SEDGWICK COUNTY—One person died in an accident just before 7:30p.m. Saturday in Wichita.

The vehice was eastbound in the 700 block of E. 17th St N, according to Officer Kris Gupilan. The driver lost control and the vehicle struck a utility pole.

First responders found the driver and sole occupant inside the vehicle unconscious.&nbsp; EMS transported the driver to a local hospital where they were pronounced deceased.

Speed and impairment are believed to be contributing factors, according to Gupilan. Police were still working to learn&nbsp; the circumstances of the crash and the identity of the driver.

SEDGWICK COUNTY—One person died in an accident just before 7:30p.m. Saturday in Wichita.The vehice was eastbound in the 700 block of E. 17th St N, according to Officer Kris Gupilan. The driver lost control and the vehicle struck a utility pole.First responders found the driver and sole occupant inside the vehicle unconscious.&nbsp; EMS transported the driver to a local hospital where they were pronounced deceased.Speed and impairment are believed to be contributing factors, according to Gupilan. Police were still working to learn&nbsp; the circumstances of the crash and the identity of the driver.

Police: Speed, impairment factors in fatal Kan. crash

WASHINGTON (AP) — A small town on the Texas border declares a state of emergency as tens of thousands of migrants cross the border. The Biden administration grants protection to nearly half a million Venezuelans in the country, giving them the ability to work. This comes after some Democratic mayors and governors warn that growing numbers of migrants in their care are busting their budgets.

The various scenarios playing out across the country paint a picture of a strained immigration system making an impact far from the U.S.-Mexico border. The Biden administration late Wednesday announced measures intended to alleviate the problems.

The U.S. has had immigration surges before so what's different now, and why?

HOW DOES THE NUMBER OF MIGRANTS ARRIVING NOW COMPARE TO PREVIOUS DECADES?

Part of the issue is that a lot more people are coming to the U.S. The numbers dropped earlier this summer after pandemic-era migration rules ended and tougher enforcement measures kicked in. But the numbers are climbing again.

On Wednesday, the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, announced a state of emergency after nearly 6,000 migrants crossed the Rio Grande River from Mexico into the town of roughly 28,000 people in two days.

In fiscal year 2022, Border Patrol encountered 2.2 million people crossing the border illegally. The numbers have gone down in the fiscal year ending this month — about 1.6 million so far — but that's still high.

You have to go back decades to see comparable numbers. From 1990 to 2006, Border Patrol encounters nearly always topped one million a year, with a peak of 1.6 million in 2000. Then the numbers began to fall. From 2010 to 2020, the agency recorded below half a million encounters a year, except for 2019 when they climbed to 859,501.

Statistics aren't always a perfect measure, of course. The numbers from the 1990s and 2000s are considered vast undercounts because migrants often evaded authorities as they entered the U.S. Now, migrants often turn themselves in so they can request asylum.

In recent years, the measures used to contain the COVID-19 pandemic skewed the count. The government relied heavily on a public health tool called Title 42 to quickly eject people from the country. But there was no penalty so experts say migrants returned again and again, thus pushing up the statistics.

The Biden administration late Wednesday announced it was giving Temporary Protected Status to an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans who arrived in the country as of July 31. That makes it easier for them to work in the U.S. Venezuelans make up such a large proportion of the people coming to the U.S. that changing their status has an outsized effect. In New York City, about 40% of the rough 60,000 asylum seekers the city is paying to house are from Venezuela.

The administration also vowed to speed up the time it takes for migrants who are already eligible to work to get their authorizations processed — a key demand from Democratic governors and mayors.

More broadly, the administration has relied on a carrot and stick approach over the last year to deal with immigration. That's involved doing things like giving humanitarian parole to people from certain countries provided they have a financial sponsor and fly into the country. And then relying heavily on consequences for those who don't follow the rules. For example, they have beefed up deportations and expulsions.

Republicans say it's not enough and accuse the administration of doing little to control the southern border.

WHO IS COMING AND DOES THAT AFFECT RESOURCES?

Julia Gelatt, of the Migration Policy Institute, said there are key differences between what's going on now and during past immigration surges.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, there were more single adults coming to the U.S. Now, families with children are increasingly arriving, and they have different needs. While a single adult traveling by himself may be OK crashing on a friend's couch, families often expect more for their children and may be more likely to need government services to protect them. Kids need to go to school.

Also, communications have advanced. These days, migrants can easily share information on social media about the best places to go and what services are available.

Gelatt noted that many of the migrants crossing the border don't hide from the government. Some have been granted humanitarian parole or have a notice to appear in immigration court. They may feel more empowered to ask for assistance.

One of the challenges that has thrust immigration into the spotlight is housing.

New York City and Massachusetts have right-to-shelter rules, meaning they must provide housing to people who need it with certain restrictions. In addition to the roughly 60,000 migrants New York is housing, Massachusetts is also paying to shelter about 11,000 new arrivals.

Murad Awawdeh, who heads the New York Immigration Coalition that advocates for immigrants' rights, said immigrants arriving in the city previously didn't really use the city-run shelter system. They had friends or relatives to help them find places to stay. But that's changing.

"The most unique thing about this situation is simply that folks don't have a family connection here or community connections like they have had historically," Awawdeh said.

Decades ago, migrants arriving in the U.S. were almost all Mexican nationals. Experts and officials note that migrants today arrive from a vast array of countries across South and Central America and Africa, as well as from China and India. Their disparate countries of origin complicate deportations, because they have to be flown. In some cases, migrants can't be deported because the U.S. has no agreement with their native countries, notably Venezuela.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT OF MIGRANTS BEING BUSED FROM THE BORDER?

In 2022, Texas began busing migrants to Democrat-led cities around the country to challenge the Biden administration's border policies. Arizona has also bused migrants out of state.

The numbers are relatively small compared to the overall migrant flow. For example, since the spring of 2022, New York says it has counted 113,000 newly arrived migrants compared to the 8,200 Texas said it bused there.

But the Migration Policy Institute wrote last year that the Republican-sponsored trips had repercussions far beyond the numbers. After crossing the southern border, migrants used to spread "organically, quietly, and gradually" across the U.S., the Institute wrote.

"The buses have instead brought migrants to these cities in an orchestrated, visible, and deliberately disorderly way. ... In generating this chaos, the busing scheme has succeeded at least in showcasing the challenges at the border," the organization wrote.

Associated Press reporter Steve LeBlanc in Boston contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/9/1695343466970.png" alt="photo Texas Dept. of Public Safety" />
 <figcaption>photo Texas Dept. of Public Safety</figcaption>
 </figure>By REBECCA SANTANA Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) — A small town on the Texas border declares a state of emergency as tens of thousands of migrants cross the border. The Biden administration grants protection to nearly half a million Venezuelans in the country, giving them the ability to work. This comes after some Democratic mayors and governors warn that growing numbers of migrants in their care are busting their budgets.The various scenarios playing out across the country paint a picture of a strained immigration system making an impact far from the U.S.-Mexico border. The Biden administration late Wednesday announced measures intended to alleviate the problems.The U.S. has had immigration surges before so what's different now, and why?HOW DOES THE NUMBER OF MIGRANTS ARRIVING NOW COMPARE TO PREVIOUS DECADES?Part of the issue is that a lot more people are coming to the U.S. The numbers dropped earlier this summer after pandemic-era migration rules ended and tougher enforcement measures kicked in. But the numbers are climbing again.On Wednesday, the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, announced a state of emergency after nearly 6,000 migrants crossed the Rio Grande River from Mexico into the town of roughly 28,000 people in two days.In fiscal year 2022, Border Patrol encountered 2.2 million people crossing the border illegally. The numbers have gone down in the fiscal year ending this month — about 1.6 million so far — but that's still high.You have to go back decades to see comparable numbers. From 1990 to 2006, Border Patrol encounters nearly always topped one million a year, with a peak of 1.6 million in 2000. Then the numbers began to fall. From 2010 to 2020, the agency recorded below half a million encounters a year, except for 2019 when they climbed to 859,501.Statistics aren't always a perfect measure, of course. The numbers from the 1990s and 2000s are considered vast undercounts because migrants often evaded authorities as they entered the U.S. Now, migrants often turn themselves in so they can request asylum.In recent years, the measures used to contain the COVID-19 pandemic skewed the count. The government relied heavily on a public health tool called Title 42 to quickly eject people from the country. But there was no penalty so experts say migrants returned again and again, thus pushing up the statistics.WHAT'S THE GOVERNMENT DOING?The Biden administration late Wednesday announced it was giving Temporary Protected Status to an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans who arrived in the country as of July 31. That makes it easier for them to work in the U.S. Venezuelans make up such a large proportion of the people coming to the U.S. that changing their status has an outsized effect. In New York City, about 40% of the rough 60,000 asylum seekers the city is paying to house are from Venezuela.The administration also vowed to speed up the time it takes for migrants who are already eligible to work to get their authorizations processed — a key demand from Democratic governors and mayors.More broadly, the administration has relied on a carrot and stick approach over the last year to deal with immigration. That's involved doing things like giving humanitarian parole to people from certain countries provided they have a financial sponsor and fly into the country. And then relying heavily on consequences for those who don't follow the rules. For example, they have beefed up deportations and expulsions.Republicans say it's not enough and accuse the administration of doing little to control the southern border.WHO IS COMING AND DOES THAT AFFECT RESOURCES?Julia Gelatt, of the Migration Policy Institute, said there are key differences between what's going on now and during past immigration surges.In the late 1990s and early 2000s, there were more single adults coming to the U.S. Now, families with children are increasingly arriving, and they have different needs. While a single adult traveling by himself may be OK crashing on a friend's couch, families often expect more for their children and may be more likely to need government services to protect them. Kids need to go to school.Also, communications have advanced. These days, migrants can easily share information on social media about the best places to go and what services are available.Gelatt noted that many of the migrants crossing the border don't hide from the government. Some have been granted humanitarian parole or have a notice to appear in immigration court. They may feel more empowered to ask for assistance.WHERE ARE MIGRANTS STAYING?One of the challenges that has thrust immigration into the spotlight is housing.New York City and Massachusetts have right-to-shelter rules, meaning they must provide housing to people who need it with certain restrictions. In addition to the roughly 60,000 migrants New York is housing, Massachusetts is also paying to shelter about 11,000 new arrivals.Murad Awawdeh, who heads the New York Immigration Coalition that advocates for immigrants' rights, said immigrants arriving in the city previously didn't really use the city-run shelter system. They had friends or relatives to help them find places to stay. But that's changing."The most unique thing about this situation is simply that folks don't have a family connection here or community connections like they have had historically," Awawdeh said.Decades ago, migrants arriving in the U.S. were almost all Mexican nationals. Experts and officials note that migrants today arrive from a vast array of countries across South and Central America and Africa, as well as from China and India. Their disparate countries of origin complicate deportations, because they have to be flown. In some cases, migrants can't be deported because the U.S. has no agreement with their native countries, notably Venezuela.WHAT'S THE IMPACT OF MIGRANTS BEING BUSED FROM THE BORDER?In 2022, Texas began busing migrants to Democrat-led cities around the country to challenge the Biden administration's border policies. Arizona has also bused migrants out of state.The numbers are relatively small compared to the overall migrant flow. For example, since the spring of 2022, New York says it has counted 113,000 newly arrived migrants compared to the 8,200 Texas said it bused there.But the Migration Policy Institute wrote last year that the Republican-sponsored trips had repercussions far beyond the numbers. After crossing the southern border, migrants used to spread "organically, quietly, and gradually" across the U.S., the Institute wrote."The buses have instead brought migrants to these cities in an orchestrated, visible, and deliberately disorderly way. ... In generating this chaos, the busing scheme has succeeded at least in showcasing the challenges at the border," the organization wrote.___Associated Press reporter Steve LeBlanc in Boston contributed to this report.

As states scramble to care for more migrants, a look at what's behind the numbers

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s education chief said he’s open to using “whatever levers” are available — including federal money — to discourage colleges from giving admissions preference to the children of alumni and donors.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said legacy admissions must be revisited for the sake of diversity on campuses following the recent Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-college-race-f83d6318017ec9b9029b12ee2256e744">ruling against affirmative action</a>. In a step beyond his previous comments, Cardona said he would consider taking stronger action to deter the practice.

“I would be interested in pulling whatever levers I can pull as secretary of Education to ensure that, especially if we’re giving out financial aid and loans, that we’re doing it for institutions that are providing value,” Cardona said Wednesday. He made the remark when asked about using federal money as a carrot or rod on legacy admissions.

Legacy admissions, long seen as a perk for the white and wealthy at selective colleges, have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-legacy-college-admissions-5d6f34a13045752c6a37db67c66c7d63">come under renewed fire</a>&nbsp;since the ruling in June that colleges can no longer consider the race of applicants. By banning affirmative action but allowing legacy preferences, critics say the court left admissions even more lopsided against students of color.

Cardona didn’t elaborate on his options, but the federal government oversees vast sums of money that go to colleges in the form of student financial aid and research grants. The Education Department can also issue fines for civil rights violations, including racial discrimination.

The agency recently opened an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/legacy-admissions-harvard-affirmative-action-diversity-24321f3814d5feec6d380d18c8b6c2e1">investigation at Harvard University</a>&nbsp;after a federal complaint alleged that legacy admissions amount to racial discrimination.

A handful of small colleges have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wesleyan-legacy-admissions-21f7781a961bd784e14dd7752a79d860">disavowed legacy admissions</a>&nbsp;in the wake of the affirmative action decision, but there’s been no sign of change in the upper echelons of America’s universities.

Some colleges and alumni defend the practice, saying it builds community and encourages fundraising. And as campuses become more diverse, they argue, the benefit increasingly extends to students of color and their families.

Cardona, who attended a technical high school and earned his bachelor's degree from Central Connecticut State University, has added his voice to the advocates, civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers denouncing the practice.

“Your last name could get you into a school, or the fact that you can write a check could get you into a school,” he said. But using affirmative action to promote diversity — “that tool was taken away.”

Still, he shied away from supporting a ban of the type proposed by some Democrats in Congress and in several states. Cardona sees it as a matter of local control, with universities having the final decision.

“There is no edict coming from the secretary of Education,” he said.

Without action, Cardona warned that the nation could face the same&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-college-admissions-1d37af28939a533551cff45fa577ceb0">setbacks seen in California</a>&nbsp;after it ended affirmative action in 1996. The state’s most selective colleges saw steep decreases in Black and Latino enrollment, and the numbers never fully rebounded.

“If we go the route that California went when they abolished affirmative action, what chance do we have competing against China?” Cardona said. “This is more than just ensuring diverse learning environments. This is about our strength as a country.”

Advocates have also pushed the Education Department to start collecting data showing the number and demographics of legacy students.

“I was hopeful we’d be seeing more colleges volunteering to drop it,” said James Murphy, a deputy director at Education Reform Now, a nonprofit think tank. “I think I think they’ve got to keep the pressure on and shine a light on it.”

— Cardona said during the interview that students should be taught about the impact of slavery, including effects that linger today. When slavery ended, it didn't end the belief in some that African Americans were inferior, and the country is still seeing the effects of unfair housing and lending policies adopted in more recent decades, he said.

“What we don’t want to do is hide the truth and act as if it didn’t happen, or that when it ended, everything was fine. I definitely don’t want to teach that there were some benefits to that for those who were enslaved,” he said.

His remarks were a veiled reference to new education standards in Florida, endorsed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, that require instruction that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/desantis-slavery-election-2024-1fb51d663e6051051aa23b71421b9479">enslaved people developed skills</a>&nbsp;that “could be applied for their personal benefit.”

Conservatives in many states have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/south-carolina-education-critical-race-theory-5d21ebb41d7870930cb0d76279814236">pushed for restrictions</a>&nbsp;around how schools address topics related to race and slavery.

— He said “schools should be open, period,” even if there is a new COVID-19 surge. “I worry about government overreach, sending down edicts that will lead to school closures because either folks are afraid to go in or are infected and can’t go,” he said.

He said the sense of community was lost when&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/online-school-covid-learning-loss-7c162ec1b4ce4d5219d5210aaac8f1ae">schools closed</a>&nbsp;early in the pandemic, and that in-person instruction “should not be sacrificed for ideology.”

— Cardona declined to speculate on what the administration’s new&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loans-biden-democrats-gop-campaign-2024-37c7a2c3dbd38dc4bf53c3333413bcd7">student loan forgiveness proposal</a>&nbsp;might look like or whether a final regulation could be in place before the 2024 presidential election. “We are going to work as quickly as possible,” he said. “We know there are students that are waiting, borrowers that are waiting. So many folks are struggling right now to get back up.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/9/1695409773117.png" alt="Sec. Cardona and University of Kansas Chancellor Doug Girod during a visit to the campus earlier this month-photo KU" />
 <figcaption>Sec. Cardona and University of Kansas Chancellor Doug Girod during a visit to the campus earlier this month-photo KU</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s education chief said he’s open to using “whatever levers” are available — including federal money — to discourage colleges from giving admissions preference to the children of alumni and donors.In an interview with The Associated Press, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said legacy admissions must be revisited for the sake of diversity on campuses following the recent Supreme Court&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-college-race-f83d6318017ec9b9029b12ee2256e744">ruling against affirmative action</a>. In a step beyond his previous comments, Cardona said he would consider taking stronger action to deter the practice.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">It was great to be at the <a href="https://twitter.com/UnivOfKansas?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UnivOfKansas</a> in Lawrence to kick off our annual <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EdBusTour23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EdBusTour23</a>. With students and educators like you, I know we can raise the bar together. <a href="https://t.co/KWIwgH3PxS">pic.twitter.com/KWIwgH3PxS</a>&mdash; Secretary Miguel Cardona (@SecCardona) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecCardona/status/1699195872435679627?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“I would be interested in pulling whatever levers I can pull as secretary of Education to ensure that, especially if we’re giving out financial aid and loans, that we’re doing it for institutions that are providing value,” Cardona said Wednesday. He made the remark when asked about using federal money as a carrot or rod on legacy admissions.Legacy admissions, long seen as a perk for the white and wealthy at selective colleges, have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-legacy-college-admissions-5d6f34a13045752c6a37db67c66c7d63">come under renewed fire</a>&nbsp;since the ruling in June that colleges can no longer consider the race of applicants. By banning affirmative action but allowing legacy preferences, critics say the court left admissions even more lopsided against students of color.Cardona didn’t elaborate on his options, but the federal government oversees vast sums of money that go to colleges in the form of student financial aid and research grants. The Education Department can also issue fines for civil rights violations, including racial discrimination.The agency recently opened an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/legacy-admissions-harvard-affirmative-action-diversity-24321f3814d5feec6d380d18c8b6c2e1">investigation at Harvard University</a>&nbsp;after a federal complaint alleged that legacy admissions amount to racial discrimination.A handful of small colleges have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wesleyan-legacy-admissions-21f7781a961bd784e14dd7752a79d860">disavowed legacy admissions</a>&nbsp;in the wake of the affirmative action decision, but there’s been no sign of change in the upper echelons of America’s universities.Some colleges and alumni defend the practice, saying it builds community and encourages fundraising. And as campuses become more diverse, they argue, the benefit increasingly extends to students of color and their families.Cardona, who attended a technical high school and earned his bachelor's degree from Central Connecticut State University, has added his voice to the advocates, civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers denouncing the practice.“Your last name could get you into a school, or the fact that you can write a check could get you into a school,” he said. But using affirmative action to promote diversity — “that tool was taken away.”Still, he shied away from supporting a ban of the type proposed by some Democrats in Congress and in several states. Cardona sees it as a matter of local control, with universities having the final decision.“There is no edict coming from the secretary of Education,” he said.Without action, Cardona warned that the nation could face the same&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-college-admissions-1d37af28939a533551cff45fa577ceb0">setbacks seen in California</a>&nbsp;after it ended affirmative action in 1996. The state’s most selective colleges saw steep decreases in Black and Latino enrollment, and the numbers never fully rebounded.“If we go the route that California went when they abolished affirmative action, what chance do we have competing against China?” Cardona said. “This is more than just ensuring diverse learning environments. This is about our strength as a country.”Advocates have also pushed the Education Department to start collecting data showing the number and demographics of legacy students.“I was hopeful we’d be seeing more colleges volunteering to drop it,” said James Murphy, a deputy director at Education Reform Now, a nonprofit think tank. “I think I think they’ve got to keep the pressure on and shine a light on it.”On other issues:— Cardona said during the interview that students should be taught about the impact of slavery, including effects that linger today. When slavery ended, it didn't end the belief in some that African Americans were inferior, and the country is still seeing the effects of unfair housing and lending policies adopted in more recent decades, he said.“What we don’t want to do is hide the truth and act as if it didn’t happen, or that when it ended, everything was fine. I definitely don’t want to teach that there were some benefits to that for those who were enslaved,” he said.His remarks were a veiled reference to new education standards in Florida, endorsed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, that require instruction that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/desantis-slavery-election-2024-1fb51d663e6051051aa23b71421b9479">enslaved people developed skills</a>&nbsp;that “could be applied for their personal benefit.”Conservatives in many states have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/south-carolina-education-critical-race-theory-5d21ebb41d7870930cb0d76279814236">pushed for restrictions</a>&nbsp;around how schools address topics related to race and slavery.— He said “schools should be open, period,” even if there is a new COVID-19 surge. “I worry about government overreach, sending down edicts that will lead to school closures because either folks are afraid to go in or are infected and can’t go,” he said.He said the sense of community was lost when&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/online-school-covid-learning-loss-7c162ec1b4ce4d5219d5210aaac8f1ae">schools closed</a>&nbsp;early in the pandemic, and that in-person instruction “should not be sacrificed for ideology.”— Cardona declined to speculate on what the administration’s new&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loans-biden-democrats-gop-campaign-2024-37c7a2c3dbd38dc4bf53c3333413bcd7">student loan forgiveness proposal</a>&nbsp;might look like or whether a final regulation could be in place before the 2024 presidential election. “We are going to work as quickly as possible,” he said. “We know there are students that are waiting, borrowers that are waiting. So many folks are struggling right now to get back up.”___

U.S. ed chief considers new ways to discourage college admissions preference for kids of alumni

WASHINGTON (AP) —The landmark&nbsp;<a href="https://cathedral.org/">Washington National Cathedral</a>&nbsp;unveiled new&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-race-and-ethnicity-james-marshall-kerry-james-marshall-4f3ef320f410c9090acb540fa925bc2e">stained-glass windows</a>&nbsp;Saturday with a theme of racial justice, filling the space that had once held four windows honoring Confederate Gens.&nbsp;<a href="https://cathedral.org/about/news-media/cathedral-loans-robert-e-lee-stained-glass-window-to-smithsonian/">Robert E. Lee</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nps.gov/people/thomas-j-stonewall-jackson.htm">Stonewall Jackson.</a>

Click below to watch the window dedication ceremony)

The new windows depict a march for justice by African Americans, descendants of the very people who would have remained in slavery after the Civil War if the side for which the officers fought had prevailed.

The cathedral had removed the old windows after Confederate symbols featured prominently in recent racist violence.

The dedication service was attended by many clergy from the Washington area's historically Black churches, as well as leaders of social justice organizations. The prayers, Bible readings and brief speeches were interspersed with gospel music and spirituals, as well as the contemporary song, “Heal Our Land.”

Justice&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ketanji-brown-jackson">Ketanji Brown Jackson</a>, the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, read excerpts from the Rev. Martin Luther King' Jr.'s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.csuchico.edu/iege/_assets/documents/susi-letter-from-birmingham-jail.pdf">“Letter from Birmingham Jail”</a>&nbsp;from 1963.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” she read from King's famed message while jailed in Alabama. “The goal of America is freedom. ... We will win our freedom.” A week earlier, she had spoken at the 60th anniversary of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/alabama-church-bombing-ketanji-brown-jackson-97b6e7d97d8ca40e8328293eec6eebbd">Birmingham church bombing</a>&nbsp;that killed four young Black girls.

The new windows, titled “Now and Forever," are based on a design by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-race-and-ethnicity-james-marshall-kerry-james-marshall-4f3ef320f410c9090acb540fa925bc2e">artist Kerry James Marshall</a>. Stained glass artisan Andrew Goldkuhle crafted the windows based on that design.

In the new work, African Americans are shown marching — on foot or in a wheelchair — from left to right across the four windows. Some march in profile; some directly face the viewer with signs proclaiming “FAIRNESS” and “NO FOUL PLAY.” Light floods in through the sky-bright panes of white and blue above the figures.

Marshall, who was born in Birmingham in 1955, invited anyone viewing the new windows, or other artworks inspired by social justice, “to imagine oneself as a subject and an author of a never-ending story is that is still yet to be told.”

The setting is particularly significant in the massive neo-Gothic cathedral, which regularly hosts ceremonies tied to major national events. It is filled with iconography depicting the American story in glass, stone and other media. Images range from presidents to famous cultural figures and state symbols.

But the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nps.gov/arho/learn/historyculture/robert-e-lee-and-slavery.htm">Lee</a>&nbsp;and Jackson windows “were telling a story that was not a true story,” according to the Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, dean of the cathedral. They were installed in 1953 and donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy,

The windows extolled generals fighting for a cause that sought to “enshrine slavery in our country for all time,” Hollerith said.

He added: “You can't call yourself the National Cathedral, a house of prayer for all people, when there are windows in there that are deeply offensive to a large portion of Americans.”

The cathedral has accompanied the window replacement with a number of public forums discussing the legacy of racism and how monuments were used to burnish the image of the Confederacy as a noble “Lost Cause.”

The new windows will also be accompanied by a poem by scholar Elizabeth Alexander, president of the Mellon Foundation. The poem “American Song” will be engraved beneath the windows.

“A single voice raised, then another,” it says. “We must tell the truth about our history. ... May this portal be where the light comes in.”

Alexander said in an interview Friday that the poem referred both to the literal light from the windows, which she said beautifully illumines the surrounding stonework, and the figurative light that “enables us to see each other wholly and in community.”

The setting is important in a sanctuary that is also “a communal space, a space that tourists visit, a space where the nation mourns,” Alexander said. “The story (the windows) tell is one of collective movement, of progress, of people struggling and asserting the values of fairness for all."

The old windows' removal followed the use of Confederate imagery by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dylann-roof-sentenced-death-for-killing-9-church-members-ba912545b5dc40729c80328d598ac550">the racist gunman</a>&nbsp;who massacred members of a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, and by marchers at a 2017 far-right rally in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wv-state-wire-violence-charlottesville-race-and-ethnicity-charlottesville-a-year-later-59e503c23fb3434c8a1f0950539484d6">Charlottesville, Virginia</a>, that ended with a counterprotester's death.

The original windows, complete with Confederate battle flags, had depicted Lee and Jackson as saintlike figures, with Lee bathed in rays of heavenly light and Jackson welcomed by trumpets into paradise after his death. Those windows are now stored by the cathedral.

The cathedral also is the seat of the Episcopal Church’s presiding bishop and Diocese of Washington.

The bishop of the diocese, the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, joined Hollerith in delivering opening remarks at the dedication.

Hollerith recalled the decision to remove the Confederate windows.

“They were antithetical to our call to be a house of prayer for all,” he said, adding, “There is a lot of work yet to be done.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/9/1695516004624.png" alt="The dedication service was attended by many clergy from the Washington area's historically Black churches, as well as leaders of social justice organizations.-image from the video of the ceremony&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>The dedication service was attended by many clergy from the Washington area's historically Black churches, as well as leaders of social justice organizations.-image from the video of the ceremony&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) —The landmark&nbsp;<a href="https://cathedral.org/">Washington National Cathedral</a>&nbsp;unveiled new&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-race-and-ethnicity-james-marshall-kerry-james-marshall-4f3ef320f410c9090acb540fa925bc2e">stained-glass windows</a>&nbsp;Saturday with a theme of racial justice, filling the space that had once held four windows honoring Confederate Gens.&nbsp;<a href="https://cathedral.org/about/news-media/cathedral-loans-robert-e-lee-stained-glass-window-to-smithsonian/">Robert E. Lee</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nps.gov/people/thomas-j-stonewall-jackson.htm">Stonewall Jackson.</a>Click below to watch the window dedication ceremony)<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_vANa0KU4Kw?si=qD-r-_aJyxM4PaFc&amp;start=409" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>The new windows depict a march for justice by African Americans, descendants of the very people who would have remained in slavery after the Civil War if the side for which the officers fought had prevailed.The cathedral had removed the old windows after Confederate symbols featured prominently in recent racist violence.The dedication service was attended by many clergy from the Washington area's historically Black churches, as well as leaders of social justice organizations. The prayers, Bible readings and brief speeches were interspersed with gospel music and spirituals, as well as the contemporary song, “Heal Our Land.”Justice&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ketanji-brown-jackson">Ketanji Brown Jackson</a>, the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, read excerpts from the Rev. Martin Luther King' Jr.'s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.csuchico.edu/iege/_assets/documents/susi-letter-from-birmingham-jail.pdf">“Letter from Birmingham Jail”</a>&nbsp;from 1963.“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” she read from King's famed message while jailed in Alabama. “The goal of America is freedom. ... We will win our freedom.” A week earlier, she had spoken at the 60th anniversary of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/alabama-church-bombing-ketanji-brown-jackson-97b6e7d97d8ca40e8328293eec6eebbd">Birmingham church bombing</a>&nbsp;that killed four young Black girls.The new windows, titled “Now and Forever," are based on a design by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-race-and-ethnicity-james-marshall-kerry-james-marshall-4f3ef320f410c9090acb540fa925bc2e">artist Kerry James Marshall</a>. Stained glass artisan Andrew Goldkuhle crafted the windows based on that design.In the new work, African Americans are shown marching — on foot or in a wheelchair — from left to right across the four windows. Some march in profile; some directly face the viewer with signs proclaiming “FAIRNESS” and “NO FOUL PLAY.” Light floods in through the sky-bright panes of white and blue above the figures.Marshall, who was born in Birmingham in 1955, invited anyone viewing the new windows, or other artworks inspired by social justice, “to imagine oneself as a subject and an author of a never-ending story is that is still yet to be told.”The setting is particularly significant in the massive neo-Gothic cathedral, which regularly hosts ceremonies tied to major national events. It is filled with iconography depicting the American story in glass, stone and other media. Images range from presidents to famous cultural figures and state symbols.But the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nps.gov/arho/learn/historyculture/robert-e-lee-and-slavery.htm">Lee</a>&nbsp;and Jackson windows “were telling a story that was not a true story,” according to the Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, dean of the cathedral. They were installed in 1953 and donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy,The windows extolled generals fighting for a cause that sought to “enshrine slavery in our country for all time,” Hollerith said.He added: “You can't call yourself the National Cathedral, a house of prayer for all people, when there are windows in there that are deeply offensive to a large portion of Americans.”The cathedral has accompanied the window replacement with a number of public forums discussing the legacy of racism and how monuments were used to burnish the image of the Confederacy as a noble “Lost Cause.”The new windows will also be accompanied by a poem by scholar Elizabeth Alexander, president of the Mellon Foundation. The poem “American Song” will be engraved beneath the windows.“A single voice raised, then another,” it says. “We must tell the truth about our history. ... May this portal be where the light comes in.”Alexander said in an interview Friday that the poem referred both to the literal light from the windows, which she said beautifully illumines the surrounding stonework, and the figurative light that “enables us to see each other wholly and in community.”The setting is important in a sanctuary that is also “a communal space, a space that tourists visit, a space where the nation mourns,” Alexander said. “The story (the windows) tell is one of collective movement, of progress, of people struggling and asserting the values of fairness for all."The old windows' removal followed the use of Confederate imagery by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dylann-roof-sentenced-death-for-killing-9-church-members-ba912545b5dc40729c80328d598ac550">the racist gunman</a>&nbsp;who massacred members of a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, and by marchers at a 2017 far-right rally in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wv-state-wire-violence-charlottesville-race-and-ethnicity-charlottesville-a-year-later-59e503c23fb3434c8a1f0950539484d6">Charlottesville, Virginia</a>, that ended with a counterprotester's death.The original windows, complete with Confederate battle flags, had depicted Lee and Jackson as saintlike figures, with Lee bathed in rays of heavenly light and Jackson welcomed by trumpets into paradise after his death. Those windows are now stored by the cathedral.The cathedral also is the seat of the Episcopal Church’s presiding bishop and Diocese of Washington.The bishop of the diocese, the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, joined Hollerith in delivering opening remarks at the dedication.Hollerith recalled the decision to remove the Confederate windows.“They were antithetical to our call to be a house of prayer for all,” he said, adding, “There is a lot of work yet to be done.”

🎥National Cathedral swaps Confederate windows for racial justice windows

Two years after the end of a national eviction moratorium, landlords are still looking to make up for lost income

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/milimansaray/">MILI MANSARAY</a>

Jared Johnson hasn’t paid rent in four months. The trouble started when his car got towed. That cost him his job delivering groceries for Instacart.

He’s been able to hold off an eviction — for now.

At his eviction trial, his landlord agreed to give him until the end of September to pay his back rent. Johnson, who is originally from Florida, said the extension is the only thing between him and a homeless shelter or a short-term housing program.

“Or my last resort, since I won’t be able to take my dog with me, is to go back to Florida,” he said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s nationwide eviction moratorium, which began in September 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kcbeacon.org/stories/2021/09/08/eviction-moratorium-ends-kansas-city/">ended</a>&nbsp;in July 2021. Since then, eviction rates in Kansas City have risen back to pre-pandemic levels. In fact, efforts to evict tenants run higher now than before the pandemic.

Jackson County court records show 261 evictions in July and 1,388 so far this year.&nbsp; Before the pandemic and the national ban on evictions, the county saw 183 evictions in July 2019 and 1,675 evictions in the 10 months before the moratorium.

Landlords are also filing more cases to evict more tenants. More than 11,000 cases were filed from July 2022 to July 2023&nbsp; in Jackson County, compared to 7,358 from June 2021 to June 2022.

To help tenants fight their cases, the Kansas City Council passed a “<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kcmo.gov/Home/Components/News/News/1882/16#:~:text=Kansas%20City's%20first%20ever%20%22Right,officially%20starts%20on%20June%201.">Right to Counsel”&nbsp;</a>ordinance last year that gives free legal assistance to residents facing eviction.

One year later, the demand for representation has surpassed the supply of legal help.

“We were able to represent everyone who appeared in court when it went into effect,” said Gina Chiala, the executive director of the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.jobsandfreedom.org/">Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom</a>, an organization that provides legal services for low-wage workers and tenants. “Since then, that has changed and we’ve really started to feel the pressure.”

Rent is at the center of eviction disputes. About a third of the eviction cases filed are for rent and possession, Chiala said.

This year, the Kansas City area had the second-highest yearly increase in rent among the 50 biggest cities in the country, according to a study by&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.rent.com/research/average-rent-price-report/">Rent.com</a>, a digital apartment marketplace.

Renters pay an&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://evictionlab.org/eviction-tracking/kansas-city-mo/">average</a>&nbsp;of $1,044 per month in Jackson County. Yet, as the rent rises,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kcbeacon.org/stories/2022/09/20/kansas-city-minimum-wage/">wages</a>&nbsp;are stagnating.

Missouri’s minimum wage is $12 an hour, but the living wage for a single adult in Jackson County is $33.60, according to a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/29095">living-wage calculator&nbsp;</a>from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“People … are just living at the edge of existence,” said Kirk McClure, professor of urban planning at the University of Kansas.

The average American renter is also<a target="_blank" href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/infrastructure/3866947-renters-paying-30-percent-of-income-for-housing-crisis/">&nbsp;rent-burned,</a>&nbsp;meaning they pay more than 30% of their income on housing.

“Most low-income folks that get laid off don’t have big savings accounts to pay their rent,” McClure said. “They have a very low cushion to absorb a shock like the pandemic or a layoff.”

Lindale Lee stopped paying rent after he lost his job and his roommate moved out in July. He has since found a new job and paid it back, but he still found himself on trial due to the added fees.

“I owe $700,” he said. “But with the late fees, processing fees and attorney fees, I owe $1,402.”

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have also influenced landlords to raise rental costs. Many are looking to recoup the money they lost due to the national eviction moratoriums.

“Landlords were put on a huge financial crunch since they weren’t getting their rent on time. Sometimes it was paid, sometimes not,” said Michael Fortin, a lawyer who&nbsp; provides legal services to business owners. “Now that the moratoriums are lifted, the landlords have to raise their rents to cover their losses. … A lot of their patience is gone.”

Through federal&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/covid-divide/rental-assistance-did-not-go-to-tenants-landlords/">emergency rental assistance</a>&nbsp;programs, state governments distributed $2.6 billion in assistance to renters. But McClure said it took months to reach them.

He blamed out-of-state corporate property owners for the rising rents.

“We’re getting professional investors who’ve never even been to the city they’re buying in,” he said. “They’re seeing rents going up and they’re saying, ‘I want in on that.’”

The&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56214c93e4b0126253f97afd/t/65007a3ce95bcc009b78004b/1694530122501/The+State+of+Eviction+2023.pdf">Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom</a>&nbsp;says property owners in California, New York and New Jersey evict the most tenants in Kansas City.

Can Right to Counsel handle heightening Kansas City rent?

In the 15 months since the Right to Counsel ordinance was passed, nearly 2,000 tenants have been represented by attorneys, with 86% of the rulings ending in no eviction, according to the Heartland Center’s&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56214c93e4b0126253f97afd/t/65007a3ce95bcc009b78004b/1694530122501/The+State+of+Eviction+2023.pdf">State of Eviction report</a>.

But as case filings rise, the organizations are losing the capacity to represent tenants.

“We are scrambling to build up staff to meet the number of evictions that are actually being filed,” said Chiala.

There are 12 attorneys between Heartland,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://lawmo.org/">Legal Aid of Western Missouri&nbsp;</a>and the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://law.umkc.edu/">University of Missouri-Kansas City</a>&nbsp;combined, each capable of handling 120 cases in a year.

The organizations want to have 18 attorneys by the spring of 2024, and they have already hired two more.

“In the meantime,” Chiala said, “we’re having to turn down cases since there’s not enough attorneys to keep up.”

Without attorneys, many tenants must defend themselves.

But a lawyer makes a sizable difference in outcome.

“A lot of times the tenants have affirmative defenses, most often because the landlord failed to maintain the property,” Chiala said. “And so we’re able to raise those defenses and then try to negotiate a humane outcome between the tenant and the landlord.”

This&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kcbeacon.org/stories/2023/09/18/kansas-city-rent/">article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kcbeacon.org/">The Beacon</a>&nbsp;and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600338481812.png" alt="The U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s nationwide eviction moratorium,&nbsp;which began in September 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ended in July 2021 (iStock/Getty Images)." />
 <figcaption>The U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s nationwide eviction moratorium,&nbsp;which began in September 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ended in July 2021 (iStock/Getty Images).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Two years after the end of a national eviction moratorium, landlords are still looking to make up for lost income</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/milimansaray/">MILI MANSARAY</a>Jared Johnson hasn’t paid rent in four months. The trouble started when his car got towed. That cost him his job delivering groceries for Instacart.He’s been able to hold off an eviction — for now.At his eviction trial, his landlord agreed to give him until the end of September to pay his back rent. Johnson, who is originally from Florida, said the extension is the only thing between him and a homeless shelter or a short-term housing program.“Or my last resort, since I won’t be able to take my dog with me, is to go back to Florida,” he said.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s nationwide eviction moratorium, which began in September 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kcbeacon.org/stories/2021/09/08/eviction-moratorium-ends-kansas-city/">ended</a>&nbsp;in July 2021. Since then, eviction rates in Kansas City have risen back to pre-pandemic levels. In fact, efforts to evict tenants run higher now than before the pandemic.Jackson County court records show 261 evictions in July and 1,388 so far this year.&nbsp; Before the pandemic and the national ban on evictions, the county saw 183 evictions in July 2019 and 1,675 evictions in the 10 months before the moratorium.Landlords are also filing more cases to evict more tenants. More than 11,000 cases were filed from July 2022 to July 2023&nbsp; in Jackson County, compared to 7,358 from June 2021 to June 2022.To help tenants fight their cases, the Kansas City Council passed a “<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kcmo.gov/Home/Components/News/News/1882/16#:~:text=Kansas%20City's%20first%20ever%20%22Right,officially%20starts%20on%20June%201.">Right to Counsel”&nbsp;</a>ordinance last year that gives free legal assistance to residents facing eviction.One year later, the demand for representation has surpassed the supply of legal help.“We were able to represent everyone who appeared in court when it went into effect,” said Gina Chiala, the executive director of the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.jobsandfreedom.org/">Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom</a>, an organization that provides legal services for low-wage workers and tenants. “Since then, that has changed and we’ve really started to feel the pressure.”<h2>Why are residents getting evicted?</h2>Rent is at the center of eviction disputes. About a third of the eviction cases filed are for rent and possession, Chiala said.This year, the Kansas City area had the second-highest yearly increase in rent among the 50 biggest cities in the country, according to a study by&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.rent.com/research/average-rent-price-report/">Rent.com</a>, a digital apartment marketplace.Renters pay an&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://evictionlab.org/eviction-tracking/kansas-city-mo/">average</a>&nbsp;of $1,044 per month in Jackson County. Yet, as the rent rises,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kcbeacon.org/stories/2022/09/20/kansas-city-minimum-wage/">wages</a>&nbsp;are stagnating.Missouri’s minimum wage is $12 an hour, but the living wage for a single adult in Jackson County is $33.60, according to a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/29095">living-wage calculator&nbsp;</a>from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.“People … are just living at the edge of existence,” said Kirk McClure, professor of urban planning at the University of Kansas.The average American renter is also<a target="_blank" href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/infrastructure/3866947-renters-paying-30-percent-of-income-for-housing-crisis/">&nbsp;rent-burned,</a>&nbsp;meaning they pay more than 30% of their income on housing.“Most low-income folks that get laid off don’t have big savings accounts to pay their rent,” McClure said. “They have a very low cushion to absorb a shock like the pandemic or a layoff.”Lindale Lee stopped paying rent after he lost his job and his roommate moved out in July. He has since found a new job and paid it back, but he still found himself on trial due to the added fees.“I owe $700,” he said. “But with the late fees, processing fees and attorney fees, I owe $1,402.”The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have also influenced landlords to raise rental costs. Many are looking to recoup the money they lost due to the national eviction moratoriums.“Landlords were put on a huge financial crunch since they weren’t getting their rent on time. Sometimes it was paid, sometimes not,” said Michael Fortin, a lawyer who&nbsp; provides legal services to business owners. “Now that the moratoriums are lifted, the landlords have to raise their rents to cover their losses. … A lot of their patience is gone.”Through federal&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/covid-divide/rental-assistance-did-not-go-to-tenants-landlords/">emergency rental assistance</a>&nbsp;programs, state governments distributed $2.6 billion in assistance to renters. But McClure said it took months to reach them.He blamed out-of-state corporate property owners for the rising rents.“We’re getting professional investors who’ve never even been to the city they’re buying in,” he said. “They’re seeing rents going up and they’re saying, ‘I want in on that.’”The&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56214c93e4b0126253f97afd/t/65007a3ce95bcc009b78004b/1694530122501/The+State+of+Eviction+2023.pdf">Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom</a>&nbsp;says property owners in California, New York and New Jersey evict the most tenants in Kansas City.<h2>Can Right to Counsel handle heightening Kansas City rent?</h2>In the 15 months since the Right to Counsel ordinance was passed, nearly 2,000 tenants have been represented by attorneys, with 86% of the rulings ending in no eviction, according to the Heartland Center’s&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56214c93e4b0126253f97afd/t/65007a3ce95bcc009b78004b/1694530122501/The+State+of+Eviction+2023.pdf">State of Eviction report</a>.But as case filings rise, the organizations are losing the capacity to represent tenants.“We are scrambling to build up staff to meet the number of evictions that are actually being filed,” said Chiala.There are 12 attorneys between Heartland,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://lawmo.org/">Legal Aid of Western Missouri&nbsp;</a>and the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://law.umkc.edu/">University of Missouri-Kansas City</a>&nbsp;combined, each capable of handling 120 cases in a year.The organizations want to have 18 attorneys by the spring of 2024, and they have already hired two more.“In the meantime,” Chiala said, “we’re having to turn down cases since there’s not enough attorneys to keep up.”Without attorneys, many tenants must defend themselves.But a lawyer makes a sizable difference in outcome.“A lot of times the tenants have affirmative defenses, most often because the landlord failed to maintain the property,” Chiala said. “And so we’re able to raise those defenses and then try to negotiate a humane outcome between the tenant and the landlord.”This&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kcbeacon.org/stories/2023/09/18/kansas-city-rent/">article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kcbeacon.org/">The Beacon</a>&nbsp;and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Rising rents leave more Kansas City tenants facing eviction

Legislative leaders say Republicans are united and will work toward tax cuts

By RACHEL MIPRO,&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/05/kansas-lawmakers-debate-definition-of-female-and-male-for-county-jails/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — After declaring themselves a united family, “like brothers and sisters,” the top Republicans in the Legislature announced they will work together to resurrect and pass a massive flat tax plan in the first weeks of the upcoming legislative session.

“I may be a little bit aggressive in this,” said House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, during a Thursday news conference announcing their plans. “But I want to see it teed up within the first few weeks. It’s not going to be at the end of the year. We already know the facts. We already know what it takes.”

The plan in question, a flat tax proposal that would have primarily benefited the state’s wealthiest residents, narrowly failed last session, in what Hawkins said was the “biggest disappointment” of the session.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the proposal, known as&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/sb169/">Senate Bill 169</a>, and Republican efforts to override the veto fell short by just one vote in the Senate. The legislation would have implemented a 5.15% income tax rate for all Kansans, decreasing revenue by an estimated $330 million each year. The legislation would have also accelerated $40 million in annual tax cuts for corporations and provided $40 million in residential property tax relief.

In the&nbsp;first iteration of the bill, the top 20% of Kansas wage earners would have received about 70% of the total $764 million tax cut.

The modified plan Kelly vetoed would have offered more than $250 per month in savings to Kansans who earn more than $250,000 per year. But individuals who earn between $25,000 and $75,000 would have received only about $5 to $8 per month in tax relief.

Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, denied the flat tax disproportionately favored the wealthy, pointing to the property tax provision as proof the plan would help all Kansans.

“These comments about somehow it benefits the wealthy, you have to get yourself in quite a good mental contortion to get there,” Masterson said. “It was a benefit for everybody just on that face value alone.”

Masterson blamed media reporting, saying it was false to the characterize the bill as a plan that benefits the wealthiest Kansans.&nbsp;

“You don’t always get accurate information coming through the general flows of information,&nbsp;through this standard sources of media,” Masterson said.

To give more property tax relief, Hawkins said leadership would also revive plans to shave off several of the mill levy taxes used by the state to finance public schools.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/02/10/senate-weighing-bill-to-trim-property-tax-for-k-12-schools-by-150-million-annually/">Republican-proposed legislation</a>&nbsp;last year would have exempted&nbsp;$100,000 of the assessed value on residential property from the 20-mill tax used by the state to finance public schools, taking away nearly $150 million annually in state revenue.

Hawkins didn’t go into specifics on the amount of mills he wanted to remove in the coming session, but he said the state would need to dip into the state general fund for education finances to make up the loss.

“We’re going to trim some of our mills off, probably two to three mills will come off,” Hawkins said. “And then we’ll have to fund education out of SGF. That won’t be there anymore.”

Others have pointed to the&nbsp;Local Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund as a tool to help local governments keep their property taxes low without reducing education funds. LAVTRF payments have been suspended since 2002, but renewal of the initiative could be used to distribute funds to rural counties with the highest property tax mill levy.

Hawkins said the plan wasn’t feasible and had “failed miserably.”&nbsp;

“It was a great slush fund for the county,” Hawkins said. “They could do whatever they wanted with it.”&nbsp;

Both Republicans said they would fight Medicaid expansion, an issue Kelly has promoted for years and has said will be her top priority for the upcoming session.&nbsp;

“Expanding Medicaid and ensuring that every Kansan has access to affordable, high-quality health care is the smartest, sanest way to keep our state moving forward,” Kelly said Wednesday, announcing the start of her statewide Medicaid expansion tour.&nbsp;

Hawkins and Masterson called the governor’s campaign a “welfare” tour for “able-bodied adults” who “choose not to work.”

Medicaid expansion would increase eligibility to adults younger than 65 with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level. Expanding Medicaid would unlock an estimated billion dollars in annual federal aid and give around 150,000 Kansans, including 40,000 children, access to affordable health care.

Kansas is one of 10 remaining states that hasn’t adopted expansion.

When asked by news reporters if they would consider making a deal with Kelly, trading their flat tax proposal for Medicaid expansion, Hawkins and Masterson said it was not an option.

Masterson said the governor was just using the issue to score political points.

“It feels to me that’s just politics on her side … she sees that as an issue she’d win on in some areas, so I think that’s why it’s there,” Masterson said.&nbsp;

Hawkins said Medicaid expansion was his “red line.”&nbsp;

“Medicaid expansion, they think it’s a panacea, but it’s not,” Hawkins said.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/9/1695518396220.png" alt="Senate President Ty Masterson and Speaker of the House Dan Hawkins say they are firmly against Medicaid expansion. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Senate President Ty Masterson and Speaker of the House Dan Hawkins say they are firmly against Medicaid expansion. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Legislative leaders say Republicans are united and will work toward tax cuts</h2>By RACHEL MIPRO,&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/05/kansas-lawmakers-debate-definition-of-female-and-male-for-county-jails/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — After declaring themselves a united family, “like brothers and sisters,” the top Republicans in the Legislature announced they will work together to resurrect and pass a massive flat tax plan in the first weeks of the upcoming legislative session.“I may be a little bit aggressive in this,” said House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, during a Thursday news conference announcing their plans. “But I want to see it teed up within the first few weeks. It’s not going to be at the end of the year. We already know the facts. We already know what it takes.”The plan in question, a flat tax proposal that would have primarily benefited the state’s wealthiest residents, narrowly failed last session, in what Hawkins said was the “biggest disappointment” of the session.Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the proposal, known as&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/sb169/">Senate Bill 169</a>, and Republican efforts to override the veto fell short by just one vote in the Senate. The legislation would have implemented a 5.15% income tax rate for all Kansans, decreasing revenue by an estimated $330 million each year. The legislation would have also accelerated $40 million in annual tax cuts for corporations and provided $40 million in residential property tax relief.In the&nbsp;first iteration of the bill, the top 20% of Kansas wage earners would have received about 70% of the total $764 million tax cut.The modified plan Kelly vetoed would have offered more than $250 per month in savings to Kansans who earn more than $250,000 per year. But individuals who earn between $25,000 and $75,000 would have received only about $5 to $8 per month in tax relief.Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, denied the flat tax disproportionately favored the wealthy, pointing to the property tax provision as proof the plan would help all Kansans.“These comments about somehow it benefits the wealthy, you have to get yourself in quite a good mental contortion to get there,” Masterson said. “It was a benefit for everybody just on that face value alone.”Masterson blamed media reporting, saying it was false to the characterize the bill as a plan that benefits the wealthiest Kansans.&nbsp;“You don’t always get accurate information coming through the general flows of information,&nbsp;through this standard sources of media,” Masterson said.To give more property tax relief, Hawkins said leadership would also revive plans to shave off several of the mill levy taxes used by the state to finance public schools.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/02/10/senate-weighing-bill-to-trim-property-tax-for-k-12-schools-by-150-million-annually/">Republican-proposed legislation</a>&nbsp;last year would have exempted&nbsp;$100,000 of the assessed value on residential property from the 20-mill tax used by the state to finance public schools, taking away nearly $150 million annually in state revenue.Hawkins didn’t go into specifics on the amount of mills he wanted to remove in the coming session, but he said the state would need to dip into the state general fund for education finances to make up the loss.“We’re going to trim some of our mills off, probably two to three mills will come off,” Hawkins said. “And then we’ll have to fund education out of SGF. That won’t be there anymore.”Others have pointed to the&nbsp;Local Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund as a tool to help local governments keep their property taxes low without reducing education funds. LAVTRF payments have been suspended since 2002, but renewal of the initiative could be used to distribute funds to rural counties with the highest property tax mill levy.Hawkins said the plan wasn’t feasible and had “failed miserably.”&nbsp;“It was a great slush fund for the county,” Hawkins said. “They could do whatever they wanted with it.”&nbsp;Both Republicans said they would fight Medicaid expansion, an issue Kelly has promoted for years and has said will be her top priority for the upcoming session.&nbsp;“Expanding Medicaid and ensuring that every Kansan has access to affordable, high-quality health care is the smartest, sanest way to keep our state moving forward,” Kelly said Wednesday, announcing the start of her statewide Medicaid expansion tour.&nbsp;Hawkins and Masterson called the governor’s campaign a “welfare” tour for “able-bodied adults” who “choose not to work.”Medicaid expansion would increase eligibility to adults younger than 65 with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level. Expanding Medicaid would unlock an estimated billion dollars in annual federal aid and give around 150,000 Kansans, including 40,000 children, access to affordable health care.Kansas is one of 10 remaining states that hasn’t adopted expansion.When asked by news reporters if they would consider making a deal with Kelly, trading their flat tax proposal for Medicaid expansion, Hawkins and Masterson said it was not an option.Masterson said the governor was just using the issue to score political points.“It feels to me that’s just politics on her side … she sees that as an issue she’d win on in some areas, so I think that’s why it’s there,” Masterson said.&nbsp;Hawkins said Medicaid expansion was his “red line.”&nbsp;“Medicaid expansion, they think it’s a panacea, but it’s not,” Hawkins said.&nbsp;

Top Kansas Republicans push flat tax proposal, pan Medicaid expansion

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect in connection with theft of a historic church bell near Kansas City.&nbsp;

On Thursday the Cass County Prosecutor’s Office announced charges linked to the theft of a historic church bell in Gunn City, Missouri, approximately 50 miles southeast of Kansas City.

Christopher Longacre, 36, of Garden City Missouri, has been charged with felony theft and possession of a controlled substance. He has also been charged with a misdemeanor for resisting arrest.

On Wednesday, deputies located parts of the historic bell while serving a warrant to Longacre. It had been reported stolen on September 11. The next day, investigators obtained and executed a search warrant for Longacre after getting information he was in possession of the bell. 

When deputies arrived at Longacre’s residence, he fled on foot. Investigators were unable to find any remnants of the bell that day.

On Thursday during a traffic stop, Deputies arrested Longacre on a failure to appear warrant and found pieces of the historic bell during the probable cause search. 

Investigators found Longacre had cut down parts of the bell. They have reason to believe he was trying to scrap the remnants of the bell and sell them. 

The bell is part of a church in Gunn City dating back to 1882. The bell survived a fire in the 1920s that burned down the church when it was a log cabin. It was put back up in the church which is still standing.

Longacre is held at the Cass County Jail on a $25,000 cash-only bond.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/9/1695395993620.png" alt="Broken brass pieces resembling the stolen bell were located inside a 5-gallon bucket in the car's trunk, according to the Sheriff's office. photo Cass County Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Broken brass pieces resembling the stolen bell were located inside a 5-gallon bucket in the car's trunk, according to the Sheriff's office. photo Cass County Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect in connection with theft of a historic church bell near Kansas City.&nbsp;On Thursday the Cass County Prosecutor’s Office announced charges linked to the theft of a historic church bell in Gunn City, Missouri, approximately 50 miles southeast of Kansas City.Christopher Longacre, 36, of Garden City Missouri, has been charged with felony theft and possession of a controlled substance. He has also been charged with a misdemeanor for resisting arrest.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/9/1695396480247.png" alt="Photo Cass Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Photo Cass Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>On Wednesday, deputies located parts of the historic bell while serving a warrant to Longacre. It had been reported stolen on September 11. The next day, investigators obtained and executed a search warrant for Longacre after getting information he was in possession of the bell. When deputies arrived at Longacre’s residence, he fled on foot. Investigators were unable to find any remnants of the bell that day.On Thursday during a traffic stop, Deputies arrested Longacre on a failure to appear warrant and found pieces of the historic bell during the probable cause search. Investigators found Longacre had cut down parts of the bell. They have reason to believe he was trying to scrap the remnants of the bell and sell them. The bell is part of a church in Gunn City dating back to 1882. The bell survived a fire in the 1920s that burned down the church when it was a log cabin. It was put back up in the church which is still standing.Longacre is held at the Cass County Jail on a $25,000 cash-only bond.

Man charged in theft of historic KC-area church bell

ELLIS COUNTY —A Kansas man was found guilty Friday  of pre-meditated first-degree murder after a week-long trial in Ellis County District Court, according to a media release from the county attorney. The jury deliberated for slightly more than two hours,&nbsp;according to a news release from the Ellis County Attorney's Office.

Colby Alan Trickle, 29, Hays, was charged with pre-meditated first-degree murder in the&nbsp;Oct. 31, 2019 shooting death of his 27-year-old wife Kristin Trickle, 27.

The defendant was also charged with falsely reporting information twice to Hays Police Department officers during the investigation. He was arrested in July 2021.

Sentencing for Trickle has yet to be scheduled.&nbsp;

Kansas law requires the defendant to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a 50-years for the conviction of premeditated murder in the first degree.

“Sadly, we will never be able to bring Kristen Trickle back. It is my hope however, that this conviction brings some level of comfort and healing to those who knew and loved Kristen," said Ellis County Attorney Robert Anderson in the news release.

“This result is the culmination of a lot of hard work and hours invested by many people devoted to the safety of this community. The diligence, determination, and dedication of our local law enforcement and first responders have led to this moment for Kristen Trickle and her family.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/4/1714143945539.png" alt="Trickle is being held in the Ellsworth Correctional Facility" />
 <figcaption>Trickle is being held in the Ellsworth Correctional Facility</figcaption>
 </figure>ELLIS COUNTY —A Kansas man was found guilty Friday of pre-meditated first-degree murder after a week-long trial in Ellis County District Court, according to a media release from the county attorney. The jury deliberated for slightly more than two hours,&nbsp;according to a news release from the Ellis County Attorney's Office.Colby Alan Trickle, 29, Hays, was charged with pre-meditated first-degree murder in the&nbsp;Oct. 31, 2019 shooting death of his 27-year-old wife Kristin Trickle, 27.The defendant was also charged with falsely reporting information twice to Hays Police Department officers during the investigation. He was arrested in July 2021.Sentencing for Trickle has yet to be scheduled.&nbsp;Kansas law requires the defendant to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a 50-years for the conviction of premeditated murder in the first degree.“Sadly, we will never be able to bring Kristen Trickle back. It is my hope however, that this conviction brings some level of comfort and healing to those who knew and loved Kristen," said Ellis County Attorney Robert Anderson in the news release.“This result is the culmination of a lot of hard work and hours invested by many people devoted to the safety of this community. The diligence, determination, and dedication of our local law enforcement and first responders have led to this moment for Kristen Trickle and her family.”

Jury: Western Kan. man guilty in pre-meditated murder of his wife

KANSAS CITY —A Kansas City-area man was sentenced in federal court this week for two fraud schemes in which he sold unwitting victims rental equipment and real estate that did not belong to him, according to the United State's Attorney.

Jeremy Ace Woods, 46, Independence, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to 17 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Woods to pay $798,021 in restitution to 48 victims and to forfeit to the government $336,150, which represents the proceeds he personally received from the charged conduct in this case.

On Dec. 14, 2022, Woods pleaded guilty to three counts of travel fraud and two counts of wire fraud as part of a rental-equipment scheme and a real estate scheme that victimized at least 48 individuals or businesses.

$1,187,177 Rental Equipment Fraud Scheme

As part of the rental-equipment scheme, Woods stole approximately 96 pieces of rental equipment valued at approximately $999,077 from 25 separate rental companies. He then sold at least 41 pieces of equipment to at least 15 victim buyers from across the Midwest, including buyers from Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. These victim buyers paid Woods a total of $188,100 for the stolen equipment.

According to court documents, Woods used aliases and lies to enter into sexual relationships with multiple women and employment relationships with multiple men. He exploited these relationships by asking these individuals to rent equipment for him, thus acting as straw renters of the equipment — using their real names and banking information to obtain the equipment. Once the rental equipment was obtained, Woods — again, using various aliases — lined up buyers for the stolen equipment by posting the equipment for sale on Facebook Marketplace or similar websites.

Through this scheme, the unwitting straw renters suffered damage to their credit scores and suffered financial losses; the victim rental companies suffered financial losses; and the victim buyers — many of whom were small business owners — sustained devastating financial losses when the equipment they purchased was ultimately returned to the appropriate rental companies. According to the victim declarations, this fraud had a direct impact on multiple victims’ financial solvency and caused substantial loss of retirement, education, or other savings.

Among the rental equipment cited in court documents as being stolen then sold by Woods is a Boxer skid steer from Home Depot in Olathe, Kan., a Bobcat skid steer from United Rentals in Olathe, and a Toro Dingo TX 1000 compact utility loader from Colman Equipment in Smithville, Mo.

As part of the relevant conduct in the scheme, Woods entered into a romantic relationship with a woman with an intellectual disability. Woods exploited this relationship by having the woman buy and rent property for him, including a truck, multiple trailers, and 12 smart phones. Additionally, Woods told the woman they were going to get married, and – based on those lies – used her money to purchase a $3,500 ring for himself.

$1,042,000 Real Estate Fraud Scheme

As part of the real-estate scheme, Woods fraudulently sold 12 homes he did not own, extracting large down payments and monthly installment payments from unsuspecting victim buyers, from September 2021 to February 2022. The scheme involved total payments, made or intended, of over $1 million.

In this scheme, Woods (through his companies, Ace’s Remediation and Lawn Service or Vaughns Property Management) solicited and received subcontracting jobs for maintenance tasks on homes going through the foreclosure process, many of which were owned by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Instead of honoring the contracts and performing the agreed-upon work, Woods posed as the owner of a real-estate company and fraudulently sold the homes to unsuspecting victim buyers. According to court documents, Woods used aliases with each victim of this scheme.

Woods elicited large downpayments from the victims and had the victims enter fraudulent contracts, requiring them to make monthly installment payments until the homes were paid in full. In total, Woods elicited $183,000 in down payments and monthly installments from various victims. Additionally, the victims also spent approximately $33,777 to remodel the homes, leading to a total actual loss of $216,777.

According to court documents, Woods attempted to victimize two additional individuals but the fraud was discovered before a downpayment was made. According to the victim declarations, this fraud — like the rental-equipment scheme — had a devastating financial impact on numerous lives. This fraud had a direct impact on multiple victims’ solvency; has caused substantial loss of retirement, education, or other savings; has caused substantial changes to employment and/or living arrangements; and has impacted victims’ ability to obtain credit.

Among the residential properties cited in court documents as fraudulently sold by Woods is a residence in Shawnee, Kan.

The intended loss of the two schemes totaled $2,229,177 while the actual loss of the schemes totaled $900,896.

For the rental-equipment scheme, the intended loss was calculated by adding the value of the stolen rental equipment, $999,077, to the amount the victim buyers paid the defendant, $188,100. The intended loss for the real-estate scheme was calculated by adding the amount paid by the victims for the downpayments, home upgrades, and/or monthly installment payments to the total unpaid amount owed under the fraudulent contracts for a total of $1,042,000.

The three counts of travel fraud to which Woods pleaded guilty are related to instances in which he caused his victims to travel across state lines as part of the fraud schemes.

During the schemes, Woods used multiple aliases, including Jeremy Ace, Jeremy Vaughn, Jeremy Brown, James Hanna, and Elvis John.

Woods has 31 prior felony convictions, including several fraud convictions that are relevant conduct in the two schemes in this case. When arrested in this case in May 2022, Woods was on felony probation in four separate cases in four separate Missouri counties and was on misdemeanor probation in Montgomery County, Kansas. Additionally, he has been convicted of 25 misdemeanors and has had his probation or parole revoked 15 times. He also has pending cases in four separate counties, including an active warrant out of Lyon County, Kansas, for escaping from custody.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599744375325.jpeg" alt="&nbsp;Woods from a 2020 arrest in Saline County" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;Woods from a 2020 arrest in Saline County</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —A Kansas City-area man was sentenced in federal court this week for two fraud schemes in which he sold unwitting victims rental equipment and real estate that did not belong to him, according to the United State's Attorney.Jeremy Ace Woods, 46, Independence, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to 17 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Woods to pay $798,021 in restitution to 48 victims and to forfeit to the government $336,150, which represents the proceeds he personally received from the charged conduct in this case.On Dec. 14, 2022, Woods pleaded guilty to three counts of travel fraud and two counts of wire fraud as part of a rental-equipment scheme and a real estate scheme that victimized at least 48 individuals or businesses.$1,187,177 Rental Equipment Fraud SchemeAs part of the rental-equipment scheme, Woods stole approximately 96 pieces of rental equipment valued at approximately $999,077 from 25 separate rental companies. He then sold at least 41 pieces of equipment to at least 15 victim buyers from across the Midwest, including buyers from Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. These victim buyers paid Woods a total of $188,100 for the stolen equipment.According to court documents, Woods used aliases and lies to enter into sexual relationships with multiple women and employment relationships with multiple men. He exploited these relationships by asking these individuals to rent equipment for him, thus acting as straw renters of the equipment — using their real names and banking information to obtain the equipment. Once the rental equipment was obtained, Woods — again, using various aliases — lined up buyers for the stolen equipment by posting the equipment for sale on Facebook Marketplace or similar websites.Through this scheme, the unwitting straw renters suffered damage to their credit scores and suffered financial losses; the victim rental companies suffered financial losses; and the victim buyers — many of whom were small business owners — sustained devastating financial losses when the equipment they purchased was ultimately returned to the appropriate rental companies. According to the victim declarations, this fraud had a direct impact on multiple victims’ financial solvency and caused substantial loss of retirement, education, or other savings.Among the rental equipment cited in court documents as being stolen then sold by Woods is a Boxer skid steer from Home Depot in Olathe, Kan., a Bobcat skid steer from United Rentals in Olathe, and a Toro Dingo TX 1000 compact utility loader from Colman Equipment in Smithville, Mo.As part of the relevant conduct in the scheme, Woods entered into a romantic relationship with a woman with an intellectual disability. Woods exploited this relationship by having the woman buy and rent property for him, including a truck, multiple trailers, and 12 smart phones. Additionally, Woods told the woman they were going to get married, and – based on those lies – used her money to purchase a $3,500 ring for himself.$1,042,000 Real Estate Fraud SchemeAs part of the real-estate scheme, Woods fraudulently sold 12 homes he did not own, extracting large down payments and monthly installment payments from unsuspecting victim buyers, from September 2021 to February 2022. The scheme involved total payments, made or intended, of over $1 million.In this scheme, Woods (through his companies, Ace’s Remediation and Lawn Service or Vaughns Property Management) solicited and received subcontracting jobs for maintenance tasks on homes going through the foreclosure process, many of which were owned by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Instead of honoring the contracts and performing the agreed-upon work, Woods posed as the owner of a real-estate company and fraudulently sold the homes to unsuspecting victim buyers. According to court documents, Woods used aliases with each victim of this scheme.Woods elicited large downpayments from the victims and had the victims enter fraudulent contracts, requiring them to make monthly installment payments until the homes were paid in full. In total, Woods elicited $183,000 in down payments and monthly installments from various victims. Additionally, the victims also spent approximately $33,777 to remodel the homes, leading to a total actual loss of $216,777.According to court documents, Woods attempted to victimize two additional individuals but the fraud was discovered before a downpayment was made. According to the victim declarations, this fraud — like the rental-equipment scheme — had a devastating financial impact on numerous lives. This fraud had a direct impact on multiple victims’ solvency; has caused substantial loss of retirement, education, or other savings; has caused substantial changes to employment and/or living arrangements; and has impacted victims’ ability to obtain credit.Among the residential properties cited in court documents as fraudulently sold by Woods is a residence in Shawnee, Kan.$2,229,177 Total LossesThe intended loss of the two schemes totaled $2,229,177 while the actual loss of the schemes totaled $900,896.For the rental-equipment scheme, the intended loss was calculated by adding the value of the stolen rental equipment, $999,077, to the amount the victim buyers paid the defendant, $188,100. The intended loss for the real-estate scheme was calculated by adding the amount paid by the victims for the downpayments, home upgrades, and/or monthly installment payments to the total unpaid amount owed under the fraudulent contracts for a total of $1,042,000.The three counts of travel fraud to which Woods pleaded guilty are related to instances in which he caused his victims to travel across state lines as part of the fraud schemes.During the schemes, Woods used multiple aliases, including Jeremy Ace, Jeremy Vaughn, Jeremy Brown, James Hanna, and Elvis John.Woods has 31 prior felony convictions, including several fraud convictions that are relevant conduct in the two schemes in this case. When arrested in this case in May 2022, Woods was on felony probation in four separate cases in four separate Missouri counties and was on misdemeanor probation in Montgomery County, Kansas. Additionally, he has been convicted of 25 misdemeanors and has had his probation or parole revoked 15 times. He also has pending cases in four separate counties, including an active warrant out of Lyon County, Kansas, for escaping from custody.