch, 56, of Golden, Colorado, was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail on a requested charge of possession of methamphetamine, possession of a hallucinogenic drug and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Sheriff: Colo. woman was transporting meth in Kansas

The Kansas Turnpike is now cashless and tolls are no longer being collected on the roadway. To complete the conversion process, account information is being migrated into the new system, DriveKS. During this time, KTA’s customer service centers are closed and self-service platforms are unavailable. We’ll be ready to help again, beginning July 8.&nbsp;

The PlanThe Kansas Turnpike will convert to cashless tolling on July 1. Here’s what you need to know:

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/7/1719937245239.png" alt="View of a digital sign Monday on the Turnpike in Douglas County" />
 <figcaption>View of a digital sign Monday on the Turnpike in Douglas County</figcaption>
 </figure>The Kansas Turnpike is now cashless and tolls are no longer being collected on the roadway. To complete the conversion process, account information is being migrated into the new system, DriveKS. During this time, KTA’s customer service centers are closed and self-service platforms are unavailable. We’ll be ready to help again, beginning July 8.&nbsp;<ul>
 <li>We’re busy getting DriveKS, the new toll payment system, ready for cashless tolling. Account information will be unavailable June 29-July 7 as information from myKTAG.com and PayKTA.com is moved to DriveKS.com.</li><li>Any toll statements due during the conversion window can be paid during the month of July without issue.</li><li>Customers who have received a new KTAG can&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-lUxMVZ5rc&amp;t=6s">watch the KTAG installation video here</a>.</li><li>Customer service centers will reopen July 8, ready to help again. When the conversion is complete,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://driveks.com/">DriveKS.com</a>&nbsp;will be the site for all Kansas toll payments or to manage your account.</li><li>At that time, customers will need to delete the old myKTAG app and download the new DriveKS app from the App Store or Google Play.</li>
 </ul>The PlanThe Kansas Turnpike will convert to cashless tolling on July 1. Here’s what you need to know:<ul>
 <li>Beginning June 29, self-service platforms, including paykta.com and myktag website and mobile app will be disabled to prepare for the conversion to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://driveks.com/">DriveKS.com</a>.</li><li>Cash customers traveling on the turnpike overnight on June 30/July 1 should follow the instructions of on-road personnel and signage when exiting.</li><li>While the conversion of the roadway will occur quickly in the early morning hours of July 1, the back-office system, which includes toll payments and account management, will take approximately one week.</li><li>KTA’s three customer service centers will be closed and self-service platforms, including the web sites and mobile app, will be unavailable June 29-July 7. During this week, teams will work to migrate all account information into the new system and there will be no account access – for customers or customer service representatives.</li><li>Customers will be unable to pay for violation or video tolls between June 29-July 7. Any tolls due during this time can be paid during the month of July without issue.</li>
 </ul>

Successful start to cashless tolls on the Kansas Turnpike

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating another homicide in Kansas City.&nbsp;

Just before 3:30a.m. Sunday, police responded to report of a shooting at 12th and Grand, according to Sheriff Daryl Forte'.&nbsp; First responders found a man with gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Before the report of gunshots there was a large crowd was gathered in a parking lot, according to KCPD Sergeant Phil DiMartino.

Police are asking anyone with any information to contact Homicide detectives at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline anonymously at 816-474-TIPS.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719784274963.png" alt="Photo Sheriff Daryl Forte'" />
 <figcaption>Photo Sheriff Daryl Forte'</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating another homicide in Kansas City.&nbsp;Just before 3:30a.m. Sunday, police responded to report of a shooting at 12th and Grand, according to Sheriff Daryl Forte'.&nbsp; First responders found a man with gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/7/1719851760036.png" alt="Google map" />
 <figcaption>Google map</figcaption>
 </figure>Before the report of gunshots there was a large crowd was gathered in a parking lot, according to KCPD Sergeant Phil DiMartino.Police are asking anyone with any information to contact Homicide detectives at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline anonymously at 816-474-TIPS.

One dead in shooting near KC Power and Light District

WICHITA, Kan.—&nbsp;The Kansas Turnpike will become cashless on July 1, for safety, customer convenience and operational efficiencies.

(Click below to watch how new cashless tolling works)

<a href="https://www.ksturnpike.com/cashless-tolling?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3Q-lF_1KPUWJtKQwVjf8SXz2xu1jtaCSVGES-2r3Ai-LpGgPbymaBYt-I_aem_A0qvoLAqgjh6u_3VUqaxAw">Click here to learn</a> more about cashless tolling in Kansas.

Cashless tolling allows for more consistent fares since elements used for cash collection, such as rounding to the nearest nickel or quarter, are no longer necessary. With the elimination of rounding to the nearest nickel or quarter, many short-distance travelers will see a reduction in the toll they pay.

The new toll structure will be a flat, per-mile rate based upon axle count and whether the vehicle has a transponder or is identified by their license plate. Find&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ksturnpike.com/uploads/misc-documents/Cashless-Toll-Rates.pdf">new per-mile rates here</a>.

"This change will be especially beneficial for customers who drive shorter distances, such as Kansans commuting to work or school,” Deb Miller, Chairperson of the Kansas Turnpike Authority Board, said.

These new per-mile toll rates will go into effect when the Kansas Turnpike converts to cashless tolling in mid-2024.

Establishment of these toll rates is one of many tasks necessary for the modernization. In addition to on-roadway work, KTA teams have been developing the account management functions necessary to support customers.

This month, customer service call center hours will increase to 7:30 am – 6:30 pm, Monday through Friday, to better serve customers in advance of the conversion. Walk-in retail hours will remain the same 8 am – 5 pm.

Customers will also see a refreshed K-TAG logo that aligns visually with its parent organization, the Kansas Turnpike Authority. K-TAG is a small in-vehicle device used to facilitate a customer’s toll payment and provides the lowest toll rate on the Kansas Turnpike – now and in the future.

“We are excited about our progress toward cashless tolling and believe our customers will be too,” Steve Hewitt, CEO of the Kansas Turnpike Authority, said. “KTA’s recent satisfaction survey shows that 84 percent of customers support the modernization to cashless tolling.”

Additional information will be provided in the months leading up to the conversion. Learn more about cashless tolling, and watch short informational videos, at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ksturnpike.com/cashless-tolling">www.DriveKS.com</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1706545368725.png" alt="Image KTA" />
 <figcaption>Image KTA</figcaption>
 </figure>WICHITA, Kan.—&nbsp;The Kansas Turnpike will become cashless on July 1, for safety, customer convenience and operational efficiencies.(Click below to watch how new cashless tolling works)<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kdgGrbsT68A?si=1xl5UKVy3G1j3hKl" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><a href="https://www.ksturnpike.com/cashless-tolling?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3Q-lF_1KPUWJtKQwVjf8SXz2xu1jtaCSVGES-2r3Ai-LpGgPbymaBYt-I_aem_A0qvoLAqgjh6u_3VUqaxAw">Click here to learn</a> more about cashless tolling in Kansas.Cashless tolling allows for more consistent fares since elements used for cash collection, such as rounding to the nearest nickel or quarter, are no longer necessary. With the elimination of rounding to the nearest nickel or quarter, many short-distance travelers will see a reduction in the toll they pay.The new toll structure will be a flat, per-mile rate based upon axle count and whether the vehicle has a transponder or is identified by their license plate. Find&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ksturnpike.com/uploads/misc-documents/Cashless-Toll-Rates.pdf">new per-mile rates here</a>."This change will be especially beneficial for customers who drive shorter distances, such as Kansans commuting to work or school,” Deb Miller, Chairperson of the Kansas Turnpike Authority Board, said.These new per-mile toll rates will go into effect when the Kansas Turnpike converts to cashless tolling in mid-2024.Establishment of these toll rates is one of many tasks necessary for the modernization. In addition to on-roadway work, KTA teams have been developing the account management functions necessary to support customers.This month, customer service call center hours will increase to 7:30 am – 6:30 pm, Monday through Friday, to better serve customers in advance of the conversion. Walk-in retail hours will remain the same 8 am – 5 pm.Customers will also see a refreshed K-TAG logo that aligns visually with its parent organization, the Kansas Turnpike Authority. K-TAG is a small in-vehicle device used to facilitate a customer’s toll payment and provides the lowest toll rate on the Kansas Turnpike – now and in the future.“We are excited about our progress toward cashless tolling and believe our customers will be too,” Steve Hewitt, CEO of the Kansas Turnpike Authority, said. “KTA’s recent satisfaction survey shows that 84 percent of customers support the modernization to cashless tolling.”Additional information will be provided in the months leading up to the conversion. Learn more about cashless tolling, and watch short informational videos, at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ksturnpike.com/cashless-tolling">www.DriveKS.com</a>.

🎥New cashless tolling begins Monday on the Kansas Turnpike

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jacob-fischler/">JACOB FISCHLER</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/09/21/kansas-board-of-regents-sculpts-plan-for-boosting-state-aid-to-public-higher-education/?emci=78717300-c858-ee11-9937-00224832eb73&amp;emdi=fc107f78-2659-ee11-9937-00224832eb73&amp;ceid=115039">Kansas Reflector</a>

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will get a crucial opportunity to reach undecided voters and set the terms for the 2024 presidential campaign at Thursday night’s debate in Atlanta.

Partisans on either side have already made up their minds about which candidate they’ll support. And with this year’s race serving as a rematch of 2020, many Americans have already formed strong and possibly unchangeable opinions about the candidates.

Yet there is a sizable group of voters who haven’t decided who they’ll support in November, Christopher Stout, a professor of political science at Oregon State University, said in an interview with States Newsroom.

“On one hand, opinions about Joe Biden and Donald Trump are baked in,” Stout said. “On the other hand, there’s a lot of people who aren’t paying any attention to politics and this is their first time thinking about the 2024 election.”

For Biden, a major objective will be to show voters the 81-year-old incumbent can be energetic and forceful, Stout and political strategists said.

Trump, 78, may focus on appealing to voters in the ideological middle and wavering Republicans who want a conservative candidate but are turned off by the former president’s antics.

On policy, each candidate has issues they will capitalize on as strengths. Trump will probably press Biden on immigration and inflation, while Biden undoubtedly will be eager to criticize Trump on reproductive rights.

The debate, sponsored by CNN, will be moderated by the network’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash and begin at 9 p.m. Eastern, with no studio audience. It is set to last for 90 minutes and will air live on CNN with simulcast available for other cable and broadcast networks.

Each candidate’s microphone will be muted while the other is speaking. No props are allowed but each man will be given a pen, pad and bottle of water,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/25/politics/how-to-watch-cnn-debate/index.html" target="_blank">CNN said.</a>

Trump could gain ground with moderate and independent voters by appearing steady.

After winning the presidency in 2016, Trump lost to Biden in 2020 amid a sense that Republican-leaning voters were weary of his unorthodox style and tendency to create scandal.

“If he’s boring and he looks like a typical politician, that’s going to be a big plus for him,” Stout said. “If he looks like a typical politician and he seems more moderate, then there’s the opportunity to bring back a set of voters who were once Republican who have now left the party.”

At the same time, there’s likely not too much down side for Trump if he does go off-script, as voters have come to expect outlandish comments and behavior, Republican strategist Doug Heye said.

“Donald Trump is gonna say something crazy,” Heye said. “That is all factored in and that’s not changing anybody’s mind.”

Heye cited recent remarks Trump has made about shark attacks, electrocution from oversized batteries and taking his shirt off to reveal psychic wounds inflicted by political opponents.

In a move reminiscent of his reality-show past, Trump has teased a possible announcement of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/calm-conservative-confident-what-gop-senators-want-trumps-vice-presidential-pick" target="_blank">his vice presidential pick</a>&nbsp;at the debate.

But even if voters expect some degree of eccentricity from Trump, that will not help him win over the undecided voters who will decide the election, said Rodell Mollineau, a co-founder and partner at the Washington-based strategy firm ROKK Solutions and a veteran of Democratic campaigns.

“If you’re actually trying to reach voters, I’m not sure how Trump ranting and raving, talking about delusional conspiracy theories, helps him win independent voters,” Mollineau said.

Trump will face an additional unique challenge if he tries to look like a traditional presidential candidate: his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-found-guilty-34-felony-counts-ny-hush-money-trial-10" target="_blank">34 felony convictions</a>&nbsp;in New York last month and the three other felony prosecutions against him pending, including two related to his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

“I’m watching to see how he talks about or doesn’t talk about his many court dalliances and the conviction and whatever else he has hanging over his head,” Mollineau said.

Biden faces different questions he must answer.

Voters have doubts about the incumbent’s ability, due in part to his age, inclination for misspeaking and a concerted effort by Republicans and GOP-aligned media to portray Biden as past his prime.

“I think Biden in part is going to be trying to overcome the image that Trump and Republicans in general have been very successful in creating,” University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock said.&nbsp; “They’ve been working on this now for at least five years, and that is the image of Biden being too old, being not up to it physically or mentally to continue to serve as president for another four years.”

Biden countered that narrative — at least temporarily — with an exuberant performance at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/biden-warns-freedom-and-democracy-are-under-attack-fierce-state-union-address" target="_blank">the State of the Union address</a>&nbsp;this year, several observers said.

Matching that energy will help him have a positive debate, they said.

But Heye noted that despite rave reviews from Democrats, the president’s State of the Union performance did not improve his standing in polls.

“The reaction from Democrats was: game changer,” Heye said. “And if we look at the polling, the game didn’t change at all.”

Biden would also benefit by reminding voters of his policy record, and contrasting it with Trump’s, Stout and Mollineau said.

“It will advantage him if he can talk about policy,” Stout said. “People don’t know the things he has done and so there’s hope maybe to inform people and sway the electorate.”

Biden should target left-leaning voters by reminding them of his achievements on climate and the environment and his administration’s efforts to create jobs, Stout said.

Mollineau added that Biden must remind voters of Trump’s tumultuous time in office and Biden’s achievements thus far, while balancing that message with an acknowledgment that many Americans are unsatisfied.

The debate, which will be broadcast from CNN’s Georgia headquarters, comes much earlier in the election cycle than usual, even before the party conventions that typically symbolize the start of the general election.

The candidates agreed to the unusual schedule after rejecting a proposal from the Commission on Presidential Debates, a nonpartisan organization that has organized the events for decades, typically with three meetings between presidential candidates and one between would-be vice presidents.

This year’s June schedule could give the candidates a chance to frame the race moving forward, as many voters will be tuning in to the contest for the first time.

But the nearly 19 weeks remaining until Election Day could also mean a candidate with a weak performance has time to recover, or that a strong performance could diminish.

“I do not believe anyone is going to either win or lose the election this week,” Mollineau said.

Bullock, the Georgia professor, differed.

Because of the unpopularity of both candidates, and the sense that voters will be choosing the one they view as “the least of two evils,” either could provide a voter’s “final straw,” he said.

“They may hear something coming out of the mouths of one of these and say, ‘Yeah, that’s it,’” Bullock said. “‘That’s the final straw. I can’t support that one. It helps me make up my mind to go with the other person.’”

Ross Williams contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719402433185.png" alt="The McCamish Pavilion at Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. It is the site of the press center for media covering the CNN debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on Thursday (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)." />
 <figcaption>The McCamish Pavilion at Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. It is the site of the press center for media covering the CNN debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on Thursday (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder).</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jacob-fischler/">JACOB FISCHLER</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/09/21/kansas-board-of-regents-sculpts-plan-for-boosting-state-aid-to-public-higher-education/?emci=78717300-c858-ee11-9937-00224832eb73&amp;emdi=fc107f78-2659-ee11-9937-00224832eb73&amp;ceid=115039">Kansas Reflector</a>President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will get a crucial opportunity to reach undecided voters and set the terms for the 2024 presidential campaign at Thursday night’s debate in Atlanta.Partisans on either side have already made up their minds about which candidate they’ll support. And with this year’s race serving as a rematch of 2020, many Americans have already formed strong and possibly unchangeable opinions about the candidates.Yet there is a sizable group of voters who haven’t decided who they’ll support in November, Christopher Stout, a professor of political science at Oregon State University, said in an interview with States Newsroom.“On one hand, opinions about Joe Biden and Donald Trump are baked in,” Stout said. “On the other hand, there’s a lot of people who aren’t paying any attention to politics and this is their first time thinking about the 2024 election.”For Biden, a major objective will be to show voters the 81-year-old incumbent can be energetic and forceful, Stout and political strategists said.Trump, 78, may focus on appealing to voters in the ideological middle and wavering Republicans who want a conservative candidate but are turned off by the former president’s antics.On policy, each candidate has issues they will capitalize on as strengths. Trump will probably press Biden on immigration and inflation, while Biden undoubtedly will be eager to criticize Trump on reproductive rights.The debate, sponsored by CNN, will be moderated by the network’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash and begin at 9 p.m. Eastern, with no studio audience. It is set to last for 90 minutes and will air live on CNN with simulcast available for other cable and broadcast networks.Each candidate’s microphone will be muted while the other is speaking. No props are allowed but each man will be given a pen, pad and bottle of water,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/25/politics/how-to-watch-cnn-debate/index.html" target="_blank">CNN said.</a><h2>Can Trump be boring?</h2>Trump could gain ground with moderate and independent voters by appearing steady.After winning the presidency in 2016, Trump lost to Biden in 2020 amid a sense that Republican-leaning voters were weary of his unorthodox style and tendency to create scandal.“If he’s boring and he looks like a typical politician, that’s going to be a big plus for him,” Stout said. “If he looks like a typical politician and he seems more moderate, then there’s the opportunity to bring back a set of voters who were once Republican who have now left the party.”At the same time, there’s likely not too much down side for Trump if he does go off-script, as voters have come to expect outlandish comments and behavior, Republican strategist Doug Heye said.“Donald Trump is gonna say something crazy,” Heye said. “That is all factored in and that’s not changing anybody’s mind.”Heye cited recent remarks Trump has made about shark attacks, electrocution from oversized batteries and taking his shirt off to reveal psychic wounds inflicted by political opponents.In a move reminiscent of his reality-show past, Trump has teased a possible announcement of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/calm-conservative-confident-what-gop-senators-want-trumps-vice-presidential-pick" target="_blank">his vice presidential pick</a>&nbsp;at the debate.But even if voters expect some degree of eccentricity from Trump, that will not help him win over the undecided voters who will decide the election, said Rodell Mollineau, a co-founder and partner at the Washington-based strategy firm ROKK Solutions and a veteran of Democratic campaigns.“If you’re actually trying to reach voters, I’m not sure how Trump ranting and raving, talking about delusional conspiracy theories, helps him win independent voters,” Mollineau said.Trump will face an additional unique challenge if he tries to look like a traditional presidential candidate: his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-found-guilty-34-felony-counts-ny-hush-money-trial-10" target="_blank">34 felony convictions</a>&nbsp;in New York last month and the three other felony prosecutions against him pending, including two related to his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.“I’m watching to see how he talks about or doesn’t talk about his many court dalliances and the conviction and whatever else he has hanging over his head,” Mollineau said.<h2>Can Biden be forceful?</h2>Biden faces different questions he must answer.Voters have doubts about the incumbent’s ability, due in part to his age, inclination for misspeaking and a concerted effort by Republicans and GOP-aligned media to portray Biden as past his prime.“I think Biden in part is going to be trying to overcome the image that Trump and Republicans in general have been very successful in creating,” University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock said.&nbsp; “They’ve been working on this now for at least five years, and that is the image of Biden being too old, being not up to it physically or mentally to continue to serve as president for another four years.”Biden countered that narrative — at least temporarily — with an exuberant performance at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/biden-warns-freedom-and-democracy-are-under-attack-fierce-state-union-address" target="_blank">the State of the Union address</a>&nbsp;this year, several observers said.Matching that energy will help him have a positive debate, they said.But Heye noted that despite rave reviews from Democrats, the president’s State of the Union performance did not improve his standing in polls.“The reaction from Democrats was: game changer,” Heye said. “And if we look at the polling, the game didn’t change at all.”Biden would also benefit by reminding voters of his policy record, and contrasting it with Trump’s, Stout and Mollineau said.“It will advantage him if he can talk about policy,” Stout said. “People don’t know the things he has done and so there’s hope maybe to inform people and sway the electorate.”Biden should target left-leaning voters by reminding them of his achievements on climate and the environment and his administration’s efforts to create jobs, Stout said.Mollineau added that Biden must remind voters of Trump’s tumultuous time in office and Biden’s achievements thus far, while balancing that message with an acknowledgment that many Americans are unsatisfied.<h2>An early debate</h2>The debate, which will be broadcast from CNN’s Georgia headquarters, comes much earlier in the election cycle than usual, even before the party conventions that typically symbolize the start of the general election.The candidates agreed to the unusual schedule after rejecting a proposal from the Commission on Presidential Debates, a nonpartisan organization that has organized the events for decades, typically with three meetings between presidential candidates and one between would-be vice presidents.All debates are usually in the fall.This year’s June schedule could give the candidates a chance to frame the race moving forward, as many voters will be tuning in to the contest for the first time.But the nearly 19 weeks remaining until Election Day could also mean a candidate with a weak performance has time to recover, or that a strong performance could diminish.“I do not believe anyone is going to either win or lose the election this week,” Mollineau said.Bullock, the Georgia professor, differed.Because of the unpopularity of both candidates, and the sense that voters will be choosing the one they view as “the least of two evils,” either could provide a voter’s “final straw,” he said.“They may hear something coming out of the mouths of one of these and say, ‘Yeah, that’s it,’” Bullock said. “‘That’s the final straw. I can’t support that one. It helps me make up my mind to go with the other person.’”Ross Williams contributed to this report.

Undecided voters are the prize for Biden and Trump in presidential debate

Totally Cool, Inc. of Owings Mills, Maryland is recalling multiple brands of ice cream products, because they have the potential to be contaminated with&nbsp;Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, according to a media release from the FDA.

<a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/179567/download?attachment">Click here to view</a>&nbsp;the complete list of recalled products

Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea,&nbsp;Listeria&nbsp;infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Products were distributed nationwide, and available in retail locations and direct delivery.

Product can be identified by comparing the date and plant information on the product. Example photographs of the impacted product are provided below.

Totally Cool, Inc. has ceased the production and distribution of the affected products due to FDA sampling which discovered the presence of&nbsp;Listeria monocytogenes. The company continues its investigation and is taking preventive actions. No other products produced by Totally Cool, Inc. are impacted by this recall.

Consumers who have recalled product in their possession are urged to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact Totally Cool, Inc. at 410-363- 7801 and&nbsp;<a href="mailto:regulatory@totallycoolicecream.com">regulatory@totallycoolicecream.com</a>, between 8am and 4pm eastern, Monday to Friday.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719415576254.png" alt="Image courtesy FDA" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy FDA</figcaption>
 </figure>Totally Cool, Inc. of Owings Mills, Maryland is recalling multiple brands of ice cream products, because they have the potential to be contaminated with&nbsp;Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, according to a media release from the FDA.<a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/179567/download?attachment">Click here to view</a>&nbsp;the complete list of recalled productsAlthough healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea,&nbsp;Listeria&nbsp;infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.Products were distributed nationwide, and available in retail locations and direct delivery.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719415555369.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Product can be identified by comparing the date and plant information on the product. Example photographs of the impacted product are provided below.No illnesses have been reported to date.Totally Cool, Inc. has ceased the production and distribution of the affected products due to FDA sampling which discovered the presence of&nbsp;Listeria monocytogenes. The company continues its investigation and is taking preventive actions. No other products produced by Totally Cool, Inc. are impacted by this recall.Consumers who have recalled product in their possession are urged to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact Totally Cool, Inc. at 410-363- 7801 and&nbsp;<a href="mailto:regulatory@totallycoolicecream.com">regulatory@totallycoolicecream.com</a>, between 8am and 4pm eastern, Monday to Friday.

Ice cream products from major brands recalled for listeria risk

Snapchill LLC (Snapchill) of Wisconsin is voluntarily recalling all canned coffee products manufactured by the company, within expiration date, because their current process could lead to the growth and production of the deadly toxin, botulinum toxin, in low acid canned foods, according to a statement from the Food and Drug Administration.

<a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/179493/download?attachment">Click here to see a complete</a> list of products included

Botulism, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning, can cause the following symptoms: general weakness, dizziness, double-vision and trouble with speaking or swallowing. Difficulty in breathing, weakness of other muscles, abdominal distension and constipation may also be common symptoms. Symptoms can begin from six hours to two weeks after eating food that contains botulinum toxin. People experiencing these problems should seek immediate medical attention.

The products were distributed nationwide through various coffee roasters and retail locations, as well as through direct online purchase from Snapchill. The problem was identified when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified Snapchill that the low acid canned foods process for manufacturing the recalled products was not filed with FDA, as is required by regulation. No illnesses have been reported to-date, and Snapchill is not aware of any instances in which the company’s products contained botulin toxin. Snapchill is working on filing the appropriate notification with FDA.

The products are sold under a range of roaster and brand names, in variety of metal can sizes ranging from 7 oz to 12 oz. The products are identifiable by the language “Produced and distributed by Snapchill LLC” underneath the nutrition facts panel. Some of the products can also be identified by the text “Snapchill Coffee” on the label. The specific products subject to this voluntary recall are listed at the end of this notice.

This voluntary recall is being made with the knowledge of FDA.

Consumers should either destroy the products or return the product to Snapchill or the place of purchase for a refund. Snapchill will offer full refunds for any of these products, with appropriate proof of purchase including a picture of the product(s) before being destroyed. Full information about the return and refund will be available at Compliance@Snapchill.com.

Consumers with questions may contact the company any time by email at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:Compliance@snapchill.com">Compliance@snapchill.com</a>, or by phone, Monday through Friday between 8:00am and 4:00pm Central Time, at (920) 632-6018.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719331741764.png" alt="Among the hundreds of coffee products included in the recall" />
 <figcaption>Among the hundreds of coffee products included in the recall</figcaption>
 </figure>Snapchill LLC (Snapchill) of Wisconsin is voluntarily recalling all canned coffee products manufactured by the company, within expiration date, because their current process could lead to the growth and production of the deadly toxin, botulinum toxin, in low acid canned foods, according to a statement from the Food and Drug Administration.<a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/179493/download?attachment">Click here to see a complete</a> list of products includedBotulism, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning, can cause the following symptoms: general weakness, dizziness, double-vision and trouble with speaking or swallowing. Difficulty in breathing, weakness of other muscles, abdominal distension and constipation may also be common symptoms. Symptoms can begin from six hours to two weeks after eating food that contains botulinum toxin. People experiencing these problems should seek immediate medical attention.The products were distributed nationwide through various coffee roasters and retail locations, as well as through direct online purchase from Snapchill. The problem was identified when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified Snapchill that the low acid canned foods process for manufacturing the recalled products was not filed with FDA, as is required by regulation. No illnesses have been reported to-date, and Snapchill is not aware of any instances in which the company’s products contained botulin toxin. Snapchill is working on filing the appropriate notification with FDA.The products are sold under a range of roaster and brand names, in variety of metal can sizes ranging from 7 oz to 12 oz. The products are identifiable by the language “Produced and distributed by Snapchill LLC” underneath the nutrition facts panel. Some of the products can also be identified by the text “Snapchill Coffee” on the label. The specific products subject to this voluntary recall are listed at the end of this notice.This voluntary recall is being made with the knowledge of FDA.Consumers should either destroy the products or return the product to Snapchill or the place of purchase for a refund. Snapchill will offer full refunds for any of these products, with appropriate proof of purchase including a picture of the product(s) before being destroyed. Full information about the return and refund will be available at Compliance@Snapchill.com.Consumers with questions may contact the company any time by email at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:Compliance@snapchill.com">Compliance@snapchill.com</a>, or by phone, Monday through Friday between 8:00am and 4:00pm Central Time, at (920) 632-6018.

Risk of fatal food poisoning: Hundreds of coffee products recalled 

SALINE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after an altercation at a convenience store.

Just before 5a.m. Tuesday, employees from the KWIK Stop gas station at 1727 West Crawford Street in Salina reported to police that a man walked into the store naked and began battering employees with a stick in each hand, according to Salina Police Captain James Feldman 

The man assaulted three employees, the first at the back door of the convenience store and the second and third inside store.

When officers arrived at the store, employees had already subdued the subject, who SPD officers identified as 42-year-old Joshua Renfro of Salina.

The first employee Renfro allegedly assaulted was a 60-year-old employee Renfro pushed past to enter the store from the backdoor.

"There was a 55-year-old employee who heard a commotion in the business, and as he was at the back at the coolers, he observed the naked male who had two sticks in his hands," Feldman said. 

"This employee told Renfro he needed to leave the business. Renfro then allegedly struck the victim several times in the head with one of the sticks and that employee suffered several cuts to his forehead and left eye.

Another employee, a 51-year-old woman, moved to assist her two coworkers when Renfro pushed her to the ground and caused an injury to her left elbow and an injury on her thigh, according to Feldman.

Emergency responders transported the 51-year-old woman to Salina Regional Health Center to treat the potentially broken elbow.

"Officers ended up wrapping the subject and transporting him to the hospital because they believe there's an influence of drugs," Feldman said. "I don't know if he's out [of the hospital], but he is facing charges&nbsp; of aggravated battery and a count of simple battery.

Renfro did not attempt to steal any items at Kwik Shop — he only attacked employees in the convenience store.

After Renfro is released from the hospital,&nbsp; police will consider further charges for the incident.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718801355216.png" alt="Renfro -photo from an arrest earlier this month for alleged DUI. He was jailed for alleged battery in Salina in July of 2023, according to online jail records." />
 <figcaption>Renfro -photo from an arrest earlier this month for alleged DUI. He was jailed for alleged battery in Salina in July of 2023, according to online jail records.</figcaption>
 </figure>SALINE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after an altercation at a convenience store.Just before 5a.m. Tuesday, employees from the KWIK Stop gas station at 1727 West Crawford Street in Salina reported to police that a man walked into the store naked and began battering employees with a stick in each hand, according to Salina Police Captain James Feldman The man assaulted three employees, the first at the back door of the convenience store and the second and third inside store.When officers arrived at the store, employees had already subdued the subject, who SPD officers identified as 42-year-old Joshua Renfro of Salina.The first employee Renfro allegedly assaulted was a 60-year-old employee Renfro pushed past to enter the store from the backdoor."There was a 55-year-old employee who heard a commotion in the business, and as he was at the back at the coolers, he observed the naked male who had two sticks in his hands," Feldman said. "This employee told Renfro he needed to leave the business. Renfro then allegedly struck the victim several times in the head with one of the sticks and that employee suffered several cuts to his forehead and left eye.Another employee, a 51-year-old woman, moved to assist her two coworkers when Renfro pushed her to the ground and caused an injury to her left elbow and an injury on her thigh, according to Feldman.Emergency responders transported the 51-year-old woman to Salina Regional Health Center to treat the potentially broken elbow."Officers ended up wrapping the subject and transporting him to the hospital because they believe there's an influence of drugs," Feldman said. "I don't know if he's out [of the hospital], but he is facing charges&nbsp; of aggravated battery and a count of simple battery.Renfro did not attempt to steal any items at Kwik Shop — he only attacked employees in the convenience store.After Renfro is released from the hospital,&nbsp; police will consider further charges for the incident.

Police: Naked man attacked Kan. convenience store staff

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion two years ago. Since then, thousands of Missourians sought other ways to access the medical procedure

BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a><a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/02/20/state-senator-throws-first-punches-of-2024-missouri-governors-campaign/">Missouri Independent</a>

When Missouri outlawed abortion two years ago, Nicole was far more worried for her grown children than for herself.&nbsp;

It had been two decades since she last gave birth, when she suffered a serious stroke during labor followed by severe postpartum depression. She was outraged that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, but pregnancy was in Nicole’s past.

That changed a couple weeks later, when her IUD failed.&nbsp;

“Are you kidding me?” she recalls thinking, looking around at the life she and her husband had built together in southwest Missouri.

In her 40s and living in a state where virtually every abortion is now banned, Nicole — who asked to only be identified by her middle name for fear of prosecution — was among the first of thousands of Missouri women forced to navigate abortion access in a post-Roe world.&nbsp;

On June 24, 2022, Missouri became the first state in the country to respond to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, striking down Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to an abortion. The Republican-run state quickly enacted its trigger law banning all abortions with limited exceptions in cases of medical emergencies.

In the two years since, countless women like Nicole have faced already tough decisions made more excruciating by having to find discreet ways to manage their own health or travel far from home for care.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Missouri already had some of the strictest abortion regulations in the country, pushing most women seeking access to the procedure out of state. But the end of Roe raised the stakes, leaving women in Missouri — which already has some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country — fearful that in the most extreme cases, the ban could mean their death.&nbsp;

Last year, approximately 2,860 Missourians traveled to Kansas last year for abortions, and 8,710 traveled to Illinois,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://guttmacherinstitute.github.io/provision-dashboard/">according to the Guttmacher Institute,</a>&nbsp;a reproductive rights research group that closely tracks abortion data. But they made up only about 10% of the total abortion patients in each state.

After Dobbs, Missourians’ access to care in states like Kansas and Illinois became precarious as abortion bans became more widespread.

“In a matter of months, we started serving patients from Texas and Arkansas and Oklahoma,” Emily Wales, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said of the time immediately following the Dobbs decision. “Missourians had to really compete for too few appointments.”

The longer wait times at clinics and barriers to traveling for abortions has led Missourians to increasingly consider self-managed abortions.

That includes Nicole, who received an envelope at home marked with international postage containing Mifepristone and Misoprostol after consulting an online doctor she found through Plan C, an abortion-pill provider.

Missourians navigate abortion access after Dobbs

For Nicole, the decision to end her most recent pregnancy was simple. To continue felt unsafe, she said, and she and her husband didn’t want to start over raising a child.&nbsp;

But the conversations that followed were kept strictly between the husband and wife.&nbsp;

With pervasive uncertainty around whether or not women could be prosecuted for self-administering medication abortions in Missouri, the stakes are higher than ever for those trying to end unwanted or medically complicated pregnancies.&nbsp;

It’s why Nicole didn’t tell her pastor at church. She didn’t tell friends or family. Nicole didn’t even tell her gynecologist, fearing she would be reported by someone in their corner of the state where anti-abortion messaging proliferates billboards, bumper stickers and handwritten signs staked into yards.

Ultimately, Nicole couldn’t imagine fleeing her state for the procedure. She wanted to be home.&nbsp;

“I felt really angry that I would have to leave my community,” she said. “It’s not a shameful thing, it’s a procedure. It’s a medical health care procedure.”

In the six months after the Dobbs decision, the number of&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/03/25/more-than-26000-self-managed-abortions-may-have-occurred-post-dobbs-study-shows/">self-managed medication abortions rose&nbsp;</a>by more than 26,000 across the U.S. according to a<a target="_blank" href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2024.4266?utm_campaign=articlePDF%26utm_medium=articlePDFlink%26utm_source=articlePDF%26utm_content=jama.2024.4266">&nbsp;study</a>&nbsp;published in JAMA, the American Medical Association’s journal.

While medication abortions are overall very safe, effective and approved by the FDA to end pregnancies up to 10 weeks, there is some risk associated with any medication. Self-managing an abortion alone, without a local medical provider’s guidance,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2024/abortion-pill-experience-stories/?itid=ap_carolinekitchener">can be nerve-wracking.</a>

In the unlikely situation that Nicole started hemorrhaging, she and her husband mapped out the closest Kansas hospital that would have the level of care they needed.&nbsp;

When the time came, they both took a day off work and snuggled on the couch. Nicole pressed a heating pad to her abdomen to soothe the cramps, which she described as similar to period pains. Then came the relief.

After the abortion, her husband got a vasectomy. She kept the IUD. Despite their precautions, sex is now accompanied by paranoia as Nicole counts down the days to her period each month.&nbsp;

She ordered extra abortion medication in case anyone she knows might need it. And despite the nearly two years since her abortion, Nicole said she still can’t shake the absurdity she felt hunkering down in her home that day.

“I make decisions for myself every day, and I make good decisions,” she said. “The audacity that people think I can’t make the best healthcare decisions for myself — it’s hard for me to put into words how upsetting it is.”

Stories of women desperate to end their pregnancies proliferate the internet.&nbsp;

<a target="_blank" href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/02/online-abortion-resource-squad-advice-disinformation.html">Reddit is increasingly a gathering place&nbsp;</a>for those seeking answers and assurance. Many of the posts — all anonymous — illustrate how terrified many Missourians are.&nbsp;

In one post from mid-June, a 23-year-old woman from Missouri feared she was pregnant by her abusive boyfriend but didn’t have the money to travel for an abortion.

“I will drink an entire bottle of vodka if I have to idc,” she wrote. Other anonymous users quickly took to the page to offer other solutions.

In a 2023 post, someone inquired about getting an abortion for their pregnant 15-year-old sister in Missouri without parental consent.&nbsp;

“This experience is causing her to have suicidal thoughts, crippling anxiety, and extreme depression,” the user wrote. “All of which she already had before this. I need help. I am desperate. I do not want to lose my baby sister.”

Even for those who work in abortion-rights advocacy, navigating an abortion post-Roe is anxiety-inducing.

Maggie Olivia first got pregnant while living in St. Louis in 2020. She was on birth control at the time.&nbsp;

Because of Missouri’s “targeted regulation of abortion providers” laws, including mandatory pelvic exams for medication abortions and 72-hour waiting period between the initial appointment and a surgical abortion, she was encouraged to go to a Planned Parenthood in Illinois.

It was clinic escorts with Abortion Action Missouri who guided Olivia into her appointment just across the Mississippi River and reassured her ahead of the procedure. She was so moved by their kindness that Olivia went on to volunteer with the group, and now serves as a senior policy manager with the abortion-rights group.

In the months after the Dobbs decision, Olivia, like many in abortion advocacy work, was navigating the ever-changing landscape of abortion access. At the same time, Olivia said she was mistakenly denied her birth control prescription by a pharmacist after switching contraceptive methods.&nbsp;

When a pregnancy test came back positive several weeks later, Olivia’s first call was to her boss, who she said offered immediate support and guidance.&nbsp;

“But even that close proximity to the reality of the crisis doesn’t make being pregnant when you don’t want to be any less horrifying,” she said.&nbsp;

Unlike with her first pregnancy, Olivia decided not to tell her health care providers in Missouri.&nbsp;&nbsp;

But after ending up in the emergency room for unrelated reasons, her pregnancy was noted in her records. Months later, Olivia said she was denied access to an unrelated medication because her medical records said she was pregnant, compounding the fear she already had of being punished in some way for having an abortion, however legal, in Illinois.

“It was very upsetting,” Olivia said. “And I had thought that I had taken steps to be precautious.”

When she had her second abortion at the same Illinois clinic from two years prior, she also had an IUD placed.

“Your access to abortion doesn’t need to be attached to some traumatic, horrifying situation in of itself,” Olivia said. “Being pregnant when you don’t want to be is scary enough, is horrifying enough.”

When a sonographer approaches Dr. Jennifer Smith, a St. Louis OB-GYN, her heart drops.

“Every time I look at a fetal ultrasound, it takes on new intensity and new anxiety,” she said, concerned that her patient will have a diagnosis they can’t be of help with in Missouri.&nbsp;

Missouri physicians are balancing medically complex pregnant patients with&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/06/04/missouri-ob-gyn-residents-maternal-health-abortion/">legal restrictions that could land them in prison</a>&nbsp;for up to 15 years if they perform an abortion the state finds was unnecessary, and, therefore, illegal.&nbsp;

No providers have been prosecuted at this point, but the ways something could go wrong keep Smith up at night. So, too, does the future of not only maternal health care, but also motherhood in Missouri.

“Missouri women are afraid to be pregnant in Missouri,” Smith said. “They are so worried that they might die while pregnant, or that they may get pregnant with a baby with anomalies and have no options because they live in Missouri.”

While Smith is often helping women who want to be pregnant, a couple miles across the river in Illinois sits the regional logistics center for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri. There, three patient navigators help those trying to end their pregnancies.&nbsp;

Kenicia Page, the call center manager, said she saw a tremendous increase in callers from the West Palm Beach area, more than 1,100 miles south, when&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/04/30/florida-is-one-day-away-of-becoming-the-latest-state-to-enact-a-rigid-six-week-abortion-ban/">Florida’s ban went into place on May 1</a>.

Right now, she says the clinic receives about 100 calls a day.&nbsp;&nbsp;

They act as pseudo travel planners and financial aid counselors, helping book transportation and finding funding for patients.&nbsp;

Despite the comparative proximity, transportation can still be a headache for some Missourians, particularly those in rural parts of the state without access to public transportation like Greyhound buses or Amtrak, Page said. Sometimes, when the patient doesn’t have a vehicle, nor access to public transportation or car rental services, their next best option is to rent a U-Haul to drive to their appointment.

But more often, Page said, she hears from Missourians trying to find and afford child care, or from minors who need a legal guardian to give consent for financial assistance. Some days Page still finds herself breaking the news to Missouri callers that abortion is illegal within their state borders, and that they will likely have to take a multi-day trip to Illinois to get care.

Page recently spoke with a woman who was homeless and living in a hotel with her children. She had no child-care options, nor a place to stay after the procedure. Page’s team helped connect the woman to funders who assisted with the day care fees and made sure she had a safe place to recover overnight in Illinois.&nbsp;

Their work is done when they get the final call or text from a patient saying they’ve returned home safely.&nbsp;

“It gives you that extra energy or extra push, determination, to continue to do what you do,” Page said. “Because it is definitely making a difference.”

Alison Dreith’s hotline through Midwest Access Coalition, an abortion fund based in Illinois, used to serve a majority of Missouri clients. As of mid-June, only 26 of the total 1,052 callers this year were from Missouri. Now most of her calls come from Texas, Indiana and Tennessee as patients from red states crowd clinics in Illinois and Kansas.&nbsp;

“Every time a new state goes,” Dreith said, “it has the ripple effect that reaches the Midwest.”

The need for child care is a refrain for patients, particularly lower-income Missourians,traveling to Kansas overnight for the procedure, said Wales, with Planned Parenthood Great Plains.

The short drive from Kansas City to Wyandotte or Johnson counties in Kansas has expanded from a fissure to a canyon for some patients. Those requesting medication abortions are usually seen within a week, but patients needing in-clinic abortions can wait two or three weeks to be seen, Wales said.

“We have to explain that we may be close to you, but we are seeing patients from around the region,” she said. “It doesn’t make it easier, necessarily, to get an appointment.”

Wales said many patients are also coming to them later in gestational age, and increasingly with fetal abnormalities. This is a theme across the country,&nbsp;as patients work to find an appointment, save up money and arrange time off work.

Because of the increase in demand, Planned Parenthood Great Plains will soon start seeing patients for abortions in Pittsburg, making it the fourth Kansas clinic to offer the procedure. She hopes that will cut down on drive times for Missourians in regions including Joplin and Springfield.

Julie&nbsp;Burkhart, co-owner of Hope Clinic, an abortion provider in Granite City, Illinois, has seen the number of Missourians served at her clinic more than triple since 2019. But even so, the percentage of total patients from Missouri has gone from more than 60% to less than half as patients from 28 states made their way to her clinic near the Mississippi River last year.

Wait times hover between one and two weeks.&nbsp;In May, the clinic saw 732 abortion patients; 45 were from Missouri.&nbsp;

Funding needs have skyrocketed since Roe fell, and she’s seen the number of Missouri patients seeking abortions in their second trimester increase to 17% this year. Before Roe, it was closer to 8% for all patients.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719238087294.png" alt="The message “You are not alone, support is here” is painted on the window of the Planned Parenthood Great Plains on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption>The message “You are not alone, support is here” is painted on the window of the Planned Parenthood Great Plains on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion two years ago. Since then, thousands of Missourians sought other ways to access the medical procedure</h2>BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a><a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/02/20/state-senator-throws-first-punches-of-2024-missouri-governors-campaign/">Missouri Independent</a>When Missouri outlawed abortion two years ago, Nicole was far more worried for her grown children than for herself.&nbsp;It had been two decades since she last gave birth, when she suffered a serious stroke during labor followed by severe postpartum depression. She was outraged that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, but pregnancy was in Nicole’s past.That changed a couple weeks later, when her IUD failed.&nbsp;“Are you kidding me?” she recalls thinking, looking around at the life she and her husband had built together in southwest Missouri.In her 40s and living in a state where virtually every abortion is now banned, Nicole — who asked to only be identified by her middle name for fear of prosecution — was among the first of thousands of Missouri women forced to navigate abortion access in a post-Roe world.&nbsp;On June 24, 2022, Missouri became the first state in the country to respond to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, striking down Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to an abortion. The Republican-run state quickly enacted its trigger law banning all abortions with limited exceptions in cases of medical emergencies.In the two years since, countless women like Nicole have faced already tough decisions made more excruciating by having to find discreet ways to manage their own health or travel far from home for care.&nbsp;&nbsp;Missouri already had some of the strictest abortion regulations in the country, pushing most women seeking access to the procedure out of state. But the end of Roe raised the stakes, leaving women in Missouri — which already has some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country — fearful that in the most extreme cases, the ban could mean their death.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719238134991.png" alt=" A recovery room at the Planned Parenthood Great Plains office is pictured on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> A recovery room at the Planned Parenthood Great Plains office is pictured on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>Last year, approximately 2,860 Missourians traveled to Kansas last year for abortions, and 8,710 traveled to Illinois,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://guttmacherinstitute.github.io/provision-dashboard/">according to the Guttmacher Institute,</a>&nbsp;a reproductive rights research group that closely tracks abortion data. But they made up only about 10% of the total abortion patients in each state.After Dobbs, Missourians’ access to care in states like Kansas and Illinois became precarious as abortion bans became more widespread.“In a matter of months, we started serving patients from Texas and Arkansas and Oklahoma,” Emily Wales, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said of the time immediately following the Dobbs decision. “Missourians had to really compete for too few appointments.”The longer wait times at clinics and barriers to traveling for abortions has led Missourians to increasingly consider self-managed abortions.That includes Nicole, who received an envelope at home marked with international postage containing Mifepristone and Misoprostol after consulting an online doctor she found through Plan C, an abortion-pill provider.<h2>Missourians navigate abortion access after Dobbs</h2>For Nicole, the decision to end her most recent pregnancy was simple. To continue felt unsafe, she said, and she and her husband didn’t want to start over raising a child.&nbsp;But the conversations that followed were kept strictly between the husband and wife.&nbsp;With pervasive uncertainty around whether or not women could be prosecuted for self-administering medication abortions in Missouri, the stakes are higher than ever for those trying to end unwanted or medically complicated pregnancies.&nbsp;It’s why Nicole didn’t tell her pastor at church. She didn’t tell friends or family. Nicole didn’t even tell her gynecologist, fearing she would be reported by someone in their corner of the state where anti-abortion messaging proliferates billboards, bumper stickers and handwritten signs staked into yards.Ultimately, Nicole couldn’t imagine fleeing her state for the procedure. She wanted to be home.&nbsp;“I felt really angry that I would have to leave my community,” she said. “It’s not a shameful thing, it’s a procedure. It’s a medical health care procedure.”In the six months after the Dobbs decision, the number of&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/03/25/more-than-26000-self-managed-abortions-may-have-occurred-post-dobbs-study-shows/">self-managed medication abortions rose&nbsp;</a>by more than 26,000 across the U.S. according to a<a target="_blank" href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2024.4266?utm_campaign=articlePDF%26utm_medium=articlePDFlink%26utm_source=articlePDF%26utm_content=jama.2024.4266">&nbsp;study</a>&nbsp;published in JAMA, the American Medical Association’s journal.While medication abortions are overall very safe, effective and approved by the FDA to end pregnancies up to 10 weeks, there is some risk associated with any medication. Self-managing an abortion alone, without a local medical provider’s guidance,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2024/abortion-pill-experience-stories/?itid=ap_carolinekitchener">can be nerve-wracking.</a>In the unlikely situation that Nicole started hemorrhaging, she and her husband mapped out the closest Kansas hospital that would have the level of care they needed.&nbsp;When the time came, they both took a day off work and snuggled on the couch. Nicole pressed a heating pad to her abdomen to soothe the cramps, which she described as similar to period pains. Then came the relief.After the abortion, her husband got a vasectomy. She kept the IUD. Despite their precautions, sex is now accompanied by paranoia as Nicole counts down the days to her period each month.&nbsp;She ordered extra abortion medication in case anyone she knows might need it. And despite the nearly two years since her abortion, Nicole said she still can’t shake the absurdity she felt hunkering down in her home that day.“I make decisions for myself every day, and I make good decisions,” she said. “The audacity that people think I can’t make the best healthcare decisions for myself — it’s hard for me to put into words how upsetting it is.”<h2>‘I am desperate’</h2>Stories of women desperate to end their pregnancies proliferate the internet.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/02/online-abortion-resource-squad-advice-disinformation.html">Reddit is increasingly a gathering place&nbsp;</a>for those seeking answers and assurance. Many of the posts — all anonymous — illustrate how terrified many Missourians are.&nbsp;In one post from mid-June, a 23-year-old woman from Missouri feared she was pregnant by her abusive boyfriend but didn’t have the money to travel for an abortion.“I will drink an entire bottle of vodka if I have to idc,” she wrote. Other anonymous users quickly took to the page to offer other solutions.In a 2023 post, someone inquired about getting an abortion for their pregnant 15-year-old sister in Missouri without parental consent.&nbsp;“This experience is causing her to have suicidal thoughts, crippling anxiety, and extreme depression,” the user wrote. “All of which she already had before this. I need help. I am desperate. I do not want to lose my baby sister.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719238191374.png" alt=" Instructions on what to expect during a visit to Planned Parenthood Great Plains sits on a desk in the waiting room on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> Instructions on what to expect during a visit to Planned Parenthood Great Plains sits on a desk in the waiting room on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>Even for those who work in abortion-rights advocacy, navigating an abortion post-Roe is anxiety-inducing.Maggie Olivia first got pregnant while living in St. Louis in 2020. She was on birth control at the time.&nbsp;Because of Missouri’s “targeted regulation of abortion providers” laws, including mandatory pelvic exams for medication abortions and 72-hour waiting period between the initial appointment and a surgical abortion, she was encouraged to go to a Planned Parenthood in Illinois.It was clinic escorts with Abortion Action Missouri who guided Olivia into her appointment just across the Mississippi River and reassured her ahead of the procedure. She was so moved by their kindness that Olivia went on to volunteer with the group, and now serves as a senior policy manager with the abortion-rights group.In the months after the Dobbs decision, Olivia, like many in abortion advocacy work, was navigating the ever-changing landscape of abortion access. At the same time, Olivia said she was mistakenly denied her birth control prescription by a pharmacist after switching contraceptive methods.&nbsp;When a pregnancy test came back positive several weeks later, Olivia’s first call was to her boss, who she said offered immediate support and guidance.&nbsp;“But even that close proximity to the reality of the crisis doesn’t make being pregnant when you don’t want to be any less horrifying,” she said.&nbsp;Unlike with her first pregnancy, Olivia decided not to tell her health care providers in Missouri.&nbsp;&nbsp;But after ending up in the emergency room for unrelated reasons, her pregnancy was noted in her records. Months later, Olivia said she was denied access to an unrelated medication because her medical records said she was pregnant, compounding the fear she already had of being punished in some way for having an abortion, however legal, in Illinois.“It was very upsetting,” Olivia said. “And I had thought that I had taken steps to be precautious.”When she had her second abortion at the same Illinois clinic from two years prior, she also had an IUD placed.“Your access to abortion doesn’t need to be attached to some traumatic, horrifying situation in of itself,” Olivia said. “Being pregnant when you don’t want to be is scary enough, is horrifying enough.”<h2>Higher stakes for providers</h2>When a sonographer approaches Dr. Jennifer Smith, a St. Louis OB-GYN, her heart drops.“Every time I look at a fetal ultrasound, it takes on new intensity and new anxiety,” she said, concerned that her patient will have a diagnosis they can’t be of help with in Missouri.&nbsp;Missouri physicians are balancing medically complex pregnant patients with&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/06/04/missouri-ob-gyn-residents-maternal-health-abortion/">legal restrictions that could land them in prison</a>&nbsp;for up to 15 years if they perform an abortion the state finds was unnecessary, and, therefore, illegal.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719238245511.png" alt=" Ra’Maia Dillard, an ultrasound technician at Planned Parenthood Great Plains prepares to see a docket of 29 patients on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> Ra’Maia Dillard, an ultrasound technician at Planned Parenthood Great Plains prepares to see a docket of 29 patients on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>No providers have been prosecuted at this point, but the ways something could go wrong keep Smith up at night. So, too, does the future of not only maternal health care, but also motherhood in Missouri.“Missouri women are afraid to be pregnant in Missouri,” Smith said. “They are so worried that they might die while pregnant, or that they may get pregnant with a baby with anomalies and have no options because they live in Missouri.”While Smith is often helping women who want to be pregnant, a couple miles across the river in Illinois sits the regional logistics center for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri. There, three patient navigators help those trying to end their pregnancies.&nbsp;Kenicia Page, the call center manager, said she saw a tremendous increase in callers from the West Palm Beach area, more than 1,100 miles south, when&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/04/30/florida-is-one-day-away-of-becoming-the-latest-state-to-enact-a-rigid-six-week-abortion-ban/">Florida’s ban went into place on May 1</a>.Right now, she says the clinic receives about 100 calls a day.&nbsp;&nbsp;They act as pseudo travel planners and financial aid counselors, helping book transportation and finding funding for patients.&nbsp;Despite the comparative proximity, transportation can still be a headache for some Missourians, particularly those in rural parts of the state without access to public transportation like Greyhound buses or Amtrak, Page said. Sometimes, when the patient doesn’t have a vehicle, nor access to public transportation or car rental services, their next best option is to rent a U-Haul to drive to their appointment.But more often, Page said, she hears from Missourians trying to find and afford child care, or from minors who need a legal guardian to give consent for financial assistance. Some days Page still finds herself breaking the news to Missouri callers that abortion is illegal within their state borders, and that they will likely have to take a multi-day trip to Illinois to get care.Page recently spoke with a woman who was homeless and living in a hotel with her children. She had no child-care options, nor a place to stay after the procedure. Page’s team helped connect the woman to funders who assisted with the day care fees and made sure she had a safe place to recover overnight in Illinois.&nbsp;Their work is done when they get the final call or text from a patient saying they’ve returned home safely.&nbsp;“It gives you that extra energy or extra push, determination, to continue to do what you do,” Page said. “Because it is definitely making a difference.”Alison Dreith’s hotline through Midwest Access Coalition, an abortion fund based in Illinois, used to serve a majority of Missouri clients. As of mid-June, only 26 of the total 1,052 callers this year were from Missouri. Now most of her calls come from Texas, Indiana and Tennessee as patients from red states crowd clinics in Illinois and Kansas.&nbsp;“Every time a new state goes,” Dreith said, “it has the ripple effect that reaches the Midwest.”The need for child care is a refrain for patients, particularly lower-income Missourians,traveling to Kansas overnight for the procedure, said Wales, with Planned Parenthood Great Plains.The short drive from Kansas City to Wyandotte or Johnson counties in Kansas has expanded from a fissure to a canyon for some patients. Those requesting medication abortions are usually seen within a week, but patients needing in-clinic abortions can wait two or three weeks to be seen, Wales said.“We have to explain that we may be close to you, but we are seeing patients from around the region,” she said. “It doesn’t make it easier, necessarily, to get an appointment.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719238288919.png" alt=" Denise Baker, a reproductive health assistant at Planned Parenthood Great Plains prepares patient paperwork behind the clinic’s front desk on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas(Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> Denise Baker, a reproductive health assistant at Planned Parenthood Great Plains prepares patient paperwork behind the clinic’s front desk on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas(Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>Wales said many patients are also coming to them later in gestational age, and increasingly with fetal abnormalities. This is a theme across the country,&nbsp;as patients work to find an appointment, save up money and arrange time off work.Because of the increase in demand, Planned Parenthood Great Plains will soon start seeing patients for abortions in Pittsburg, making it the fourth Kansas clinic to offer the procedure. She hopes that will cut down on drive times for Missourians in regions including Joplin and Springfield.Julie&nbsp;Burkhart, co-owner of Hope Clinic, an abortion provider in Granite City, Illinois, has seen the number of Missourians served at her clinic more than triple since 2019. But even so, the percentage of total patients from Missouri has gone from more than 60% to less than half as patients from 28 states made their way to her clinic near the Mississippi River last year.Wait times hover between one and two weeks.&nbsp;In May, the clinic saw 732 abortion patients; 45 were from Missouri.&nbsp;Funding needs have skyrocketed since Roe fell, and she’s seen the number of Missouri patients seeking abortions in their second trimester increase to 17% this year. Before Roe, it was closer to 8% for all patients.

2 years after Mo. banned abortion, navigating access still involves fear, confusion

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/shauneen-miranda/">SHAUNEEN MIRANDA</a>

WASHINGTON — The only reason John Arthur is able to be a public school teacher is because his wife makes much more money than he does.

Arthur —&nbsp; the 2021 Utah Teacher of the Year&nbsp; — testified on Thursday at a hearing in the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on the challenges facing public school teachers.

Arthur, who is also a member of the National Education Association and holds National Board Certification, pointed to pay as the main reason for both teachers leaving the profession and parents not wanting their children to become teachers.

“The No. 1 solution to addressing the issues we face must be increasing teachers’ salaries,” said Arthur, who teaches at Meadowlark Elementary School in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Gemayel Keyes, a teacher at Gilbert Spruance Elementary School in Philadelphia, told the committee that even as an educator, he still has an additional part-time job.

The special education teacher spent most of his career in education as a paraprofessional. At the time he moved into that role, the starting annual salary was $16,000 and the maximum was $30,000.

“It’s still pretty much the same,” he said.

Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/03.09.23-Sanders-Pay-Teachers-Act-text.pdf">introduced a bill</a>&nbsp;in March 2023 that would set an&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/766/all-actions">annual base salary</a>&nbsp;of $60,000 for public elementary and secondary school teachers.

“We understand that the children, young people of this country, are our future and there is, in fact … nothing more important that we can do to provide a quality education to all of our young people, and yet, for decades, public school teachers have been overworked, underpaid, understaffed, and maybe most importantly, underappreciated,” Sanders said in his opening remarks.

“Compared to many other occupations, our public school teachers are more likely to experience high levels of anxiety, stress and burnout, which was only exacerbated by the pandemic,” he said.

Sanders said 44% of public school teachers are quitting their profession within five years, citing “the extremely low pay teachers receive” as one of the primary reasons for a massive U.S. teacher shortage.

For the 2023-24 school year, a whopping 86% of K-12 public schools in the country documented challenges in hiring teachers, according to an October report from the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/10_17_2023.asp">National Center for Education Statistics</a>.

Maryland sets $60,000 minimum&nbsp;&nbsp;

But a minimum annual teacher salary of $60,000 is not far off for every state.

In Maryland, the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://marylandmatters.org/2024/06/03/blueprint-blues-local-leaders-cite-school-reform-plans-progress-problems/">Blueprint for Maryland’s Future</a>&nbsp;raises the starting salary for teachers to $60,000 a year by July 2026.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719074599272.png" alt="John Arthur, a teacher at Meadowlark Elementary in Salt Lake City, Utah, testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in Washington, D.C., on Thursday (Screenshot from committee webcast)/" />
 <figcaption>John Arthur, a teacher at Meadowlark Elementary in Salt Lake City, Utah, testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in Washington, D.C., on Thursday (Screenshot from committee webcast)/</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/shauneen-miranda/">SHAUNEEN MIRANDA</a>WASHINGTON — The only reason John Arthur is able to be a public school teacher is because his wife makes much more money than he does.Arthur —&nbsp; the 2021 Utah Teacher of the Year&nbsp; — testified on Thursday at a hearing in the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on the challenges facing public school teachers.Arthur, who is also a member of the National Education Association and holds National Board Certification, pointed to pay as the main reason for both teachers leaving the profession and parents not wanting their children to become teachers.“The No. 1 solution to addressing the issues we face must be increasing teachers’ salaries,” said Arthur, who teaches at Meadowlark Elementary School in Salt Lake City, Utah.Gemayel Keyes, a teacher at Gilbert Spruance Elementary School in Philadelphia, told the committee that even as an educator, he still has an additional part-time job.The special education teacher spent most of his career in education as a paraprofessional. At the time he moved into that role, the starting annual salary was $16,000 and the maximum was $30,000.“It’s still pretty much the same,” he said.<h2>Minimum teacher salary&nbsp;</h2>Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/03.09.23-Sanders-Pay-Teachers-Act-text.pdf">introduced a bill</a>&nbsp;in March 2023 that would set an&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/766/all-actions">annual base salary</a>&nbsp;of $60,000 for public elementary and secondary school teachers.“We understand that the children, young people of this country, are our future and there is, in fact … nothing more important that we can do to provide a quality education to all of our young people, and yet, for decades, public school teachers have been overworked, underpaid, understaffed, and maybe most importantly, underappreciated,” Sanders said in his opening remarks.“Compared to many other occupations, our public school teachers are more likely to experience high levels of anxiety, stress and burnout, which was only exacerbated by the pandemic,” he said.Sanders said 44% of public school teachers are quitting their profession within five years, citing “the extremely low pay teachers receive” as one of the primary reasons for a massive U.S. teacher shortage.For the 2023-24 school year, a whopping 86% of K-12 public schools in the country documented challenges in hiring teachers, according to an October report from the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/10_17_2023.asp">National Center for Education Statistics</a>.<h2>Maryland sets $60,000 minimum&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>But a minimum annual teacher salary of $60,000 is not far off for every state.In Maryland, the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://marylandmatters.org/2024/06/03/blueprint-blues-local-leaders-cite-school-reform-plans-progress-problems/">Blueprint for Maryland’s Future</a>&nbsp;raises the starting salary for teachers to $60,000 a year by July 2026.William E. Kirwan, vice chair of Maryland’s Accountability and Implementation Board, said the multi-year comprehensive plan, passed in 2021 in the Maryland General Assembly, “addresses all aspects of children’s education from birth to high school completion, including most especially, the recruitment, retention and compensation of high quality teachers.”Kirwan said the “Blueprint’s principle for teacher compensation is that, as professionals, teachers should be compensated at the same level as other professionals requiring similar levels of education, such as architects and CPAs.”<h2>An “allocation issue”&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>Sen. Bill Cassidy, ranking member of the committee, dubbed Democrats’ solution of creating a federal minimum salary for teachers as a “laudable goal.”But he noted that “the federal government dictating how states spend their money does not address the root cause of why teachers are struggling to teach in the classroom.”“More mandates and funding cannot be the only answer we come up with. We must examine broken policies that got us here and find solutions to improve,” the Louisiana Republican said.Nicole Neily, president and founder of Parents Defending Education, a parents’ rights group, argued that “schools don’t have a resource issue” but rather an “allocation issue.”“There’s a saying: ‘Don’t tell me where your priorities are, show me where you spend your money, and I’ll tell you what they are.’ Education leaders routinely choose to spend money on programs and personnel that don’t directly benefit students,” said Neily.Neily pointed to a 2021 report from the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.heritage.org/education/report/equity-elementary-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-staff-public-schools">Heritage Foundation</a>, which found that “standardized test results show that achievement gaps are growing wider over time in districts with (chief diversity officers).” Such staff members commonly encourage efforts at diversity, equity and inclusion in schools.Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, said “higher pay does not ease the burden we place on teachers or add hours to their day.”“By all means, raise teacher pay, but do not assume that it will solve teacher shortages or keep good teachers in the classroom. Poor training, deteriorating classroom conditions, shoddy curriculum and spiraling demands have made an already challenging job nearly impossible to do well and sustainably,” he added.

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