DOUGLAS, Ariz. (AP) — Vice President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kamala-harris">Kamala Harris</a>&nbsp;walked a scrubby stretch of fence line along Arizona’s border with Mexico on Friday, seeking to project an image of strength against illegal migration as she confronts one of her biggest vulnerabilities in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024">the November election</a>.

In her first trip to the international boundary since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris chatted with local Border Patrol leaders as they strode along a rust-colored stretch of wall built during Barack Obama’s presidency. Temperatures in Douglas, Arizona, neared 100 degrees during a conversation that lasted about half an hour.

“They’ve got a tough job, and they need, rightly, support to do their job,” Harris said of the Border Patrol as she entered the Douglas port of entry for a briefing on efforts to block the flow of fentanyl across the border. “They are very dedicated. And so I’m here to talk with them about what we can continue to do to support them. And also thank them for the hard work they do.”

Later, she was expected to call for further tightening asylum restrictions, moving beyond President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">Joe Biden’s</a>&nbsp;policy on an issue where her rival, former President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>, has an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/harris-trump-economy-poll-inflation-dc80ac9e5d7da42900762910d5f0a283">edge with voters</a>. Hundreds of people packed into a gymnasium to hear her speak.

Trump and his fellow Republicans have pounded Harris relentlessly over the Biden administration’s record on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/immigration">migration</a>&nbsp;and fault the vice president for spending little time visiting the border during her time in the White House.

Harris will outline her plan to crack down further on asylum claims and keep the restrictions in place longer compared to the executive order that Biden signed this summer, according to a campaign official who spoke on condition of anonymity because Harris had not yet made the announcement. The official briefed reporters aboard Air Force 2 en route to Arizona.

Harris arrived by helicopter in Douglas, where she met with Mayor Donald Huish, Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels and County Supervisor Ann English, along with Sen. Mark Kelly and Attorney General Kris Mayes.

Immigration and border security are top issues in Arizona, the only battleground state that borders Mexico and one that contended with a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lukeville-arizona-border-crossing-closed-ae04e8c861a95e98dbfc8d49244cf092">record influx</a>&nbsp;of asylum seekers last year. Voters&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/harris-border-arizona-trip-trump-immigration-7f69b21e927319ef48e854e9305a9a3c">favor Trump</a>&nbsp;on migration, and Harris has gone on offense to improve her standing on the issue and defuse a key line of political attack for Trump.

In nearly every campaign speech she gives, Harris recounts how a sweeping bipartisan package aiming to overhaul the federal immigration system&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-ukraine-aid-border-security-386dcc54b29a5491f8bd87b727a284f8">collapsed in Congress</a>&nbsp;earlier this year after Trump urged top Republicans to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-border-security-ukraine-trump-a8601ec6629ddc5b769028ca99ad9879">oppose it</a>.

“The American people deserve a president who cares more about border security than playing political games,” Harris plans to say, according to an excerpt of her remarks previewed by her campaign.

After the immigration legislation stalled, the Biden administration announced rules that bar&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-asylum-ban-halt-border-mexico-1905e3565b2da1cffb8f38a778c07118">migrants from being granted asylum</a>&nbsp;when U.S. officials deem that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/region/us-mexico-border/" target="_blank">the southern border</a>&nbsp;is overwhelmed. Since then,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/border-customs-mexico-immigration-041678cab8c135cf60757f0a99f11b47">arrests for illegal border crossings have fallen</a>.

Harris will also use her trip to remind voters about her work as attorney general of California in confronting crime along the border. During an August rally in Glendale, outside Phoenix, she talked about helping to prosecute drug- and people-smuggling gangs that operated transnationally and at the border.

“I prosecuted them in case after case, and I won,” Harris said then.

The vice president’s trip to Douglas thrusts the issue of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-border-texas-migrants-a378073ed4e565570b4d4aa20f3a9ff8">immigration into the brightest spotlight</a>&nbsp;yet less than six weeks before Election Day.

Trump didn’t wait for her to arrive there before pushing back. He pointed Friday to purported data about criminals entering the U.S. illegally in a bid to link Harris to violent crimes committed by migrants. In a scathing diatribe, he said “blood is on her hands.”

“These are hard, tough, vicious criminals that are free to roam in our country,” Trump said at a manufacturing plant in Michigan.

Earlier in the week, he told voters that “when Kamala speaks about the border, her credibility is less than zero.”

The Trump campaign has also countered with its own TV ads deriding the vice president as a failed “border czar.”

“Under Harris, over 10 million illegally here,” said one spot. However, estimates on how many people have entered the country illegally since the start of the Biden administration in 2021 vary widely.

Harris also never held the position of border czar. Instead, her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-3400f56255e000547d1ca3ce1aa6b8e9">assignment</a>&nbsp;was to tackle the “root causes” of migration from three Central American nations — El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — that were responsible for a significant share of border crossers.

The vice president took a long-term approach to an immediate problem, helping persuade multinational corporations and Latin American businesses to invest in the region. That, she argued, would create jobs and give locals more reasons to stay home rather than take the arduous trek north.

Still, Trump has continued to decry an “invasion” of border crossers.

Douglas, where Harris appeared, is an overwhelmingly Democratic border town in GOP-dominated Cochise County, where the Republicans on the board of supervisors are facing criminal charges for refusing to certify the 2022 election results. Trump was in the area last month, using a remote stretch of border wall and a pile of steel beams to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-border-mexico-immigration-a38e69068d0484d4adedf7a8a8c7d973">draw a contrast</a>&nbsp;between himself and Harris on border security.

The town of 16,000 people has strong ties to its much larger neighbor, Agua Prieta, Mexico, and a busy port of entry that’s slated for a long-sought upgrade. Many locals are as concerned with making legal border crossings more efficient as they are with combatting illegal ones.

DOUGLAS, Ariz. (AP) — Vice President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kamala-harris">Kamala Harris</a>&nbsp;walked a scrubby stretch of fence line along Arizona’s border with Mexico on Friday, seeking to project an image of strength against illegal migration as she confronts one of her biggest vulnerabilities in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024">the November election</a>.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@vp</a> Kamala Harris at the Southern Border in Arizona <a href="https://t.co/QpI9m2mlk1">pic.twitter.com/QpI9m2mlk1</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1839810842356842573?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>In her first trip to the international boundary since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris chatted with local Border Patrol leaders as they strode along a rust-colored stretch of wall built during Barack Obama’s presidency. Temperatures in Douglas, Arizona, neared 100 degrees during a conversation that lasted about half an hour.“They’ve got a tough job, and they need, rightly, support to do their job,” Harris said of the Border Patrol as she entered the Douglas port of entry for a briefing on efforts to block the flow of fentanyl across the border. “They are very dedicated. And so I’m here to talk with them about what we can continue to do to support them. And also thank them for the hard work they do.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727485637215.png" alt="Image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>Later, she was expected to call for further tightening asylum restrictions, moving beyond President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">Joe Biden’s</a>&nbsp;policy on an issue where her rival, former President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>, has an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/harris-trump-economy-poll-inflation-dc80ac9e5d7da42900762910d5f0a283">edge with voters</a>. Hundreds of people packed into a gymnasium to hear her speak.Trump and his fellow Republicans have pounded Harris relentlessly over the Biden administration’s record on&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/immigration">migration</a>&nbsp;and fault the vice president for spending little time visiting the border during her time in the White House.Harris will outline her plan to crack down further on asylum claims and keep the restrictions in place longer compared to the executive order that Biden signed this summer, according to a campaign official who spoke on condition of anonymity because Harris had not yet made the announcement. The official briefed reporters aboard Air Force 2 en route to Arizona.Harris arrived by helicopter in Douglas, where she met with Mayor Donald Huish, Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels and County Supervisor Ann English, along with Sen. Mark Kelly and Attorney General Kris Mayes.Immigration and border security are top issues in Arizona, the only battleground state that borders Mexico and one that contended with a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lukeville-arizona-border-crossing-closed-ae04e8c861a95e98dbfc8d49244cf092">record influx</a>&nbsp;of asylum seekers last year. Voters&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/harris-border-arizona-trip-trump-immigration-7f69b21e927319ef48e854e9305a9a3c">favor Trump</a>&nbsp;on migration, and Harris has gone on offense to improve her standing on the issue and defuse a key line of political attack for Trump.In nearly every campaign speech she gives, Harris recounts how a sweeping bipartisan package aiming to overhaul the federal immigration system&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-ukraine-aid-border-security-386dcc54b29a5491f8bd87b727a284f8">collapsed in Congress</a>&nbsp;earlier this year after Trump urged top Republicans to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-border-security-ukraine-trump-a8601ec6629ddc5b769028ca99ad9879">oppose it</a>.“The American people deserve a president who cares more about border security than playing political games,” Harris plans to say, according to an excerpt of her remarks previewed by her campaign.After the immigration legislation stalled, the Biden administration announced rules that bar&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-asylum-ban-halt-border-mexico-1905e3565b2da1cffb8f38a778c07118">migrants from being granted asylum</a>&nbsp;when U.S. officials deem that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/region/us-mexico-border/" target="_blank">the southern border</a>&nbsp;is overwhelmed. Since then,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/border-customs-mexico-immigration-041678cab8c135cf60757f0a99f11b47">arrests for illegal border crossings have fallen</a>.Harris will also use her trip to remind voters about her work as attorney general of California in confronting crime along the border. During an August rally in Glendale, outside Phoenix, she talked about helping to prosecute drug- and people-smuggling gangs that operated transnationally and at the border.“I prosecuted them in case after case, and I won,” Harris said then.The vice president’s trip to Douglas thrusts the issue of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-border-texas-migrants-a378073ed4e565570b4d4aa20f3a9ff8">immigration into the brightest spotlight</a>&nbsp;yet less than six weeks before Election Day.Trump didn’t wait for her to arrive there before pushing back. He pointed Friday to purported data about criminals entering the U.S. illegally in a bid to link Harris to violent crimes committed by migrants. In a scathing diatribe, he said “blood is on her hands.”“These are hard, tough, vicious criminals that are free to roam in our country,” Trump said at a manufacturing plant in Michigan.Earlier in the week, he told voters that “when Kamala speaks about the border, her credibility is less than zero.”The Trump campaign has also countered with its own TV ads deriding the vice president as a failed “border czar.”“Under Harris, over 10 million illegally here,” said one spot. However, estimates on how many people have entered the country illegally since the start of the Biden administration in 2021 vary widely.Harris also never held the position of border czar. Instead, her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-3400f56255e000547d1ca3ce1aa6b8e9">assignment</a>&nbsp;was to tackle the “root causes” of migration from three Central American nations — El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — that were responsible for a significant share of border crossers.The vice president took a long-term approach to an immediate problem, helping persuade multinational corporations and Latin American businesses to invest in the region. That, she argued, would create jobs and give locals more reasons to stay home rather than take the arduous trek north.Still, Trump has continued to decry an “invasion” of border crossers.Douglas, where Harris appeared, is an overwhelmingly Democratic border town in GOP-dominated Cochise County, where the Republicans on the board of supervisors are facing criminal charges for refusing to certify the 2022 election results. Trump was in the area last month, using a remote stretch of border wall and a pile of steel beams to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-border-mexico-immigration-a38e69068d0484d4adedf7a8a8c7d973">draw a contrast</a>&nbsp;between himself and Harris on border security.The town of 16,000 people has strong ties to its much larger neighbor, Agua Prieta, Mexico, and a busy port of entry that’s slated for a long-sought upgrade. Many locals are as concerned with making legal border crossings more efficient as they are with combatting illegal ones.

🎥Harris visits US-Mexico border to project tougher stance on migration

SEDGWICK COUNTY — The suspect involved in a shooting near a school on Monday made his first court appearance in the case.

Vincent Solomon Jr., 46,&nbsp; Wichita, is charged with attempted 1st degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, and interference with law enforcement, according to the Sedgwick County District attorney's office

Just after 9a.m. Monday, Sedgwick County Emergency Communications began to receive reports of a shooting outside Cessna Elementary School, 2101 West 45th Street South in Wichita, according to a statement from Police Chief Joe Sullivan during a Tuesday afternoon news conference.

The call was broadcast on all law enforcement radio channels. A Sedgwick County Deputy heard the call and responded. When the deputy arrived, he located Solomon who was armed with a handgun. The man made statements that the deputy would kill him while pointing the gun at the deputy, according to Sullivan.

The suspect than ran to and laid on top of a 30-year-old woman. The deputy gave commands for the man to drop his gun and observed the suspect place the gun to the woman's head.

In defense of the woman, the deputy fired his gun twice. The suspect would not let go of the woman. The deputy then attempted to disarm the man physically. It took two Wichita Police officers and the deputy to disarm Solomon.

Investigators have learned that Solomon and woman live together and have children together. The couple had an argument in a vehicle on the way to the school which led to the suspect shooting the woman multiple times. The woman ran toward the school and the Solomon chased her. A Wichita Public School staff member saw the suspect with the gun approaching the school and pulled the door of the school shut and locked it so the suspect could not get inside.

EMS transported Solomon and the woman to an area hospital for treatment.

The Advanced Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) was activated to conduct this investigation. Solomon remains jailed on a $750,000 bond. He is due back in court October 7.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727347323043.png" alt="Solomon -photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Solomon -photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY — The suspect involved in a shooting near a school on Monday made his first court appearance in the case.Vincent Solomon Jr., 46,&nbsp; Wichita, is charged with attempted 1st degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, and interference with law enforcement, according to the Sedgwick County District attorney's officeJust after 9a.m. Monday, Sedgwick County Emergency Communications began to receive reports of a shooting outside Cessna Elementary School, 2101 West 45th Street South in Wichita, according to a statement from Police Chief Joe Sullivan during a Tuesday afternoon news conference.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727210527551.png" alt="Image from security camera shows Solomon chasing the woman, after she had been shot, as they approach the entrance to the school.- image from Wichita Police" />
 <figcaption>Image from security camera shows Solomon chasing the woman, after she had been shot, as they approach the entrance to the school.- image from Wichita Police</figcaption>
 </figure>The call was broadcast on all law enforcement radio channels. A Sedgwick County Deputy heard the call and responded. When the deputy arrived, he located Solomon who was armed with a handgun. The man made statements that the deputy would kill him while pointing the gun at the deputy, according to Sullivan.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727106753444.png" alt="Police on the scene near the school-photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene near the school-photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>The suspect than ran to and laid on top of a 30-year-old woman. The deputy gave commands for the man to drop his gun and observed the suspect place the gun to the woman's head.In defense of the woman, the deputy fired his gun twice. The suspect would not let go of the woman. The deputy then attempted to disarm the man physically. It took two Wichita Police officers and the deputy to disarm Solomon.Investigators have learned that Solomon and woman live together and have children together. The couple had an argument in a vehicle on the way to the school which led to the suspect shooting the woman multiple times. The woman ran toward the school and the Solomon chased her. A Wichita Public School staff member saw the suspect with the gun approaching the school and pulled the door of the school shut and locked it so the suspect could not get inside.EMS transported Solomon and the woman to an area hospital for treatment.The Advanced Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) was activated to conduct this investigation. Solomon remains jailed on a $750,000 bond. He is due back in court October 7.

Kan. man who shot woman near a school released on bond

NEW YORK (AP) — Ukrainian President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/volodymyr-zelenskyy">Volodymyr Zelenskyy</a>&nbsp;met face-to-face with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;on Friday with public tensions rising between the two over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion</a>&nbsp;and in the midst of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024">U.S. presidential election</a>.

“We both want to see this end, and we both want to see a fair deal made,” Trump told Fox News, referring to the Russia-Ukraine fighting while standing alongside Zelenskyy after meeting for 40 minutes. “The president wants it to end, and he wants it to end as quickly as possible. He wants a fair transaction to take place.”

Zelenskyy said the war shouldn't have started and added that there needs to be pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin and peace for the families of those killed.

“We need to do everything to pressure him to stop this war. He is in our territory. That's most important to understand. He is in our territory.”

The meeting came at a critical time in the Russia-Ukraine war as Election Day nears in the U.S. Trump and Vice President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kamala-harris">Kamala Harris</a>, his Democratic opponent, have taken sharply different approaches to Ukraine. Zelenskyy has been eager to keep good relations with the United States, his country's largest provider of arms and money for the war. But the future of that support would be in doubt if Trump were to win the election.

Trump, who has touted his good relationship with Putin and called the Russian leader “pretty smart” for invading Ukraine, has for months criticized U.S. support for Ukraine and derided Zelenskyy as a “salesman” for persuading Washington to provide weapons and funding to his military as it tries to fend off Moscow. On Friday, Trump brought up his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ap-top-news-elections-international-news-politics-0756fda2b5143891c5da1c6897001cee">first impeachment</a>, which Democrats in Congress pursued after he asked Zelenskyy for a “favor” — that he investigate Joe Biden, now the president, and Biden’s son Hunter, who served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.

At the time Trump asked for the “favor,” he was withholding $400 million in military aid to Ukraine as it fought Russian-backed separatists on its eastern boundary. He was later acquitted of the impeachment charges by a Republican-led Senate.

“He could have grandstanded and played cute,” Trump said. “And he didn't do that. He said, ‘President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong.’ He said it loud and clear.”

Zelenskyy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/ukraine-president-says-there-was-no-blackmail-in-call-with-trump">told reporters</a>&nbsp;in October 2019, as Congress was launching its impeachment inquiry, that there was “no blackmail” from Trump. He also told reporters, “I don’t want to interfere in any way in the elections,” trying to publicly and privately distance himself then from U.S. domestic politics.

But&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ap-top-news-international-news-joe-biden-politics-139dd535eac749aa961bc0205d10e872">The Associated Press reported afterward</a>&nbsp;that, despite Zelenskyy’s denials, U.S. officials were aware he was feeling pressure from the Trump administration to investigate Biden even before his phone call with Trump regarding the “favor.”

Friday's meeting almost wasn't scheduled despite Zelenskyy’s office saying something had been planned during the Ukrainian leader’s visit to the U.N. General Assembly, during which he is making his endgame pitch to allies.

In an interview with The New Yorker that was published earlier this week, Zelenskyy implied Trump does not understand and oversimplifies the conflict. The Ukrainian leader said Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, was “too radical” and has essentially advocated for Ukraine to “make a sacrifice” by “giving up its territories.”

Trump ripped Zelenskyy and Ukraine on two separate occasions this week. Speaking Wednesday in North Carolina, he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ukraine-putin-zelenskyy-0f4d539aa73a943474d779716e5fe42a">referred</a>&nbsp;to Ukraine as “demolished” and its people as “dead.”

“Any deal — the worst deal — would’ve been better than what we have now,” Trump said. “If they made a bad deal, it would’ve been much better. They would’ve given up a little bit and everybody would be living and every building would be built and every tower would be aging for another 2,000 years.”

Meanwhile,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/zelenskyy-joe-biden-kamala-harris-trump-229804fd42332c584dfbe05224634e44">Harris on Thursday stood alongside Zelenskyy</a>&nbsp;and said Trump's push for Ukraine to quickly cut a deal to end the war was “not proposals for peace,” but “proposals for surrender.” Trump on Thursday said he was not advocating for a surrender.

As he was preparing to sit down for the Friday meeting, Trump was asked by a reporter if Ukraine could win the war and he replied, “Sure. They could.”

He said of Zelenskyy: "We have a very good relationship. And I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin. And if we win, I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly.”

Zelenskyy cut into Trump's remarks with, “I hope we have more good relations between us." Before moving on to another question, Trump interjected to say “but, you know, it takes two to tango.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Ukrainian President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/volodymyr-zelenskyy">Volodymyr Zelenskyy</a>&nbsp;met face-to-face with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;on Friday with public tensions rising between the two over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion</a>&nbsp;and in the midst of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024">U.S. presidential election</a>.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Former President Trump meets with Ukrainian President Zelensky Trump: &quot;What I said is true. He was a piece of steel. He gave a very honest, straight answer and that really, essentially ended the impeachment hoax and I appreciated that.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/d2INBkCP7D">pic.twitter.com/d2INBkCP7D</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1839679738488438846?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“We both want to see this end, and we both want to see a fair deal made,” Trump told Fox News, referring to the Russia-Ukraine fighting while standing alongside Zelenskyy after meeting for 40 minutes. “The president wants it to end, and he wants it to end as quickly as possible. He wants a fair transaction to take place.”Zelenskyy said the war shouldn't have started and added that there needs to be pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin and peace for the families of those killed.“We need to do everything to pressure him to stop this war. He is in our territory. That's most important to understand. He is in our territory.”The meeting came at a critical time in the Russia-Ukraine war as Election Day nears in the U.S. Trump and Vice President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kamala-harris">Kamala Harris</a>, his Democratic opponent, have taken sharply different approaches to Ukraine. Zelenskyy has been eager to keep good relations with the United States, his country's largest provider of arms and money for the war. But the future of that support would be in doubt if Trump were to win the election.Trump, who has touted his good relationship with Putin and called the Russian leader “pretty smart” for invading Ukraine, has for months criticized U.S. support for Ukraine and derided Zelenskyy as a “salesman” for persuading Washington to provide weapons and funding to his military as it tries to fend off Moscow. On Friday, Trump brought up his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ap-top-news-elections-international-news-politics-0756fda2b5143891c5da1c6897001cee">first impeachment</a>, which Democrats in Congress pursued after he asked Zelenskyy for a “favor” — that he investigate Joe Biden, now the president, and Biden’s son Hunter, who served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.At the time Trump asked for the “favor,” he was withholding $400 million in military aid to Ukraine as it fought Russian-backed separatists on its eastern boundary. He was later acquitted of the impeachment charges by a Republican-led Senate.“He could have grandstanded and played cute,” Trump said. “And he didn't do that. He said, ‘President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong.’ He said it loud and clear.”Zelenskyy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/ukraine-president-says-there-was-no-blackmail-in-call-with-trump">told reporters</a>&nbsp;in October 2019, as Congress was launching its impeachment inquiry, that there was “no blackmail” from Trump. He also told reporters, “I don’t want to interfere in any way in the elections,” trying to publicly and privately distance himself then from U.S. domestic politics.But&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ap-top-news-international-news-joe-biden-politics-139dd535eac749aa961bc0205d10e872">The Associated Press reported afterward</a>&nbsp;that, despite Zelenskyy’s denials, U.S. officials were aware he was feeling pressure from the Trump administration to investigate Biden even before his phone call with Trump regarding the “favor.”Friday's meeting almost wasn't scheduled despite Zelenskyy’s office saying something had been planned during the Ukrainian leader’s visit to the U.N. General Assembly, during which he is making his endgame pitch to allies.In an interview with The New Yorker that was published earlier this week, Zelenskyy implied Trump does not understand and oversimplifies the conflict. The Ukrainian leader said Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, was “too radical” and has essentially advocated for Ukraine to “make a sacrifice” by “giving up its territories.”Trump ripped Zelenskyy and Ukraine on two separate occasions this week. Speaking Wednesday in North Carolina, he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ukraine-putin-zelenskyy-0f4d539aa73a943474d779716e5fe42a">referred</a>&nbsp;to Ukraine as “demolished” and its people as “dead.”“Any deal — the worst deal — would’ve been better than what we have now,” Trump said. “If they made a bad deal, it would’ve been much better. They would’ve given up a little bit and everybody would be living and every building would be built and every tower would be aging for another 2,000 years.”Meanwhile,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/zelenskyy-joe-biden-kamala-harris-trump-229804fd42332c584dfbe05224634e44">Harris on Thursday stood alongside Zelenskyy</a>&nbsp;and said Trump's push for Ukraine to quickly cut a deal to end the war was “not proposals for peace,” but “proposals for surrender.” Trump on Thursday said he was not advocating for a surrender.As he was preparing to sit down for the Friday meeting, Trump was asked by a reporter if Ukraine could win the war and he replied, “Sure. They could.”He said of Zelenskyy: "We have a very good relationship. And I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin. And if we win, I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly.”Zelenskyy cut into Trump's remarks with, “I hope we have more good relations between us." Before moving on to another question, Trump interjected to say “but, you know, it takes two to tango.”___

🎥 Trump, Zelenskyy discuss war in Ukraine, impeachment

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement investigating an armed carjacking near Kansas City have charged twin sisters&nbsp;

The crime occurred just before 6p.m. Tuesday on southbound Interstate 49, south at the 163rd Street exit in Belton, approximately 20 minutes south of Kansas City.

A dark blue Kia Optima occupied by three suspects rear-ended a 2022 Dodge Charger driven by a victim, who was the sole occupant.

Both drivers pulled over. While checking the rear of the Dodge Charger, one of the occupants from the Kia entered the victim’s Dodge Charger and fled the scene.

A check of the Kia Optima license plate revealed it was a stolen vehicle.&nbsp; Police took two into custody.&nbsp;&nbsp;

On Thursday, the Cass County Prosecutor's Office charged 19-year-old Rodnae Gorham and her sister 19-year-old Rodneysha Gorham with Accessory Vehicle Hijacking / Deadly Weapon in connection to the carjacking, according to a media release. Both defendants are being held without bond.

This is an ongoing investigation and more charges may be forthcoming.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727402852571.png" alt="Rodnae Gorham photo Cass Co." />
 <figcaption>Rodnae Gorham photo Cass Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement investigating an armed carjacking near Kansas City have charged twin sisters&nbsp;The crime occurred just before 6p.m. Tuesday on southbound Interstate 49, south at the 163rd Street exit in Belton, approximately 20 minutes south of Kansas City.A dark blue Kia Optima occupied by three suspects rear-ended a 2022 Dodge Charger driven by a victim, who was the sole occupant.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727402889596.png" alt="Rodneysha Gorham-photo Cass Co." />
 <figcaption>Rodneysha Gorham-photo Cass Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Both drivers pulled over. While checking the rear of the Dodge Charger, one of the occupants from the Kia entered the victim’s Dodge Charger and fled the scene.A check of the Kia Optima license plate revealed it was a stolen vehicle.&nbsp; Police took two into custody.&nbsp;&nbsp;On Thursday, the Cass County Prosecutor's Office charged 19-year-old Rodnae Gorham and her sister 19-year-old Rodneysha Gorham with Accessory Vehicle Hijacking / Deadly Weapon in connection to the carjacking, according to a media release. Both defendants are being held without bond.This is an ongoing investigation and more charges may be forthcoming.

Twins charged for armed carjacking after KC area rear-end crash

SALINE COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating an alleged scam that cost an 83-year-0ld Salina woman $3,500 over ten days.

&nbsp;The scam began when the victim was contacted by a man claiming they were high school acquaintances. He promised her a $100,000 prize if she provided $3,000 in gift cards, according to Salina Police Captain James Feldman.

&nbsp;The caller said he was from 2024FHCS Worldwide, Promo/Agent and was able to obtain personal information from the victim.

The caller then told the victim to purchase the $1,000 Apple gift cards and send them the card activation numbers to get her winnings. The victim ended up purchasing two $500 Amazon gift cards and provided the numbers.

Despite initial confusion with the type of gift cards, the scammer persisted, even fabricating a story that the IRS had placed a hold on her winnings, leading to further demands for Apple gift cards.&nbsp;

Captain Feldman warned that these types of scams, often targeting the elderly, are becoming more frequent. He urged residents to be cautious if asked to pay with gift cards, stressing that legitimate agencies and businesses do not conduct transactions this way.

"If people have elderly neighbors or relatives, please discuss these types of situations with them," Feldman said. "If any store employees who sell gift cards to situations where they suspect someone purchasing gift cards is being taken advantage of please reach out to their local police department."

SALINE COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating an alleged scam that cost an 83-year-0ld Salina woman $3,500 over ten days.&nbsp;The scam began when the victim was contacted by a man claiming they were high school acquaintances. He promised her a $100,000 prize if she provided $3,000 in gift cards, according to Salina Police Captain James Feldman.&nbsp;The caller said he was from 2024FHCS Worldwide, Promo/Agent and was able to obtain personal information from the victim.The caller then told the victim to purchase the $1,000 Apple gift cards and send them the card activation numbers to get her winnings. The victim ended up purchasing two $500 Amazon gift cards and provided the numbers.Despite initial confusion with the type of gift cards, the scammer persisted, even fabricating a story that the IRS had placed a hold on her winnings, leading to further demands for Apple gift cards.&nbsp;Captain Feldman warned that these types of scams, often targeting the elderly, are becoming more frequent. He urged residents to be cautious if asked to pay with gift cards, stressing that legitimate agencies and businesses do not conduct transactions this way."If people have elderly neighbors or relatives, please discuss these types of situations with them," Feldman said. "If any store employees who sell gift cards to situations where they suspect someone purchasing gift cards is being taken advantage of please reach out to their local police department."

Police: Kansas woman lost thousands in gift card scam

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Authorities have positively identified the human remains found on September 11 in the yard of a home in the city of Rose Hill.

Kennedy Jean Schroer, born on July 14, 2014, was adopted by Crystina and Joe Schroer in November 2018 and is believed to have died in late 2020, according to a statement from Rose Hill, Kansas Police Chief Taylor Parlier.

Her remains were brought to the Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center for the postmortem. Due to the advanced level of decomposition, the medical examiner was unable to identify a cause of death. Their preliminary report gave findings that no visible injuries were observed, nor were any healing or healed injuries observable, according to the police chief.

"Through our investigation we believe the time of death occurred within the month of November 2020. The medical examiner has not released the full report of the postmortem but has confirmed Kennedy’s identity through DNA analysis."

"We understand that many in the public might be confused how an arrest in this case has not been made, that is completely understandable. What we would like to convey is that we have one chance to gather as much information as possible, to find out what happened to this child and to tell her story. While we understand the desire to hold persons accountable, we need to get this correct and not fast. Releasing too much information might appear to implicate a person or persons who were not involved, so in our search for the truth we need to equally work to protect peoples’ rights."

"This investigation is ongoing. Officers, Detectives, surrounding law enforcement agencies, social workers, mental health professionals, and many others are hard at work to find answers. What we can assure anyone interested in this case, Kennedy is the center of our universe and will remain so until we have answers."

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727450427639.png" alt="-Kennedy Jean Schroer-courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>-Kennedy Jean Schroer-courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Authorities have positively identified the human remains found on September 11 in the yard of a home in the city of Rose Hill.Kennedy Jean Schroer, born on July 14, 2014, was adopted by Crystina and Joe Schroer in November 2018 and is believed to have died in late 2020, according to a statement from Rose Hill, Kansas Police Chief Taylor Parlier.Her remains were brought to the Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center for the postmortem. Due to the advanced level of decomposition, the medical examiner was unable to identify a cause of death. Their preliminary report gave findings that no visible injuries were observed, nor were any healing or healed injuries observable, according to the police chief."Through our investigation we believe the time of death occurred within the month of November 2020. The medical examiner has not released the full report of the postmortem but has confirmed Kennedy’s identity through DNA analysis.""We understand that many in the public might be confused how an arrest in this case has not been made, that is completely understandable. What we would like to convey is that we have one chance to gather as much information as possible, to find out what happened to this child and to tell her story. While we understand the desire to hold persons accountable, we need to get this correct and not fast. Releasing too much information might appear to implicate a person or persons who were not involved, so in our search for the truth we need to equally work to protect peoples’ rights.""This investigation is ongoing. Officers, Detectives, surrounding law enforcement agencies, social workers, mental health professionals, and many others are hard at work to find answers. What we can assure anyone interested in this case, Kennedy is the center of our universe and will remain so until we have answers."

Police ID child's remains found in back yard of Kan. home

TAMPA BAY—United State Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater saved a man and his dog on Thursday during hurricane Helene, after his 36-ft sailboat became disabled and started taking on water approximately 25 miles off Sanibel Island, Florida, according to a social media report from the U.S. Coast Guard.

&nbsp;Emergency crews continue work to rescue people trapped in flooded homes after the hurricane roared ashore as a powerful Category 4 storm.

Kansas deployed a Type 1 swift water search and rescue team, Kansas Task Force 1, through the Office of the State Fire Marshal to assist the state of Florida and local crews responding to the storm.

The Kansas team will conduct search and rescue operations, provide basic life support (BLS) medical care, transport humans and animals to the nearest location for secondary air or land transport, provide shore-based and boat-based water rescue, provide animal rescues, and support helicopter and urban search and rescue in water environments.

As of noon Friday, at least 21 people were reported dead in four states.

The storm generated a massive storm surge and knocked out power to millions of customers in several states.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727457363913.png" alt="Photo U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater" />
 <figcaption>Photo U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater</figcaption>
 </figure>TAMPA BAY—United State Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater saved a man and his dog on Thursday during hurricane Helene, after his 36-ft sailboat became disabled and started taking on water approximately 25 miles off Sanibel Island, Florida, according to a social media report from the U.S. Coast Guard.&nbsp;Emergency crews continue work to rescue people trapped in flooded homes after the hurricane roared ashore as a powerful Category 4 storm.Kansas deployed a Type 1 swift water search and rescue team, Kansas Task Force 1, through the Office of the State Fire Marshal to assist the state of Florida and local crews responding to the storm.The Kansas team will conduct search and rescue operations, provide basic life support (BLS) medical care, transport humans and animals to the nearest location for secondary air or land transport, provide shore-based and boat-based water rescue, provide animal rescues, and support helicopter and urban search and rescue in water environments.As of noon Friday, at least 21 people were reported dead in four states.The storm generated a massive storm surge and knocked out power to millions of customers in several states.

Man and his dog rescued off Florida coast after boat sank in Hurricane Helene

SEDGWICK COUNTY—A child was critically injured in an accident Thursday in Wichita.

Just before 6p.m. Thursday, police were called to a report about a 5-year-old child who accidentally shot himself in the face with a flare gun while inside a vehicle, according to police spokesman Andrew Ford.

Other children were inside the car while his mother was outside talking to the child’s grandmother.

Shortly after hearing a loud bang, the mother saw the child exit the vehicle, which had caught fire. The child was hit in the forehead by the flare and suffered a head injury as well as burns.

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) responded quickly, and the child was taken to the hospital with critical injuries. However, he is expected to survive.&nbsp; Police released no additional details.

SEDGWICK COUNTY—A child was critically injured in an accident Thursday in Wichita.Just before 6p.m. Thursday, police were called to a report about a 5-year-old child who accidentally shot himself in the face with a flare gun while inside a vehicle, according to police spokesman Andrew Ford.Other children were inside the car while his mother was outside talking to the child’s grandmother.Shortly after hearing a loud bang, the mother saw the child exit the vehicle, which had caught fire. The child was hit in the forehead by the flare and suffered a head injury as well as burns.Emergency Medical Services (EMS) responded quickly, and the child was taken to the hospital with critical injuries. However, he is expected to survive.&nbsp; Police released no additional details.

Police: Kan. boy shot himself in the face with a flare gun

LONDON (AP) — Maggie Smith, the masterful, scene-stealing actor who won an Oscar for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” in 1969 and gained new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in “Downton Abbey” and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, died Friday. She was 89.

Smith's sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, said in a statement that Smith died early Friday in a London hospital.

“She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother,” they said in a statement issued through publicist Clair Dobbs.

Smith was frequently rated the preeminent British female performer of a generation that included Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench, with a clutch of Academy Award nominations and a shelf full of acting trophies.

She remained in demand even in her later years, despite her lament that “when you get into the granny era, you’re lucky to get anything.”

Smith drily summarized her later roles as “a gallery of grotesques,” including Professor McGonagall. Asked why she took the role, she quipped: “Harry Potter is my pension.”

Richard Eyre, who directed Smith in a television production of “Suddenly Last Summer,” said she was “intellectually the smartest actress I’ve ever worked with. You have to get up very, very early in the morning to outwit Maggie Smith.”

"Jean Brodie," in which she played a dangerously charismatic Edinburgh schoolteacher, brought her the Academy Award for best actress, and the British Academy Film Award (BAFTA) as well in 1969.

Smith added a supporting actress Oscar for “California Suite” in 1978, Golden Globes for “California Suite” and “Room with a View,” and BAFTAs for lead actress in “A Private Function” in 1984, “A Room with a View” in 1986, and “The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne” in 1988.

She also received Academy Award nominations as a supporting actress in “Othello,” “Travels with My Aunt,” “Room with a View” and “Gosford Park,” and a BAFTA award for supporting actress in “Tea with Mussolini.” On stage, she won a Tony in 1990 for “Lettice and Lovage.”

Her work in 2012 netted three Golden Globe nominations for the globally successful “Downton Abbey” TV series and the films “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and “Quartet.”

Smith had a reputation for being difficult, and sometimes upstaging others.

Richard Burton remarked that Smith didn’t just take over a scene in “The VIPs” with him: “She commits grand larceny.” However, the director Peter Hall found that Smith wasn’t “remotely difficult unless she’s among idiots. She’s very hard on herself, and I don’t think she sees any reason why she shouldn’t be hard on other people, too.”

Smith conceded that she could be impatient at times.

“It’s true I don’t tolerate fools, but then they don’t tolerate me, so I am spiky,” Smith said. “Maybe that’s why I’m quite good at playing spiky elderly ladies.”

Critic Frank Rich, in a New York Times review of “Lettice and Lovage,” praised Smith as “the stylized classicist who can italicize a line as prosaic as ‘Have you no marmalade?’ until it sounds like a freshly minted epigram by Coward or Wilde.”

Smith famously drew laughs from a prosaic line — “This haddock is disgusting” — in a 1964 revival of Noel Coward’s “Hay Fever.”

“But unfortunately the critics mentioned it, and after that it never got a laugh,” she recalled. “The moment you say something is funny it’s gossamer. It’s gone, really.”

Margaret Natalie Smith was born in Ilford, on the eastern edge of London, on Dec. 28, 1934. She summed up her life briefly: “One went to school, one wanted to act, one started to act, one’s still acting.”

Her father was assigned in 1939 to wartime duty in Oxford, where her theater studies at the Oxford Playhouse School led to a busy apprenticeship.

“I did so many things, you know, round the universities there. ... If you were kind of clever enough and I suppose quick enough, you could almost do weekly rep because all the colleges were doing different productions at different times,” she said in a BBC interview.

She took Maggie as her stage name because another Margaret Smith was active in the theater.

Laurence Olivier spotted her talent, invited her to be part of his original National Theatre company and cast her as his co-star in a 1965 film adaptation of “Othello.”

Smith said two directors, Ingmar Bergman and William Gaskill, both in National Theatre productions, were important influences.

Alan Bennett, preparing to film the monologue “A Bed Among the Lentils,” said he was wary of Smith’s reputation for becoming bored. As the actor Jeremy Brett put it, “she starts divinely and then goes off, rather like a cheese.”

“So the fact that we only just had enough time to do it was an absolute blessing really because she was so fresh and just so into it,” said Bennett, who also wrote a starring role for Smith in “The Lady in the Van.”

However extravagant she may have been on stage or before the cameras, Smith was known to be intensely private.

Simon Callow, who acted with her in “A Room with a View,” said he ruined their first meeting by spouting compliments.

“I blurted out various kinds of rubbish about her and she kind of withdrew. She doesn’t like that sort of thing very much at all,” Callow said in a film portrait of the actress. “She never wanted to talk about acting. Acting was something she was terrified to talk about because if she did, it would disappear.”

Smith was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire, the equivalent of a knight, in 1990.

She married fellow actor Robert Stephens in 1967. They had two sons, Christopher and Toby, and divorced in 1975. The same year she married the writer Beverley Cross, who died in 1998.

Associated Press writer Robert Barr contributed biographical material to this obituary before his death in 2018.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727444010447.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>LONDON (AP) — Maggie Smith, the masterful, scene-stealing actor who won an Oscar for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” in 1969 and gained new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in “Downton Abbey” and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, died Friday. She was 89.Smith's sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, said in a statement that Smith died early Friday in a London hospital.“She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother,” they said in a statement issued through publicist Clair Dobbs.Smith was frequently rated the preeminent British female performer of a generation that included Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench, with a clutch of Academy Award nominations and a shelf full of acting trophies.She remained in demand even in her later years, despite her lament that “when you get into the granny era, you’re lucky to get anything.”Smith drily summarized her later roles as “a gallery of grotesques,” including Professor McGonagall. Asked why she took the role, she quipped: “Harry Potter is my pension.”Richard Eyre, who directed Smith in a television production of “Suddenly Last Summer,” said she was “intellectually the smartest actress I’ve ever worked with. You have to get up very, very early in the morning to outwit Maggie Smith.”"Jean Brodie," in which she played a dangerously charismatic Edinburgh schoolteacher, brought her the Academy Award for best actress, and the British Academy Film Award (BAFTA) as well in 1969.Smith added a supporting actress Oscar for “California Suite” in 1978, Golden Globes for “California Suite” and “Room with a View,” and BAFTAs for lead actress in “A Private Function” in 1984, “A Room with a View” in 1986, and “The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne” in 1988.She also received Academy Award nominations as a supporting actress in “Othello,” “Travels with My Aunt,” “Room with a View” and “Gosford Park,” and a BAFTA award for supporting actress in “Tea with Mussolini.” On stage, she won a Tony in 1990 for “Lettice and Lovage.”Her work in 2012 netted three Golden Globe nominations for the globally successful “Downton Abbey” TV series and the films “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and “Quartet.”Smith had a reputation for being difficult, and sometimes upstaging others.Richard Burton remarked that Smith didn’t just take over a scene in “The VIPs” with him: “She commits grand larceny.” However, the director Peter Hall found that Smith wasn’t “remotely difficult unless she’s among idiots. She’s very hard on herself, and I don’t think she sees any reason why she shouldn’t be hard on other people, too.”Smith conceded that she could be impatient at times.“It’s true I don’t tolerate fools, but then they don’t tolerate me, so I am spiky,” Smith said. “Maybe that’s why I’m quite good at playing spiky elderly ladies.”Critic Frank Rich, in a New York Times review of “Lettice and Lovage,” praised Smith as “the stylized classicist who can italicize a line as prosaic as ‘Have you no marmalade?’ until it sounds like a freshly minted epigram by Coward or Wilde.”Smith famously drew laughs from a prosaic line — “This haddock is disgusting” — in a 1964 revival of Noel Coward’s “Hay Fever.”“But unfortunately the critics mentioned it, and after that it never got a laugh,” she recalled. “The moment you say something is funny it’s gossamer. It’s gone, really.”Margaret Natalie Smith was born in Ilford, on the eastern edge of London, on Dec. 28, 1934. She summed up her life briefly: “One went to school, one wanted to act, one started to act, one’s still acting.”Her father was assigned in 1939 to wartime duty in Oxford, where her theater studies at the Oxford Playhouse School led to a busy apprenticeship.“I did so many things, you know, round the universities there. ... If you were kind of clever enough and I suppose quick enough, you could almost do weekly rep because all the colleges were doing different productions at different times,” she said in a BBC interview.She took Maggie as her stage name because another Margaret Smith was active in the theater.Laurence Olivier spotted her talent, invited her to be part of his original National Theatre company and cast her as his co-star in a 1965 film adaptation of “Othello.”Smith said two directors, Ingmar Bergman and William Gaskill, both in National Theatre productions, were important influences.Alan Bennett, preparing to film the monologue “A Bed Among the Lentils,” said he was wary of Smith’s reputation for becoming bored. As the actor Jeremy Brett put it, “she starts divinely and then goes off, rather like a cheese.”“So the fact that we only just had enough time to do it was an absolute blessing really because she was so fresh and just so into it,” said Bennett, who also wrote a starring role for Smith in “The Lady in the Van.”However extravagant she may have been on stage or before the cameras, Smith was known to be intensely private.Simon Callow, who acted with her in “A Room with a View,” said he ruined their first meeting by spouting compliments.“I blurted out various kinds of rubbish about her and she kind of withdrew. She doesn’t like that sort of thing very much at all,” Callow said in a film portrait of the actress. “She never wanted to talk about acting. Acting was something she was terrified to talk about because if she did, it would disappear.”Smith was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire, the equivalent of a knight, in 1990.She married fellow actor Robert Stephens in 1967. They had two sons, Christopher and Toby, and divorced in 1975. The same year she married the writer Beverley Cross, who died in 1998.___Associated Press writer Robert Barr contributed biographical material to this obituary before his death in 2018.

‘Downton Abbey,’ ‘Harry Potter’ actress Maggie Smith has died

WYANDOTTE COUNTY —One person died in an accident just before 10:30p.m. Thursday in Wyandotte County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Chrysler 300 driven by Jesus Aguilar-Santos, 29, Kansas City, Kansas, was westbound on Interstate 70 just before the I-670/I-35 exit.

The car rear-ended a 2014 Jeep Cherokee driven by&nbsp;Lori Wiggins, 60, Kansas City, Kansas that was on the shoulder of the highway.&nbsp; After impact the Jeep traveled into the north ditch and rolled.

A passenger in the jeep identified as&nbsp;Darrell Richardson, 78, Kansas City Kansas, was pronounced deceased at the scene. EMS transported&nbsp;Aguilar-Santos and Wiggins to KU Medical Center.&nbsp;Aguilar-Santos was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

WYANDOTTE COUNTY —One person died in an accident just before 10:30p.m. Thursday in Wyandotte County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Chrysler 300 driven by Jesus Aguilar-Santos, 29, Kansas City, Kansas, was westbound on Interstate 70 just before the I-670/I-35 exit.The car rear-ended a 2014 Jeep Cherokee driven by&nbsp;Lori Wiggins, 60, Kansas City, Kansas that was on the shoulder of the highway.&nbsp; After impact the Jeep traveled into the north ditch and rolled.A passenger in the jeep identified as&nbsp;Darrell Richardson, 78, Kansas City Kansas, was pronounced deceased at the scene. EMS transported&nbsp;Aguilar-Santos and Wiggins to KU Medical Center.&nbsp;Aguilar-Santos was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

Kansas man dies, 2 injured after I-70 rear-end crash

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

The Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, laid out more of her economic vision Wednesday during her first one-on-one cable TV interview.

Harris and former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, are laying out&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/taxes-where-do-trump-and-harris-stand" target="_blank">dueling economic agendas</a>&nbsp;this week as the two vie for the Oval Office in an extremely close race.

“I really love and am so energized by what I know to be the spirit and character of the American people — we have ambition, we have aspirations, we have dreams, we can see what’s possible, we have an incredible work ethic, but not everyone has the access to the opportunities that allow them to achieve those things, but we don’t lack for those things, but not everyone gets handed stuff on a silver platter,” Harris told MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle.

“My vision for the economy — I call it an opportunity economy — is about making sure that all Americans — wherever they start, wherever they are — have the ability to actually achieve those dreams and those ambitions, which include, for middle-class families, just being able to know that their hard work allows them to get ahead,” she said.

Earlier on Wednesday,&nbsp;<a href="https://penncapital-star.com/election-2024/harris-touts-economic-plans-in-pittsburgh-the-best-way-to-predict-the-future-is-to-invent-it/" target="_blank">Harris touted her economic plans</a>&nbsp;in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at Carnegie Mellon University. During her MSNBC interview later in the day, she reiterated her plan to cut taxes for more than 100 million Americans, including $6,000 in tax relief for new parents in the first year of their child’s life.

In that first year, Harris said these parents are going to “need help buying a crib, buying a car seat, and we all benefit when they’re actually able to do what they naturally want to do to take care of their child.”

Part of her economic agenda also includes as much as $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers and an up to $50,000 tax break for first-time small businesses.

She also took jabs at Trump when it comes to the economy, saying he’s “just not very serious about how he thinks about some of these issues.”

The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/news/8760cee3-7340-4dcc-9fc5-3457aa5953bd" target="_blank">Trump campaign</a>&nbsp;clapped back at her MSNBC appearance on Wednesday, saying “it was (another) reminder why she never does interviews,” and that she’s “not competent enough — and she has no plans to offer Americans.”

Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://georgiarecorder.com/2024/09/24/trump-pitches-economic-plan-in-savannah-while-insulting-democrats-praising-kemp/" target="_blank">pitched his economic plan</a>&nbsp;earlier this week in Georgia, part of which includes levying tariffs on exported goods, and he vowed to place a 100% tariff on cars imported from Mexico.

Harris also touched on immigration, telling Ruhle “we do have a broken immigration system, and it needs to be fixed.”

She also said she would bring back and sign into law a major&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/bleak-future-immigration-action-after-us-senate-gop-abandons-border-security-deal" target="_blank">bipartisan border security bill</a>&nbsp;from earlier this year while pinning its legislative failure on Trump.

“He killed a bill that would have actually been a solution because he wants to run on a problem instead of fixing the problem, and that’s part of what needs to be addressed,” Harris said.

The veep is set to visit the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday for the first time since becoming the Democratic nominee. Her Douglas, Arizona, visit comes as she’s faced repeated criticism and backlash from both sides of the aisle for her efforts surrounding immigration.

In a&nbsp;<a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113193502568945796" target="_blank">Truth Social post</a>&nbsp;earlier this week regarding her upcoming visit, Trump again dubbed Harris a “border czar,” saying “what a disgrace that she waited so long, allowing millions of people to enter our Country from prisons, mental institutions, and criminal cells all over the World, not just South America, many of those coming are terrorists, and at a level never seen before!”

President Joe Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/what-know-about-vice-president-kamala-harris-endorsed-biden-his-successor" target="_blank">tapped Harris back in 2021</a>&nbsp;to help address the “root causes” of migration in Central America, but he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.factcheck.org/2024/08/trump-tv-ad-repeats-false-border-czar-illegal-immigration-claims/" target="_blank">did not give her</a>&nbsp;the title of “border czar.” The Department of Homeland Security is in charge of border security.

What’s next for Harris, Trump campaigns

Harris was set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday afternoon.

The meeting between the two leaders “serves as a reminder that the Vice President has been a champion for the United States, advancing our security and prosperity on the world stage and standing up to dictators and autocrats,” her campaign said in a Thursday press release.

This will be her seventh meeting with Zelenskyy, according to her campaign, which noted that as vice president, “she helped rally a global coalition of 50 allies and partners to help Ukraine defend itself.”

Trump is set to deliver remarks in Walker, Michigan, on Friday. Later in the day, he will also host a town hall in Warren, Michigan.

And in the thick of the college football season, Trump is set to attend the Alabama-Georgia football game on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, the University of Alabama&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-says-jewish-voters-would-be-partly-blame-election-loss" target="_blank">confirmed to States Newsroom last week</a>.

Harris’ running mate, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is set to attend the Michigan-Minnesota football game Saturday in Ann Arbor, the Harris-Walz campaign announced.

He’s also slated to campaign there and will “speak with students about the power of their vote and the importance of registering to vote ahead of the November election,” per the announcement.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727438181004.png" alt="Vice President Harris during a White House press conference on Thursday image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Vice President Harris during a White House press conference on Thursday image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/shauneen-miranda/">SHAUNEEN MIRANDA</a>&nbsp;The Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, laid out more of her economic vision Wednesday during her first one-on-one cable TV interview.Harris and former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, are laying out&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/taxes-where-do-trump-and-harris-stand" target="_blank">dueling economic agendas</a>&nbsp;this week as the two vie for the Oval Office in an extremely close race.“I really love and am so energized by what I know to be the spirit and character of the American people — we have ambition, we have aspirations, we have dreams, we can see what’s possible, we have an incredible work ethic, but not everyone has the access to the opportunities that allow them to achieve those things, but we don’t lack for those things, but not everyone gets handed stuff on a silver platter,” Harris told MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle.“My vision for the economy — I call it an opportunity economy — is about making sure that all Americans — wherever they start, wherever they are — have the ability to actually achieve those dreams and those ambitions, which include, for middle-class families, just being able to know that their hard work allows them to get ahead,” she said.Earlier on Wednesday,&nbsp;<a href="https://penncapital-star.com/election-2024/harris-touts-economic-plans-in-pittsburgh-the-best-way-to-predict-the-future-is-to-invent-it/" target="_blank">Harris touted her economic plans</a>&nbsp;in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at Carnegie Mellon University. During her MSNBC interview later in the day, she reiterated her plan to cut taxes for more than 100 million Americans, including $6,000 in tax relief for new parents in the first year of their child’s life.In that first year, Harris said these parents are going to “need help buying a crib, buying a car seat, and we all benefit when they’re actually able to do what they naturally want to do to take care of their child.”Part of her economic agenda also includes as much as $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers and an up to $50,000 tax break for first-time small businesses.She also took jabs at Trump when it comes to the economy, saying he’s “just not very serious about how he thinks about some of these issues.”The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/news/8760cee3-7340-4dcc-9fc5-3457aa5953bd" target="_blank">Trump campaign</a>&nbsp;clapped back at her MSNBC appearance on Wednesday, saying “it was (another) reminder why she never does interviews,” and that she’s “not competent enough — and she has no plans to offer Americans.”Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://georgiarecorder.com/2024/09/24/trump-pitches-economic-plan-in-savannah-while-insulting-democrats-praising-kemp/" target="_blank">pitched his economic plan</a>&nbsp;earlier this week in Georgia, part of which includes levying tariffs on exported goods, and he vowed to place a 100% tariff on cars imported from Mexico.<h2>Harris to visit southern border&nbsp;</h2>Harris also touched on immigration, telling Ruhle “we do have a broken immigration system, and it needs to be fixed.”She also said she would bring back and sign into law a major&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/bleak-future-immigration-action-after-us-senate-gop-abandons-border-security-deal" target="_blank">bipartisan border security bill</a>&nbsp;from earlier this year while pinning its legislative failure on Trump.“He killed a bill that would have actually been a solution because he wants to run on a problem instead of fixing the problem, and that’s part of what needs to be addressed,” Harris said.The veep is set to visit the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday for the first time since becoming the Democratic nominee. Her Douglas, Arizona, visit comes as she’s faced repeated criticism and backlash from both sides of the aisle for her efforts surrounding immigration.In a&nbsp;<a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113193502568945796" target="_blank">Truth Social post</a>&nbsp;earlier this week regarding her upcoming visit, Trump again dubbed Harris a “border czar,” saying “what a disgrace that she waited so long, allowing millions of people to enter our Country from prisons, mental institutions, and criminal cells all over the World, not just South America, many of those coming are terrorists, and at a level never seen before!”President Joe Biden&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/what-know-about-vice-president-kamala-harris-endorsed-biden-his-successor" target="_blank">tapped Harris back in 2021</a>&nbsp;to help address the “root causes” of migration in Central America, but he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.factcheck.org/2024/08/trump-tv-ad-repeats-false-border-czar-illegal-immigration-claims/" target="_blank">did not give her</a>&nbsp;the title of “border czar.” The Department of Homeland Security is in charge of border security.<h2>What’s next for Harris, Trump campaigns</h2>Harris was set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday afternoon.The meeting between the two leaders “serves as a reminder that the Vice President has been a champion for the United States, advancing our security and prosperity on the world stage and standing up to dictators and autocrats,” her campaign said in a Thursday press release.This will be her seventh meeting with Zelenskyy, according to her campaign, which noted that as vice president, “she helped rally a global coalition of 50 allies and partners to help Ukraine defend itself.”Trump is set to deliver remarks in Walker, Michigan, on Friday. Later in the day, he will also host a town hall in Warren, Michigan.And in the thick of the college football season, Trump is set to attend the Alabama-Georgia football game on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, the University of Alabama&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-says-jewish-voters-would-be-partly-blame-election-loss" target="_blank">confirmed to States Newsroom last week</a>.Harris’ running mate, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is set to attend the Michigan-Minnesota football game Saturday in Ann Arbor, the Harris-Walz campaign announced.He’s also slated to campaign there and will “speak with students about the power of their vote and the importance of registering to vote ahead of the November election,” per the announcement.

Harris pitches an ‘opportunity economy’ in debut one-on-one TV interview 

WYANDOTTE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a robbery and shooting and asking the public for help to identify a suspect

On September 7, the woman seen in the security camera video was involved in the robbery of a business near 60th and Leavenworth Road in Kansas City, Kansas, according to a media release.

She fled the scene i, a blue pickup, driven by a white male.&nbsp; The vehicle and driver were involved in a shooting just a short time later.

If you recognize this woman or know anything about this incident, please, reach out to KCKPD detectives through the Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline, 816-474-TIPS (8477) or at&nbsp;<a href="http://kccrimestoppers.com/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3kG0Ti1fOUfNY8SAy1RNMY93m3S1DIlstb1E3-wFzTXVVSU-ZLsvi4y6A_aem_CzvFQLCv3N7Kn57pIXZEqQ" target="_blank">kccrimestoppers.com</a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/hashtag/kckpd?__eep__=6%2F&amp;__cft__[0]=AZXFNTYHVl3F-cu4fTIawfvOYYE1xdj24IQ7oD4BFaARIJX0POWM8JVg8EoCarJROPL01rY3UiONdDkkgayi76KpRso6XIjC9B4fb_JmIXL9KvZZ4agIZ83fizUIrNJdcVV_QNvpdwE_KUDTgNcVtAbnAfubXsT9Qn_cIb_P3PsXSSiQYC5UqThG2clnWzNCn4Y7sHP6296VDaKKs7E5k5fg&amp;__tn__=*NK-R">#kckpd</a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/hashtag/crimestoppers?__eep__=6%2F&amp;__cft__[0]=AZXFNTYHVl3F-cu4fTIawfvOYYE1xdj24IQ7oD4BFaARIJX0POWM8JVg8EoCarJROPL01rY3UiONdDkkgayi76KpRso6XIjC9B4fb_JmIXL9KvZZ4agIZ83fizUIrNJdcVV_QNvpdwE_KUDTgNcVtAbnAfubXsT9Qn_cIb_P3PsXSSiQYC5UqThG2clnWzNCn4Y7sHP6296VDaKKs7E5k5fg&amp;__tn__=*NK-R">#crimestoppers</a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/kcmetrocrime?__cft__[0]=AZXFNTYHVl3F-cu4fTIawfvOYYE1xdj24IQ7oD4BFaARIJX0POWM8JVg8EoCarJROPL01rY3UiONdDkkgayi76KpRso6XIjC9B4fb_JmIXL9KvZZ4agIZ83fizUIrNJdcVV_QNvpdwE_KUDTgNcVtAbnAfubXsT9Qn_cIb_P3PsXSSiQYC5UqThG2clnWzNCn4Y7sHP6296VDaKKs7E5k5fg&amp;__tn__=-]K-R">Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission</a>See less

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727397873439.png" alt="KCK Police" />
 <figcaption>KCK Police</figcaption>
 </figure>WYANDOTTE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a robbery and shooting and asking the public for help to identify a suspectOn September 7, the woman seen in the security camera video was involved in the robbery of a business near 60th and Leavenworth Road in Kansas City, Kansas, according to a media release.She fled the scene i, a blue pickup, driven by a white male.&nbsp; The vehicle and driver were involved in a shooting just a short time later.If you recognize this woman or know anything about this incident, please, reach out to KCKPD detectives through the Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline, 816-474-TIPS (8477) or at&nbsp;<a href="http://kccrimestoppers.com/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3kG0Ti1fOUfNY8SAy1RNMY93m3S1DIlstb1E3-wFzTXVVSU-ZLsvi4y6A_aem_CzvFQLCv3N7Kn57pIXZEqQ" target="_blank">kccrimestoppers.com</a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/hashtag/kckpd?__eep__=6%2F&amp;__cft__[0]=AZXFNTYHVl3F-cu4fTIawfvOYYE1xdj24IQ7oD4BFaARIJX0POWM8JVg8EoCarJROPL01rY3UiONdDkkgayi76KpRso6XIjC9B4fb_JmIXL9KvZZ4agIZ83fizUIrNJdcVV_QNvpdwE_KUDTgNcVtAbnAfubXsT9Qn_cIb_P3PsXSSiQYC5UqThG2clnWzNCn4Y7sHP6296VDaKKs7E5k5fg&amp;__tn__=*NK-R">#kckpd</a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/hashtag/crimestoppers?__eep__=6%2F&amp;__cft__[0]=AZXFNTYHVl3F-cu4fTIawfvOYYE1xdj24IQ7oD4BFaARIJX0POWM8JVg8EoCarJROPL01rY3UiONdDkkgayi76KpRso6XIjC9B4fb_JmIXL9KvZZ4agIZ83fizUIrNJdcVV_QNvpdwE_KUDTgNcVtAbnAfubXsT9Qn_cIb_P3PsXSSiQYC5UqThG2clnWzNCn4Y7sHP6296VDaKKs7E5k5fg&amp;__tn__=*NK-R">#crimestoppers</a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/kcmetrocrime?__cft__[0]=AZXFNTYHVl3F-cu4fTIawfvOYYE1xdj24IQ7oD4BFaARIJX0POWM8JVg8EoCarJROPL01rY3UiONdDkkgayi76KpRso6XIjC9B4fb_JmIXL9KvZZ4agIZ83fizUIrNJdcVV_QNvpdwE_KUDTgNcVtAbnAfubXsT9Qn_cIb_P3PsXSSiQYC5UqThG2clnWzNCn4Y7sHP6296VDaKKs7E5k5fg&amp;__tn__=-]K-R">Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission</a>See less

Police ask for help to ID suspect in Kan. robbery, shooting 

KANSAS CITY —One person died in an accident just before noon Thursday in Kansas City.

A Ford Focus was northbound on Troost near 51st Street at a high rate of speed. The car struck a pedestrian operating an HYB15 motorized scooter, crossing Troost from east to west, according to KCPD Captain Jake Becchina.

The pedestrian was in the middle of the roadway and within an unmarked cross walk at the time of the accident.

 The driver of the Ford stopped immediately and remained at the scene. EMS transported the pedestrian to a local hospital and they were pronounced deceased. 

The investigation, to include suspected impairment of the driver of the Ford, is ongoing, according to Becchina. The name of the victim has not been released.&nbsp; This is fatality #71 compared to #67 at this time last year in Kansas City, Missouri.

KANSAS CITY —One person died in an accident just before noon Thursday in Kansas City.A Ford Focus was northbound on Troost near 51st Street at a high rate of speed. The car struck a pedestrian operating an HYB15 motorized scooter, crossing Troost from east to west, according to KCPD Captain Jake Becchina.The pedestrian was in the middle of the roadway and within an unmarked cross walk at the time of the accident. The driver of the Ford stopped immediately and remained at the scene. EMS transported the pedestrian to a local hospital and they were pronounced deceased. The investigation, to include suspected impairment of the driver of the Ford, is ongoing, according to Becchina. The name of the victim has not been released.&nbsp; This is fatality #71 compared to #67 at this time last year in Kansas City, Missouri.

KCPD: Electric scooter rider dies after struck by car

WASHINGTON —On Thursday, as part of the surge of assistance that President Biden directed ahead of his meeting with President Zelenskyy, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced a significant new security assistance package to ensure Ukraine has the tools it needs to prevail in its fight against Russian aggression, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Defense.

This security assistance package commits an additional $2.4 billion in support through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) that will provide Ukraine with additional air defense, Unmanned Aerial Systems, and air-to-ground munitions, as well as strengthen Ukraine’s defense industrial base and support its maintenance and sustainment requirements.&nbsp;

The capabilities in this announcement include:

This is the Biden Administration’s twenty-first USAI package. The United States will continue to work together with some 50 Allies and partners through the Ukraine Defense Contact Group and its associated capability coalitions to provide the support Ukraine needs to win the war.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727380260471.png" alt="Ukrainian President Zelenskyy watches as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signs bombs that will used in the war against Russia-photo Office of Gov. Shapiro" />
 <figcaption>Ukrainian President Zelenskyy watches as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signs bombs that will used in the war against Russia-photo Office of Gov. Shapiro</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON —On Thursday, as part of the surge of assistance that President Biden directed ahead of his meeting with President Zelenskyy, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced a significant new security assistance package to ensure Ukraine has the tools it needs to prevail in its fight against Russian aggression, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Defense.This security assistance package commits an additional $2.4 billion in support through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) that will provide Ukraine with additional air defense, Unmanned Aerial Systems, and air-to-ground munitions, as well as strengthen Ukraine’s defense industrial base and support its maintenance and sustainment requirements.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727392281821.png" alt="-President Zelenskyy and Vice President Harris at the White House on Thursday-White House image" />
 <figcaption>-President Zelenskyy and Vice President Harris at the White House on Thursday-White House image</figcaption>
 </figure>The capabilities in this announcement include:<ul>
 <li>Munitions and support for Ukrainian air defense systems;</li><li>Air-to-ground munitions;</li><li>Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and components to support Ukrainian production of UAS;</li><li>Counter-UAS equipment;&nbsp; Unmanned surface vessels;</li><li>Secure communications equipment;</li><li>Equipment and materiel to support Ukrainian munitions production; and&nbsp;</li><li>Spare parts, maintenance and sustainment support, and other ancillary equipment.</li>
 </ul><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727380341399.png" alt="Ukraine President Zelenskyy and President Biden at the White House on Thursday-White House image" />
 <figcaption>Ukraine President Zelenskyy and President Biden at the White House on Thursday-White House image</figcaption>
 </figure>This is the Biden Administration’s twenty-first USAI package. The United States will continue to work together with some 50 Allies and partners through the Ukraine Defense Contact Group and its associated capability coalitions to provide the support Ukraine needs to win the war.

U.S. to spend another $2.4 billion on security assistance for Ukraine

LYON COUNTY —Police departments and school districts across Kansas continue to investigate online school threats and make arrests.

At USD 253 in Emporia, it was reported that a student, in an email, had threatened to bring a gun to school on Thursday and was warning other students not to attend school that day.&nbsp;

Officers located the student making the threats. It was determined the student did not have access to any firearms and no students were at risk.&nbsp;The case will be referred to the Lyon County Attorney’s Office for their review on possible charges.

At USD 428 in Great Bend,&nbsp;Superintendent Khris Thexton alerted district families and staff that another social media threat was reported directly to Great Bend Police Department on the evening of&nbsp; Sept. 25.&nbsp; Police determined the threat was not true.

"We are relieved to report that law enforcement officers determined this threat poses no danger to our students."

On Tuesday, Salina South Middle School administration and officers with the Salina Police Department responded to a threat made by a student against the school.&nbsp;&nbsp;The incident took place during the fourth period, around the noon hour, and involved a 13-year-old student who made threatening remarks to other students.

According to Salina Police Captain David Villanueva, the student told classmates not to come to school the next day because there would be a shooting. These comments were corroborated through an investigation by the school's resource officer and staff, who spoke to multiple students.

As a result, the student was arrested and taken to the juvenile detention facility in Junction City on charges of criminal threat.

In Ellis on Thursday, police arrested a 14-year-old for allegedly making a school threat, according to a press release Police Chief Avery Smith.&nbsp; USD 388 and police realized the threat was a hoax and not an active threat. The case was referred to the county attorney for charges.

USD 428 Superintendent Thexton reminded, "It’s also an important to never “share” a threat on social media. Instead, take a screenshot and report it to the police or school officials."

LYON COUNTY —Police departments and school districts across Kansas continue to investigate online school threats and make arrests.At USD 253 in Emporia, it was reported that a student, in an email, had threatened to bring a gun to school on Thursday and was warning other students not to attend school that day.&nbsp;Officers located the student making the threats. It was determined the student did not have access to any firearms and no students were at risk.&nbsp;The case will be referred to the Lyon County Attorney’s Office for their review on possible charges.At USD 428 in Great Bend,&nbsp;Superintendent Khris Thexton alerted district families and staff that another social media threat was reported directly to Great Bend Police Department on the evening of&nbsp; Sept. 25.&nbsp; Police determined the threat was not true."We are relieved to report that law enforcement officers determined this threat poses no danger to our students."On Tuesday, Salina South Middle School administration and officers with the Salina Police Department responded to a threat made by a student against the school.&nbsp;&nbsp;The incident took place during the fourth period, around the noon hour, and involved a 13-year-old student who made threatening remarks to other students.According to Salina Police Captain David Villanueva, the student told classmates not to come to school the next day because there would be a shooting. These comments were corroborated through an investigation by the school's resource officer and staff, who spoke to multiple students.As a result, the student was arrested and taken to the juvenile detention facility in Junction City on charges of criminal threat.In Ellis on Thursday, police arrested a 14-year-old for allegedly making a school threat, according to a press release Police Chief Avery Smith.&nbsp; USD 388 and police realized the threat was a hoax and not an active threat. The case was referred to the county attorney for charges.USD 428 Superintendent Thexton reminded, "It’s also an important to never “share” a threat on social media. Instead, take a screenshot and report it to the police or school officials."

Police across Kansas continue to investigate alleged school threats

JOHNSON COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating a fatal motorcycle crash have identified the victim as 23-year-old Akari E. Kubo of Olathe.

According to Lenexa Police, a motorcycle driven by Kubo was southbound in the 11200 Block of Strang Line Road. The motorcycle traveled off the road and crashed in the center median.

Johnson County&nbsp; Med-Act transported her to an area hospital where she died. Police released no&nbsp;additional details.

JOHNSON COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating a fatal motorcycle crash have identified the victim as 23-year-old Akari E. Kubo of Olathe.According to Lenexa Police, a motorcycle driven by Kubo was southbound in the 11200 Block of Strang Line Road. The motorcycle traveled off the road and crashed in the center median.Johnson County&nbsp; Med-Act transported her to an area hospital where she died. Police released no&nbsp;additional details.