NEW YORK (AP) — Some are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/libraries-american-library-association-book-banning-af7c9f312266b572c3dc189b1d109de4">fighting local efforts to censor books,</a>&nbsp;while others are focused on cultural programs, education&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">about Ukraine</a>&nbsp;or helping people buy groceries: These are this year's winners of the I Love My Librarian Award.

Based everywhere from Manhattan, Kansas and New York City to Carencro, Louisiana, the winners share a common desire to work closely with their patrons.

“Even in these unprecedented times and as our nation’s library workers face historic levels of intimidation and harassment due to an ongoing wave of book censorship, librarians continue to empower their patrons, teach critical literacy skills, promote inclusion in their space and collections, and provide vital services for their communities,” American Library Association President Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada said in a statement Tuesday.

Each of the 10 honorees will receive a $5,000 cash prize and a $750 travel stipend to attend the library association's LibLearnX event later this month in New Orleans. The awards are based on nominations from library users around the country and made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and support from the New York Public Library.

Winners include&nbsp;<a href="https://ilovelibraries.org/love-my-librarian/tara-coleman/">Tara Coleman</a>,<a href="https://lib.k-state.edu/about/our-people/tara-coleman/">&nbsp;based at Kansas State University</a>&nbsp;in Manhattan, Kansas. She led a<a href="https://ilovelibraries.org/love-my-librarian/tara-coleman/">&nbsp;campuswide common</a>&nbsp;reading program. Kathryn Blackmer Reyes of the San Jose State University library in San Jose, California, cited for how she promoted untold stories by Asian Americans, Native Americans and Hispanics among others. At the Highlands County Library System in Sebring, Florida, Vikki Brown successfully pressed for a grant to set up a mobile library for the rural population.

Cara Chance of the Lafayette Public Library, in Carencro, Louisiana, has battled efforts by the library's Board of Control to restricts books with LGBTQ themes and David Ettinger, at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., who is working with students on their research skills.

At Childs Elementary School, in Bloomington, Indiana, Julie Marie Frye is helping kids learn more about Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion. Lauren Ginsberg-DeVilbiss, of the Wright Brothers School in New York City, is helping students grow a community garden. Students at Christ Church Episcopal School, in Greenville, South Carolina, are receiving help from librarian Jamie Gregory in learning about censorship and the meaning of intellectual freedom.

Roseanna Gulisano, at Highbridge School in New York City, has worked to raise money for more books for students who can't afford to buy them, along with funds to buy food and clothing. At the Evanston Public Library in Evanston, Illinois, Elacsha Madison has focused on teen programs in marginalized communities.

The awards were established in 2008. This year, judges at the library association chose the winners from more than 1,500 nominations.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673982561503.png" alt="Tara is the Program Services Coordinator for the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab and the Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies. She also serves as a university ombudsperson and is the coordinator for the university’s common reading program, the K-State First Book-photo courtesy K-State" />
 <figcaption>Tara is the Program Services Coordinator for the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab and the Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies. She also serves as a university ombudsperson and is the coordinator for the university’s common reading program, the K-State First Book-photo courtesy K-State</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — Some are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/libraries-american-library-association-book-banning-af7c9f312266b572c3dc189b1d109de4">fighting local efforts to censor books,</a>&nbsp;while others are focused on cultural programs, education&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">about Ukraine</a>&nbsp;or helping people buy groceries: These are this year's winners of the I Love My Librarian Award.Based everywhere from Manhattan, Kansas and New York City to Carencro, Louisiana, the winners share a common desire to work closely with their patrons.“Even in these unprecedented times and as our nation’s library workers face historic levels of intimidation and harassment due to an ongoing wave of book censorship, librarians continue to empower their patrons, teach critical literacy skills, promote inclusion in their space and collections, and provide vital services for their communities,” American Library Association President Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada said in a statement Tuesday.Each of the 10 honorees will receive a $5,000 cash prize and a $750 travel stipend to attend the library association's LibLearnX event later this month in New Orleans. The awards are based on nominations from library users around the country and made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and support from the New York Public Library.Winners include&nbsp;<a href="https://ilovelibraries.org/love-my-librarian/tara-coleman/">Tara Coleman</a>,<a href="https://lib.k-state.edu/about/our-people/tara-coleman/">&nbsp;based at Kansas State University</a>&nbsp;in Manhattan, Kansas. She led a<a href="https://ilovelibraries.org/love-my-librarian/tara-coleman/">&nbsp;campuswide common</a>&nbsp;reading program. Kathryn Blackmer Reyes of the San Jose State University library in San Jose, California, cited for how she promoted untold stories by Asian Americans, Native Americans and Hispanics among others. At the Highlands County Library System in Sebring, Florida, Vikki Brown successfully pressed for a grant to set up a mobile library for the rural population.Cara Chance of the Lafayette Public Library, in Carencro, Louisiana, has battled efforts by the library's Board of Control to restricts books with LGBTQ themes and David Ettinger, at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., who is working with students on their research skills.At Childs Elementary School, in Bloomington, Indiana, Julie Marie Frye is helping kids learn more about Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion. Lauren Ginsberg-DeVilbiss, of the Wright Brothers School in New York City, is helping students grow a community garden. Students at Christ Church Episcopal School, in Greenville, South Carolina, are receiving help from librarian Jamie Gregory in learning about censorship and the meaning of intellectual freedom.Roseanna Gulisano, at Highbridge School in New York City, has worked to raise money for more books for students who can't afford to buy them, along with funds to buy food and clothing. At the Evanston Public Library in Evanston, Illinois, Elacsha Madison has focused on teen programs in marginalized communities.The awards were established in 2008. This year, judges at the library association chose the winners from more than 1,500 nominations.

K-State librarian earns national I Love My Librarian award

By SAMANTHA HORTON <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/2023-01-17/kansas-is-a-rare-state-without-a-long-covid-clinic-leaving-some-patients-far-from-specialists">Kansas News Service</a>

It’s been over two years since Barry Guyer came down with COVID-19.

“(I)
 was just out in the harvest field. I just got feeling terrible,” said 
Guyer, who farms near Goodland in northwest Kansas. “I got home that one
 night I said, ‘I think I've got this stuff.’”

Guyer was admitted 
into the hospital for a week. It would be about a month before he was 
back out on the farm. It took nine months for his sense of taste and 
smell to come back. He’s still waiting for his stamina to return.

“I'm
 climbing grain bins and moving augers and stuff around today by myself 
here,” he said. “It just takes all your breath away doing all that and 
then you just have to stop and wait for a little bit to get caught back 
up.”

Long COVID, the often-baffling aftereffects that trouble the 
body for months or years after acute symptoms pass, likely haunts close 
to 200,000 people in Kansas. But Kansas is one of just two states 
without a medical center specializing in treatment of the condition.

That
 leaves people like Guyer hours away from specialists with the expertise
 to battle the brain fog and breathing ailments that stay after the 
COVID wanes. And even people who live close to Kansas City and places in
 neighboring states with teams of specialists can wait months for an 
appointment.

The clinics formed across the country, typically in 
hospitals. They combine a range of expertise for treating long COVID. 
But they’re clustered, predictably, in urban areas. And though nearly 
every state has at least one, Kansas and South Dakota have none.

While
 hospitals and medical centers might have pulmonologists or 
cardiologists to treat long-COVID symptoms, the special centers designed
 to treat it can give patients more comprehensive care.

“A 
specialized center can take a comprehensive and kind of 50,000-foot view
 of the patient,” said Dr. William Michael Brode, who works in a long 
COVID clinic at the Dell Medical School in Texas. “So you’re not kind of
 wandering doctor to doctor.”

Survivor Corps, an organization that
 tries to help people with long COVID, says there are about 240 centers 
scattered across the country focused on long COVID. Most of them are 
listed as long-term recovery centers.

“Those places aim to be kind
 of one-stop shops where you can go and get treatment from multiple 
specialists,” said Survivor Corps spokeswoman Kathryn Burke.

The wait time can stretch out for months. Yet Brode said people appear willing to wait and travel for the specialized help.

“We
 have patients coming from the (U.S.-Mexico) border who have traveled 
five hours to come see us,” said Brode. “I think eight hours is our 
record, which shows that people are seeking out this care and willing to
 put in the time to get the care they need.”

For someone like Guyer, the closest one-stop clinic would be in 
Denver — roughly a three-hour drive. Burke said local clinics and 
hospitals typically can’t afford to set up their own long COVID clinics.

“It
 is hard for people in more rural locations, less wealthy locations, to 
be able to access long COVID care simply because … the medical clinics 
and medical centers around them simply may not have the funding or the 
staffing to dedicate time and money towards long COVID clinics,” Burke 
said.

She would like to see more federal funding to help more rural hospitals offer long COVID clinics.

“The
 federal government stepping in and having those clinics and centers 
established in more rural regions,” Burke said, “is really crucial.”

But even in urban areas with long COVID clinics, wait times can be maddening.

Kansas
 had a virtual long COVID clinic during the height of the pandemic. The 
University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas, opened the 
online clinic to existing KU patients at the beginning of 2021 and then 
opened it up to the public a few months later.

Debbie Hamilton was
 referred to KU’s long COVID clinic, but she was told she would have to 
wait three months after having COVID for an appointment.

“I had such high hopes and … just felt like I had literally taken a beating whenever they told me that,” she said.

Hamilton
 had COVID in 2021 and never fully recovered. She described her 
cognitive issues that made it difficult to drive, take a shower and be 
in a room with other people including her own family. Dealing with her 
symptoms and having to constantly advocate for her medical treatment 
took a mental toll.

“It’s awful,” she said. “Feeling like failure;
 feeling like you can’t function; feeling … not even smart anymore. 
Feeling like the doctors just think that you’re crazy.”

Even 
though she’s a nurse, Hamilton struggled to navigate through doctors and
 appointments. One doctor told her that they “didn’t do COVID.”

“Why
 is that an option to say?” Hamilton said. “These patients are having so
 many more things. It’s causing autoimmune problems. It’s causing heart 
problems. It’s causing breathing problems.”

It took about a year 
for Hamilton to recover enough to return to work. She believes the 
clinic also is a way to just acknowledge that long COVID is real and to 
give people a place to feel validated.

“There needs to be a clinic, because I think it’s very much more widespread than anybody thinks,” Hamilton said.

While Kansas has no long COVID clinics, Missouri has five. Two in Kansas City, two in St. Louis, and one in Columbia.

Dr.
 Zachary Holliday works at the Missouri University Health Care’s 
Columbia clinic. In one room, a bike and treadmill sit nestled next to 
each other and close to a machine that patients blow into to test 
breathing capacity.

“It measures lung function and what that boils down to is how much air can someone get in and out and how fast,” he said.

The clinic is only open one Thursday a month. That limits how many people it can treat.

“We
 try to do our best to get folks in as fast as possible,” said Holliday.
 “And if they can’t see us in the long COVID clinic, what we’ve tried to
 do is actually get them still access to the pulmonary clinic.”

He said demand could be even greater because many people don’t even know about the clinic.

Guyer,
 the northwest Kansas farmer dealing with long COVID, only recently 
learned such clinics exist with expertise to treat his problems. He said
 he would consider driving to Denver — to the closest long COVID clinic —
 if he could time it with other appointments. At the same time, he’s 
become resigned to his damaged health.

“I don’t think that’s ever 
going to change,” said Guyer. “I think it’s just gonna be a part of life
 like I have to deal with now.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673972203201.png" alt="Debbie Hamilton has been struggling with long COVID for over a year. Samantha Horton / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>Debbie Hamilton has been struggling with long COVID for over a year. Samantha Horton / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By SAMANTHA HORTON <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/2023-01-17/kansas-is-a-rare-state-without-a-long-covid-clinic-leaving-some-patients-far-from-specialists">Kansas News Service</a>It’s been over two years since Barry Guyer came down with COVID-19.“(I)
 was just out in the harvest field. I just got feeling terrible,” said 
Guyer, who farms near Goodland in northwest Kansas. “I got home that one
 night I said, ‘I think I've got this stuff.’”Guyer was admitted 
into the hospital for a week. It would be about a month before he was 
back out on the farm. It took nine months for his sense of taste and 
smell to come back. He’s still waiting for his stamina to return.“I'm
 climbing grain bins and moving augers and stuff around today by myself 
here,” he said. “It just takes all your breath away doing all that and 
then you just have to stop and wait for a little bit to get caught back 
up.”Long COVID, the often-baffling aftereffects that trouble the 
body for months or years after acute symptoms pass, likely haunts close 
to 200,000 people in Kansas. But Kansas is one of just two states 
without a medical center specializing in treatment of the condition.That
 leaves people like Guyer hours away from specialists with the expertise
 to battle the brain fog and breathing ailments that stay after the 
COVID wanes. And even people who live close to Kansas City and places in
 neighboring states with teams of specialists can wait months for an 
appointment.The clinics formed across the country, typically in 
hospitals. They combine a range of expertise for treating long COVID. 
But they’re clustered, predictably, in urban areas. And though nearly 
every state has at least one, Kansas and South Dakota have none.<h2>The right specialists</h2>While
 hospitals and medical centers might have pulmonologists or 
cardiologists to treat long-COVID symptoms, the special centers designed
 to treat it can give patients more comprehensive care.“A 
specialized center can take a comprehensive and kind of 50,000-foot view
 of the patient,” said Dr. William Michael Brode, who works in a long 
COVID clinic at the Dell Medical School in Texas. “So you’re not kind of
 wandering doctor to doctor.”Survivor Corps, an organization that
 tries to help people with long COVID, says there are about 240 centers 
scattered across the country focused on long COVID. Most of them are 
listed as long-term recovery centers.“Those places aim to be kind
 of one-stop shops where you can go and get treatment from multiple 
specialists,” said Survivor Corps spokeswoman Kathryn Burke.<h2>Long drives, longer waits</h2>The wait time can stretch out for months. Yet Brode said people appear willing to wait and travel for the specialized help.“We
 have patients coming from the (U.S.-Mexico) border who have traveled 
five hours to come see us,” said Brode. “I think eight hours is our 
record, which shows that people are seeking out this care and willing to
 put in the time to get the care they need.”<div><iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1HRk4aHWG9E5sv9TnJ-nl5boAgeSnAgs&ehbc=2E312F" width="640" height="480"></iframe></div>For someone like Guyer, the closest one-stop clinic would be in 
Denver — roughly a three-hour drive. Burke said local clinics and 
hospitals typically can’t afford to set up their own long COVID clinics.“It
 is hard for people in more rural locations, less wealthy locations, to 
be able to access long COVID care simply because … the medical clinics 
and medical centers around them simply may not have the funding or the 
staffing to dedicate time and money towards long COVID clinics,” Burke 
said.She would like to see more federal funding to help more rural hospitals offer long COVID clinics.“The
 federal government stepping in and having those clinics and centers 
established in more rural regions,” Burke said, “is really crucial.”But even in urban areas with long COVID clinics, wait times can be maddening.Kansas
 had a virtual long COVID clinic during the height of the pandemic. The 
University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas, opened the 
online clinic to existing KU patients at the beginning of 2021 and then 
opened it up to the public a few months later.Debbie Hamilton was
 referred to KU’s long COVID clinic, but she was told she would have to 
wait three months after having COVID for an appointment.“I had such high hopes and … just felt like I had literally taken a beating whenever they told me that,” she said.Hamilton
 had COVID in 2021 and never fully recovered. She described her 
cognitive issues that made it difficult to drive, take a shower and be 
in a room with other people including her own family. Dealing with her 
symptoms and having to constantly advocate for her medical treatment 
took a mental toll.“It’s awful,” she said. “Feeling like failure;
 feeling like you can’t function; feeling … not even smart anymore. 
Feeling like the doctors just think that you’re crazy.”Even 
though she’s a nurse, Hamilton struggled to navigate through doctors and
 appointments. One doctor told her that they “didn’t do COVID.”“Why
 is that an option to say?” Hamilton said. “These patients are having so
 many more things. It’s causing autoimmune problems. It’s causing heart 
problems. It’s causing breathing problems.”It took about a year 
for Hamilton to recover enough to return to work. She believes the 
clinic also is a way to just acknowledge that long COVID is real and to 
give people a place to feel validated.“There needs to be a clinic, because I think it’s very much more widespread than anybody thinks,” Hamilton said.<h2>Limited awareness </h2>While Kansas has no long COVID clinics, Missouri has five. Two in Kansas City, two in St. Louis, and one in Columbia.Dr.
 Zachary Holliday works at the Missouri University Health Care’s 
Columbia clinic. In one room, a bike and treadmill sit nestled next to 
each other and close to a machine that patients blow into to test 
breathing capacity.“It measures lung function and what that boils down to is how much air can someone get in and out and how fast,” he said.The clinic is only open one Thursday a month. That limits how many people it can treat.“We
 try to do our best to get folks in as fast as possible,” said Holliday.
 “And if they can’t see us in the long COVID clinic, what we’ve tried to
 do is actually get them still access to the pulmonary clinic.”He said demand could be even greater because many people don’t even know about the clinic.Guyer,
 the northwest Kansas farmer dealing with long COVID, only recently 
learned such clinics exist with expertise to treat his problems. He said
 he would consider driving to Denver — to the closest long COVID clinic —
 if he could time it with other appointments. At the same time, he’s 
become resigned to his damaged health.“I don’t think that’s ever 
going to change,” said Guyer. “I think it’s just gonna be a part of life
 like I have to deal with now.”

Lack of long-COVID clinic in Kansas leaves patients far from specialists

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a vehicle theft and have made an arrest.&nbsp;

Just before 8:30 a.m. Friday, police were dispatched to take a report of a stolen vehicle&nbsp; in the 600 block of NW Highway 24. The owner of the vehicle does not live in the State of Kansas, and the vehicle contained thousands of dollars-worth of tools, personal items, and two firearms, according to Police Lt. Matt Danielson.

After the vehicle description was given to other officers, it was located in the area of NW Morse and NW Eugene in Topeka. The driver of the vehicle, later identified as 30-year-old Troy Baker of Topeka, fled the area, but it was located quickly by other officers a short distance away. 

The vehicle then fled a second time, and then stopped in the 1000 block of NW Jackson Street. After stopping, Baker got out and ran from officers. A brief foot pursuit ensued, but he was caught and arrested in a nearby alley.

At the conclusion of the investigation, officers were able to recover and return the vast majority of the victim’s property. Troy Baker remains in the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on a $50,000 bond on requested charges of Felony Theft, Interference with Law Enforcement Officer and Criminal Damage to Property.&nbsp;

Baker has previous convictions for burglary and aggravated robbery, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673714780786.png" alt="Baker has previous convictions for burglary and aggravated robbery, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections-photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Baker has previous convictions for burglary and aggravated robbery, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections-photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a vehicle theft and have made an arrest.&nbsp;Just before 8:30 a.m. Friday, police were dispatched to take a report of a stolen vehicle&nbsp; in the 600 block of NW Highway 24. The owner of the vehicle does not live in the State of Kansas, and the vehicle contained thousands of dollars-worth of tools, personal items, and two firearms, according to Police Lt. Matt Danielson.After the vehicle description was given to other officers, it was located in the area of NW Morse and NW Eugene in Topeka. The driver of the vehicle, later identified as 30-year-old Troy Baker of Topeka, fled the area, but it was located quickly by other officers a short distance away. The vehicle then fled a second time, and then stopped in the 1000 block of NW Jackson Street. After stopping, Baker got out and ran from officers. A brief foot pursuit ensued, but he was caught and arrested in a nearby alley.At the conclusion of the investigation, officers were able to recover and return the vast majority of the victim’s property. Troy Baker remains in the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on a $50,000 bond on requested charges of Felony Theft, Interference with Law Enforcement Officer and Criminal Damage to Property.&nbsp;Baker has previous convictions for burglary and aggravated robbery, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections.---------

Police catch Kansas felon driving stolen vehicle

By QASIM RAHIMI <a href="https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2023-01-17/hazara-refugees-build-a-new-home-in-kansas-city-but-want-help-for-loved-ones-in-afghanistan">Kansas News Service</a>

Aziz Nadim works as a bank teller in Gardner, Kansas. He is among approximately <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-08-15/a-year-since-the-taliban-takeover-kansas-city-has-become-home-to-760-afghan-refugees" target="_blank">750 refugees who came to Kansas City</a> after United States forces left Afghanistan in 2021.

Since
 the Taliban took power, Nadim is worried about the future of his 
friends and family — his fellow members of the Hazara ethic minority who
 have long been targets of violence.

"The Taliban have resumed the
 process of massacre of Hazara that started a century ago,” Nadim said, 
“and they are trying to hand over the lands and properties of Hazara to 
the individuals and groups they support.”

About 60 Hazara families
 are living in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Mohammad Ibrahimi, who
 arrived in 1983, believes his was among the first Hazara families to 
come to the area. They now live in Overland Park.

“We left Afghanistan because of Hazara genocide,” Ibrahimi said, 
adding that the communist government at the time was against Hazara 
people because of their religion and ethnicity. “They kidnapped and 
killed my brother after we decided to leave our ancestral land. First, 
we went to Pakistan, (then) Italy and then we came to the United States 
in 1983.”

A few other Hazara families arrived after the first time the Taliban took over the government of Afghanistan <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/19/1028472005/afghanistan-conflict-timeline" target="_blank">in the mid-1990s</a>,
 and during the two decades when the country was led by the U. S.-backed
 government. Almost all of these families came through Special 
Immigration Visas because they had worked for the U.S. Army or on behalf
 of the U.S. government in Afghanistan. Others were assisted by 
international immigrants’ organizations.

When nearly 60 young Hazara girls and teenagers were <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/afghan-protests-continue-against-school-attack-as-un-raises-death-toll-to-53-/6773473.html" target="_blank">killed in an explosion at a school in Kabul in September 2022</a>,
 I could easily imagine the scene. I used to live in the area where the 
school was located, and my mother and two of my sisters’ families still 
live there. Initial reports said 53 people died, but I heard from 
sources in Kabul that five or six injured girls died later, after weeks 
in hospitals.

After that, I joined other Hazara people who demonstrated in front of Kansas City’s World War I Museum and Memorial.

“Our
 goal was to draw the attention of American institutions and people to 
the dangerous situation that Hazara people are facing in Afghanistan,” 
Nadim said. "Here in Kansas City our children can go to school and 
prepare for a future, but the Hazara people living in Afghanistan do not
 have security, food or a bright future.”

Nadim wants international institutions to deal with the massacre of 
Hazara and the violation of their human rights. After the September 
explosion, a social media campaign began with the hashtag 
#StopHazaraGenocide. Hazara people who left Afghanistan hope it will 
draw attention to the genocide of their people back home, and that the 
United Nations will take action to protect them.

Hazara
 people are Muslims and belong to the Shia and Soni sects. They speak 
Persian, which in Afghanistan is called Dari. Hazara people <a href="https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/blog/urgent-action-needed-hazaras-in-afghanistan-under-attack" target="_blank">are facing genocide in Afghanistan</a> because of their religious beliefs and ethnic differences.

This
 ethnic cleansing began in 1882 when Afghan ruler Abdul Rahman Khan 
first ordered the killing of Hazara people and the capture of their 
land. More than 60 percent of the Hazara were killed and their lands 
confiscated. Some then fled to parts of India that are now part of 
Pakistan, and others remained in remote parts of Afghanistan.

Since
 then, Hazara people have been discriminated against, are unable to join
 or work in the military, and must pay double taxes.

Their culture
 and traditions were endangered when the Taliban first took over and 
tried to remove all Hazara from Afghanistan. Between 1996 to 2001, the 
Taliban government blocked the delivery of food, gas and other 
necessities. The Taliban also destroyed the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/taliban-destroyed-afghanistans-ancient-buddhas-now-welcoming-tourists-rcna6307" target="_blank">Buddhas of Bamiyan</a>, a symbol of the culture and history in Afghanistan.

Hazara people in Kansas and Missouri&nbsp;

Gholam Rasoul Rahimi (no relation to me) came to the United States in 2020.

“I
 had to leave Afghanistan, because of two reasons: I was a warehouse 
manager for the United States embassy in Kabul, and because of my 
religion and ethnicity,” Rahimi said. “Nobody wants to leave his home 
but sometimes you see a dark future for your children requiring one to 
make hard decisions.”

He and several Hazara people who came to Kansas City have started to establish a community here.

“We
 are in contact with all Hazara families,” said Nadim. “We want to honor
 our Hazara heritage. We try to preserve our culture and identity 
values. Let's not forget our mother tongue."

For the first time in
 Kansas City, on Dec. 17, 2022, Hazara people celebrated Shab Yalda, a 
tradition in Afghanistan to mark the longest night of the year.

Ali Mosawi, a young Hazara man, coordinated this ceremony in the 
Northeast neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri, inviting Hazara 
families from as far away as Wichita and Manhattan, Kansas. They 
celebrated with bolani (flatbread stuffed with vegetables), ashak 
(vegetable dumplings) and ash (a vegetable noodle soup).

“We 
brought traditional Hazara dishes, we wore our cultural traditional 
clothes, we ate together and told our historical story to their 
children,” Mosawi said.

“We want to make sure that our children 
don’t forget their native language,” Rahimi said. “We lost our homeland.
 At least in the last two decades Hazara people were a part of a new 
Afghanistan. We had our own self rule, governing education, medicine, 
health and sport. Hazara women also prospered. They had a good chance to
 bring changes to their life.”

He said Hazara families want to 
teach their children to work hard to build their future in the United 
States and to be true to the values of this country, but not forget that
 their families came from a country where their next generation is 
facing genocide.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673971981588.png" alt="Kansas City area members of the Hazara, an ethnic minority in Afghanistan who have long been targets of violence, demonstrated at the World War I Museum and Memorial in October 2022 to call attention to the killing of young Hazara women and girls in Kabul. Ali Hussaini" />
 <figcaption>Kansas City area members of the Hazara, an ethnic minority in Afghanistan who have long been targets of violence, demonstrated at the World War I Museum and Memorial in October 2022 to call attention to the killing of young Hazara women and girls in Kabul. Ali Hussaini</figcaption>
 </figure>By QASIM RAHIMI <a href="https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2023-01-17/hazara-refugees-build-a-new-home-in-kansas-city-but-want-help-for-loved-ones-in-afghanistan">Kansas News Service</a>Aziz Nadim works as a bank teller in Gardner, Kansas. He is among approximately <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-08-15/a-year-since-the-taliban-takeover-kansas-city-has-become-home-to-760-afghan-refugees" target="_blank">750 refugees who came to Kansas City</a> after United States forces left Afghanistan in 2021.Since
 the Taliban took power, Nadim is worried about the future of his 
friends and family — his fellow members of the Hazara ethic minority who
 have long been targets of violence."The Taliban have resumed the
 process of massacre of Hazara that started a century ago,” Nadim said, 
“and they are trying to hand over the lands and properties of Hazara to 
the individuals and groups they support.”About 60 Hazara families
 are living in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Mohammad Ibrahimi, who
 arrived in 1983, believes his was among the first Hazara families to 
come to the area. They now live in Overland Park.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673972066948.png" alt="Mohammad Ibrahimi came to the United States from Afghanistan in 1983. He believes his family was one of the first Hazara families to arrive in the Kansas City area. Mohammad Ibrahimi " />
 <figcaption>Mohammad Ibrahimi came to the United States from Afghanistan in 1983. He believes his family was one of the first Hazara families to arrive in the Kansas City area. Mohammad Ibrahimi </figcaption>
 </figure>“We left Afghanistan because of Hazara genocide,” Ibrahimi said, 
adding that the communist government at the time was against Hazara 
people because of their religion and ethnicity. “They kidnapped and 
killed my brother after we decided to leave our ancestral land. First, 
we went to Pakistan, (then) Italy and then we came to the United States 
in 1983.”A few other Hazara families arrived after the first time the Taliban took over the government of Afghanistan <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/19/1028472005/afghanistan-conflict-timeline" target="_blank">in the mid-1990s</a>,
 and during the two decades when the country was led by the U. S.-backed
 government. Almost all of these families came through Special 
Immigration Visas because they had worked for the U.S. Army or on behalf
 of the U.S. government in Afghanistan. Others were assisted by 
international immigrants’ organizations.When nearly 60 young Hazara girls and teenagers were <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/afghan-protests-continue-against-school-attack-as-un-raises-death-toll-to-53-/6773473.html" target="_blank">killed in an explosion at a school in Kabul in September 2022</a>,
 I could easily imagine the scene. I used to live in the area where the 
school was located, and my mother and two of my sisters’ families still 
live there. Initial reports said 53 people died, but I heard from 
sources in Kabul that five or six injured girls died later, after weeks 
in hospitals.After that, I joined other Hazara people who demonstrated in front of Kansas City’s World War I Museum and Memorial.“Our
 goal was to draw the attention of American institutions and people to 
the dangerous situation that Hazara people are facing in Afghanistan,” 
Nadim said. "Here in Kansas City our children can go to school and 
prepare for a future, but the Hazara people living in Afghanistan do not
 have security, food or a bright future.”Nadim wants international institutions to deal with the massacre of 
Hazara and the violation of their human rights. After the September 
explosion, a social media campaign began with the hashtag 
#StopHazaraGenocide. Hazara people who left Afghanistan hope it will 
draw attention to the genocide of their people back home, and that the 
United Nations will take action to protect them. <h2>Facing genocide in Afghanistan</h2>Hazara
 people are Muslims and belong to the Shia and Soni sects. They speak 
Persian, which in Afghanistan is called Dari. Hazara people <a href="https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/blog/urgent-action-needed-hazaras-in-afghanistan-under-attack" target="_blank">are facing genocide in Afghanistan</a> because of their religious beliefs and ethnic differences.This
 ethnic cleansing began in 1882 when Afghan ruler Abdul Rahman Khan 
first ordered the killing of Hazara people and the capture of their 
land. More than 60 percent of the Hazara were killed and their lands 
confiscated. Some then fled to parts of India that are now part of 
Pakistan, and others remained in remote parts of Afghanistan.Since
 then, Hazara people have been discriminated against, are unable to join
 or work in the military, and must pay double taxes.Their culture
 and traditions were endangered when the Taliban first took over and 
tried to remove all Hazara from Afghanistan. Between 1996 to 2001, the 
Taliban government blocked the delivery of food, gas and other 
necessities. The Taliban also destroyed the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/taliban-destroyed-afghanistans-ancient-buddhas-now-welcoming-tourists-rcna6307" target="_blank">Buddhas of Bamiyan</a>, a symbol of the culture and history in Afghanistan.<h2>Hazara people in Kansas and Missouri&nbsp;</h2>Gholam Rasoul Rahimi (no relation to me) came to the United States in 2020.“I
 had to leave Afghanistan, because of two reasons: I was a warehouse 
manager for the United States embassy in Kabul, and because of my 
religion and ethnicity,” Rahimi said. “Nobody wants to leave his home 
but sometimes you see a dark future for your children requiring one to 
make hard decisions.”He and several Hazara people who came to Kansas City have started to establish a community here.“We
 are in contact with all Hazara families,” said Nadim. “We want to honor
 our Hazara heritage. We try to preserve our culture and identity 
values. Let's not forget our mother tongue."For the first time in
 Kansas City, on Dec. 17, 2022, Hazara people celebrated Shab Yalda, a 
tradition in Afghanistan to mark the longest night of the year.Ali Mosawi, a young Hazara man, coordinated this ceremony in the 
Northeast neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri, inviting Hazara 
families from as far away as Wichita and Manhattan, Kansas. They 
celebrated with bolani (flatbread stuffed with vegetables), ashak 
(vegetable dumplings) and ash (a vegetable noodle soup).“We 
brought traditional Hazara dishes, we wore our cultural traditional 
clothes, we ate together and told our historical story to their 
children,” Mosawi said.“We want to make sure that our children 
don’t forget their native language,” Rahimi said. “We lost our homeland.
 At least in the last two decades Hazara people were a part of a new 
Afghanistan. We had our own self rule, governing education, medicine, 
health and sport. Hazara women also prospered. They had a good chance to
 bring changes to their life.”He said Hazara families want to 
teach their children to work hard to build their future in the United 
States and to be true to the values of this country, but not forget that
 their families came from a country where their next generation is 
facing genocide.

Refugees in Kansas City call for help for loved ones in Afghanistan

RILEY COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary involving military equipment in Manhattan.

Just after 6:30p.m. Monday, officers filed a report for burglary in the 900 block of Bluemont Ave. in Manhattan.

 A 21-year-old man reported his car was broken into and his military-issued Improved Outer Tactical&nbsp; Vest, helmet and license plates were stolen. 

The estimated total loss associated with this case is approximately $3,300.&nbsp;

Anyone with information can contact RCPD or the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=353#">Manhattan Riley County Crime Stoppers</a>. Using the Crime Stoppers service can allow you to remain anonymous and could qualify you for a cash reward of up to $1,000.

RILEY COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary involving military equipment in Manhattan.Just after 6:30p.m. Monday, officers filed a report for burglary in the 900 block of Bluemont Ave. in Manhattan. A 21-year-old man reported his car was broken into and his military-issued Improved Outer Tactical&nbsp; Vest, helmet and license plates were stolen. The estimated total loss associated with this case is approximately $3,300.&nbsp;Anyone with information can contact RCPD or the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=353#">Manhattan Riley County Crime Stoppers</a>. Using the Crime Stoppers service can allow you to remain anonymous and could qualify you for a cash reward of up to $1,000.

Police report burglary of Kan. man's military equipment

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Two Kansas men accused in a fatal drug debt gunfight made their first appearance in court last week.

Jamar White, 47,&nbsp; Wichita, is charged with 1st&nbsp;degree murder and two counts of criminal discharge of a firearm, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.

 Darries Mitchell, 30 of Wichita, is charged with two counts of criminal discharge of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.&nbsp; 

Just after noon January 5, police were dispatched to a shooting at a home in the 2300 block of North Piatt in Wichita, according to Officer Chad Ditch.

Officers arrived on the scene and located 43-year-old Mareo Dupree with a gunshot wound to his torso and he was conscious and breathing.

While officers were investigating, 47-year-old Jamar White arrived at a local hospital with a gunshot wound to his upper body. EMS transported Dupree to an area hospital where he later died, according to Ditch.

The investigation revealed that there had been a feud over a drug debt between White and the occupants of the residence including Dupree and&nbsp;30-year-old Darries Mitchell.

White drove by the residence a couple of times firing rounds at the house before an exchange of gunfire occurred between Mitchell and White.

Police arrested both men. White is being held on a $500,000 band and is&nbsp;scheduled for court again on Jan.27, according to the district attorney's office.&nbsp; 

&nbsp;Mitchell remains jailed on bond of $350,000 which includes a separate probation violation charge.&nbsp; He is due back in court Jan. 26.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673361937461.png" alt="-White-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>-White-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—Two Kansas men accused in a fatal drug debt gunfight made their first appearance in court last week.Jamar White, 47,&nbsp; Wichita, is charged with 1st&nbsp;degree murder and two counts of criminal discharge of a firearm, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office. Darries Mitchell, 30 of Wichita, is charged with two counts of criminal discharge of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.&nbsp; Just after noon January 5, police were dispatched to a shooting at a home in the 2300 block of North Piatt in Wichita, according to Officer Chad Ditch.Officers arrived on the scene and located 43-year-old Mareo Dupree with a gunshot wound to his torso and he was conscious and breathing.While officers were investigating, 47-year-old Jamar White arrived at a local hospital with a gunshot wound to his upper body. EMS transported Dupree to an area hospital where he later died, according to Ditch.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673362007556.png" alt="Mitchell photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Mitchell photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>The investigation revealed that there had been a feud over a drug debt between White and the occupants of the residence including Dupree and&nbsp;30-year-old Darries Mitchell.White drove by the residence a couple of times firing rounds at the house before an exchange of gunfire occurred between Mitchell and White.Police arrested both men. White is being held on a $500,000 band and is&nbsp;scheduled for court again on Jan.27, according to the district attorney's office.&nbsp; &nbsp;Mitchell remains jailed on bond of $350,000 which includes a separate probation violation charge.&nbsp; He is due back in court Jan. 26.

2 charged in fatal Kansas drug debt gunfight

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating the death of a man whose body was found in a creek in Wichita.

Just after 10:30a.m. Monday, police were dispatched to a submersion call around Hillside Ave and 28th Street North, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo. First responders arrived on the scene and located a man believed to be in his twenties unconscious in the creek.&nbsp; He was pronounced deceased on the scene.

The body was transported to the coroner’s office for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Police released no additional details.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673916936673.png" alt="First responders at&nbsp;Glen Day Park in Wichita-photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>First responders at&nbsp;Glen Day Park in Wichita-photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating the death of a man whose body was found in a creek in Wichita.Just after 10:30a.m. Monday, police were dispatched to a submersion call around Hillside Ave and 28th Street North, according to Officer Juan Rebolledo. First responders arrived on the scene and located a man believed to be in his twenties unconscious in the creek.&nbsp; He was pronounced deceased on the scene.The body was transported to the coroner’s office for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Police released no additional details.

Police working to ID body of man found in Kansas creek

WASHINGTON (AP) — Newly empowered&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-house-control-79475a4fc11e4375cd0dded651b9eede">House Republicans</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-01-15-Letter-Klain-Classified-Docs.pdf">demanded the White House turn over all information</a>&nbsp;related to its searches that have uncovered&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-united-states-government-barack-obama-merrick-garland-def4c44c23229671e1e50bf170dc67d2">classified documents</a>&nbsp;at President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">Joe Biden's</a>&nbsp;home and former office in the wake of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-0574fd762159e8cb5f31c85205df3dc0">more records</a>&nbsp;found at his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-merrick-garland-3f77c3d792ed525c446efd7bd95e86ba">Delaware residence.</a>

<a href="https://oversight.house.gov/release/comer-calls-on-white-house-to-release-bidens-wilmington-residence-visitor-log-questions-why-biden-aides-continue-to-search-properties-in-wake-of-special-counsel/">“We have a lot of questions,"</a> said Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.

Comer, R-Ky., said he wants to see all documents and communications related to the searches by the Biden team, as well as visitor logs of the president's home in Wilmington, Delaware, from Jan. 20, 2021, to present. He said the aim is to determine who might have had access to classified material and how the records got there.

The White House on Saturday said it had discovered five additional pages of classified documents at Biden's home on Thursday, the same day a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/classified-documents-biden-home-wilmington-33479d12c7cf0a822adb2f44c32b88fd">special counsel was appointed</a>&nbsp;to review the matter.

In a letter Sunday to White House chief of staff Ron Klain, Comer criticized the searches by Biden representatives when the Justice Department was beginning to investigate and said Biden's “mishandling of classified materials raises the issue of whether he has jeopardized our national security." Comer demanded that the White House provide all relevant information including visitor logs by the end of the month.

Appearing on CNN's “State of the Union,” Comer referred to Biden's home as a “crime scene" though he acknowledged that it was not clear whether laws were broken.

“My concern is that the special counsel was called for, but yet hours after that we still had the president’s personal attorneys, who have no security clearance, still rummaging around the president’s residence, looking for things — I mean that would essentially be a crime scene, so to speak," Comer said.

While the U.S. Secret Service provides security at the president's private residence, it does not maintain visitor logs, agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Sunday.

“We don’t independently maintain our own visitor logs because it’s a private residence,” Guglielmi said. He added that the agency does screen visitors to the president’s properties but doesn’t maintain records of those checks.

The White House confirmed that Biden has not independently maintained records of who has visited his residence since he became president.

“Like every President in decades of modern history, his personal residence is personal," White House spokesman Ian Sams said. "But upon taking office, President Biden restored the norm and tradition of keeping White House visitors logs, including publishing them regularly, after the previous administration ended them.”

Indeed, President Donald Trump's administration announced early in his presidency that they&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/9ed190feb84c4d6081b27f0775260f43">wouldn't release visitor logs</a>&nbsp;out of “grave national security risks and privacy concerns of the hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.” Democrat Barack Obama's administration initially fought attempts by Congress and conservative and liberal groups to obtain visitor records. But after being sued, it voluntarily began disclosing the logs in December 2009, posting records every three to four months.

A federal appeals court ruled in 2013 that the logs can be withheld under presidential executive privilege. That unanimous ruling was written by Judge Merrick Garland, who is now serving as Biden's attorney general.

Asked about Comer’s request for logs and communications regarding the search for documents, Sams responded: “I would simply refer you to what Congressman Comer himself told CNN this morning: ‘At the end of the day, my biggest concern isn’t the classified documents to be honest with you.’ That says it all.”

In that CNN interview, Comer had added that House Republicans did not trust the Justice Department to give the matter of Biden's classified documents an appropriate level of scrutiny. The House Judiciary Committee on Friday requested that Garland turn over information related to the discovery of documents and Garland's appointment of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/who-is-robert-hur-special-counsel-biden-d715ffd26adc75f2ba740d1960936a09">special counsel Richard Hur</a>&nbsp;to oversee the investigation.

White House officials "can say they’re being transparent, but it’s anything but,” the committee chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News Channel's “Sunday Morning Futures.”

<a href="https://twitter.com/IanSams46/status/1614315310949040130">White House lawyer Richard Sauber</a>&nbsp;said in a statement Saturday that a total of six pages of classified documents were found from Biden's time serving as vice president in the Obama administration during a search of Biden’s private library. The White House had said previously that only a single page was found there.

The latest disclosure was in addition to the discovery of documents found in December in Biden’s garage and in November at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-us-department-justice-a45855907a73acb256bb7c4dd5a91610">his former offices at the Penn Biden Center in Washington</a>.

Sauber said that Biden’s personal lawyers, who did not have security clearances, stopped their search after finding the first page on Wednesday evening. Sauber found the remaining material Thursday, as he was facilitating their retrieval by Justice Department. Sauber did not explain why the White House waited two days to provide an updated accounting. The White House is already facing scrutiny for waiting more than two months to acknowledge the discovery of the initial group of documents at the Biden office.

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, said the Justice Department rightfully appointed special counsels to “get to the bottom” of the Biden classified documents matter as well as in a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-classified-documents-trump-side-by-side-fb2c4ebccdbdbb9039c1c5e227b1da53">separate investigation into the mishandling of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s private club and residence in Florida.</a>

But Raskin also stressed key differences between the two cases, including that Biden's team readily handed over documents to the National Archives compared with Trump's repeated resistance to such requests.

“We should keep a sense of proportion and measure about what we’re talking about,” Raskin told CNN.

Asked Sunday if his oversight committee would investigate Trump's handling of classified documents as well, Comer demurred.

“There have been so many investigations of President Trump, I don’t feel like we need to spend a whole lot of time investigating President Trump, because the Democrats have done that for the past six years,” he said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673546739694.png" alt="Biden backing his Corvette into the garage next to stacks of boxes where classified documents were found-image from a 2020 Biden for President campaign ad" />
 <figcaption>Biden backing his Corvette into the garage next to stacks of boxes where classified documents were found-image from a 2020 Biden for President campaign ad</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Newly empowered&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-house-control-79475a4fc11e4375cd0dded651b9eede">House Republicans</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-01-15-Letter-Klain-Classified-Docs.pdf">demanded the White House turn over all information</a>&nbsp;related to its searches that have uncovered&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-united-states-government-barack-obama-merrick-garland-def4c44c23229671e1e50bf170dc67d2">classified documents</a>&nbsp;at President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">Joe Biden's</a>&nbsp;home and former office in the wake of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-0574fd762159e8cb5f31c85205df3dc0">more records</a>&nbsp;found at his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-merrick-garland-3f77c3d792ed525c446efd7bd95e86ba">Delaware residence.</a><a href="https://oversight.house.gov/release/comer-calls-on-white-house-to-release-bidens-wilmington-residence-visitor-log-questions-why-biden-aides-continue-to-search-properties-in-wake-of-special-counsel/">“We have a lot of questions,"</a> said Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.Comer, R-Ky., said he wants to see all documents and communications related to the searches by the Biden team, as well as visitor logs of the president's home in Wilmington, Delaware, from Jan. 20, 2021, to present. He said the aim is to determine who might have had access to classified material and how the records got there.The White House on Saturday said it had discovered five additional pages of classified documents at Biden's home on Thursday, the same day a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/classified-documents-biden-home-wilmington-33479d12c7cf0a822adb2f44c32b88fd">special counsel was appointed</a>&nbsp;to review the matter.In a letter Sunday to White House chief of staff Ron Klain, Comer criticized the searches by Biden representatives when the Justice Department was beginning to investigate and said Biden's “mishandling of classified materials raises the issue of whether he has jeopardized our national security." Comer demanded that the White House provide all relevant information including visitor logs by the end of the month.Appearing on CNN's “State of the Union,” Comer referred to Biden's home as a “crime scene" though he acknowledged that it was not clear whether laws were broken.“My concern is that the special counsel was called for, but yet hours after that we still had the president’s personal attorneys, who have no security clearance, still rummaging around the president’s residence, looking for things — I mean that would essentially be a crime scene, so to speak," Comer said.While the U.S. Secret Service provides security at the president's private residence, it does not maintain visitor logs, agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Sunday.“We don’t independently maintain our own visitor logs because it’s a private residence,” Guglielmi said. He added that the agency does screen visitors to the president’s properties but doesn’t maintain records of those checks.The White House confirmed that Biden has not independently maintained records of who has visited his residence since he became president.“Like every President in decades of modern history, his personal residence is personal," White House spokesman Ian Sams said. "But upon taking office, President Biden restored the norm and tradition of keeping White House visitors logs, including publishing them regularly, after the previous administration ended them.”Indeed, President Donald Trump's administration announced early in his presidency that they&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/9ed190feb84c4d6081b27f0775260f43">wouldn't release visitor logs</a>&nbsp;out of “grave national security risks and privacy concerns of the hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.” Democrat Barack Obama's administration initially fought attempts by Congress and conservative and liberal groups to obtain visitor records. But after being sued, it voluntarily began disclosing the logs in December 2009, posting records every three to four months.A federal appeals court ruled in 2013 that the logs can be withheld under presidential executive privilege. That unanimous ruling was written by Judge Merrick Garland, who is now serving as Biden's attorney general.Asked about Comer’s request for logs and communications regarding the search for documents, Sams responded: “I would simply refer you to what Congressman Comer himself told CNN this morning: ‘At the end of the day, my biggest concern isn’t the classified documents to be honest with you.’ That says it all.”In that CNN interview, Comer had added that House Republicans did not trust the Justice Department to give the matter of Biden's classified documents an appropriate level of scrutiny. The House Judiciary Committee on Friday requested that Garland turn over information related to the discovery of documents and Garland's appointment of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/who-is-robert-hur-special-counsel-biden-d715ffd26adc75f2ba740d1960936a09">special counsel Richard Hur</a>&nbsp;to oversee the investigation.White House officials "can say they’re being transparent, but it’s anything but,” the committee chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News Channel's “Sunday Morning Futures.”<a href="https://twitter.com/IanSams46/status/1614315310949040130">White House lawyer Richard Sauber</a>&nbsp;said in a statement Saturday that a total of six pages of classified documents were found from Biden's time serving as vice president in the Obama administration during a search of Biden’s private library. The White House had said previously that only a single page was found there.The latest disclosure was in addition to the discovery of documents found in December in Biden’s garage and in November at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-us-department-justice-a45855907a73acb256bb7c4dd5a91610">his former offices at the Penn Biden Center in Washington</a>.Sauber said that Biden’s personal lawyers, who did not have security clearances, stopped their search after finding the first page on Wednesday evening. Sauber found the remaining material Thursday, as he was facilitating their retrieval by Justice Department. Sauber did not explain why the White House waited two days to provide an updated accounting. The White House is already facing scrutiny for waiting more than two months to acknowledge the discovery of the initial group of documents at the Biden office.Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, said the Justice Department rightfully appointed special counsels to “get to the bottom” of the Biden classified documents matter as well as in a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-classified-documents-trump-side-by-side-fb2c4ebccdbdbb9039c1c5e227b1da53">separate investigation into the mishandling of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s private club and residence in Florida.</a>But Raskin also stressed key differences between the two cases, including that Biden's team readily handed over documents to the National Archives compared with Trump's repeated resistance to such requests.“We should keep a sense of proportion and measure about what we’re talking about,” Raskin told CNN.Asked Sunday if his oversight committee would investigate Trump's handling of classified documents as well, Comer demurred.“There have been so many investigations of President Trump, I don’t feel like we need to spend a whole lot of time investigating President Trump, because the Democrats have done that for the past six years,” he said.___

Many questions, few answers from Biden on classified documents

KANSAS CITY —A Kansas City man has been charged in a fatal New Year's Day, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.&nbsp;

Daqunne E. Green, 24, faces Murder 2nd Degree Unlawful Use of a Weapon and two counts of Armed Criminal Action.

According to court records, police were dispatched New Years Day to the Short Stop convenience store on US 40 Highway on reports of shots being fired and a victim inside the store. 

Officers found the victim, Chris Wright, with a gunshot wound. Emergency personnel pronounced him deceased. Video showed the Green entering the passenger side of Wright's vehicle in the store parking lot. Then a struggle ensued and Green exited the vehicle holding a handgun. 

The vehicle reversed out of a parking space and Green fires several shots into the victim's vehicle. Green then fled from the scene in his vehicle and the victim walked into the store where he later is pronounced deceased..

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673905052419.png" alt="Green-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Green-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —A Kansas City man has been charged in a fatal New Year's Day, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.&nbsp;Daqunne E. Green, 24, faces Murder 2nd Degree Unlawful Use of a Weapon and two counts of Armed Criminal Action.According to court records, police were dispatched New Years Day to the Short Stop convenience store on US 40 Highway on reports of shots being fired and a victim inside the store. Officers found the victim, Chris Wright, with a gunshot wound. Emergency personnel pronounced him deceased. Video showed the Green entering the passenger side of Wright's vehicle in the store parking lot. Then a struggle ensued and Green exited the vehicle holding a handgun. The vehicle reversed out of a parking space and Green fires several shots into the victim's vehicle. Green then fled from the scene in his vehicle and the victim walked into the store where he later is pronounced deceased..

Video shows KC man at scene of New Year's Day killing

CADDO COUNTY, Okla.— The search for missing four-year-old Athena Brownfield is now considered a recovery operation, according to a Monday afternoon statement from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Special Agents from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, along with&nbsp; partners at the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP), have been searching areas of Caddo County for the toddler’s remains.

Athena and her five-year-old sister are related to Alysia Adams and had been in the Adams’ care for at least a year. It was discovered that Athena was missing when a postal carrier found the five-year-old outside the Adams’ home with no adult supervision on January 10, 2023. The postal carrier notified the Cyril Police Department and that’s when the investigation into Athena’s whereabouts began.

Alysia Adams is facing two counts of Child Neglect and Ivon Adams is facing one count of First Degree Murder and one count of Child Neglect.

Ivon Adams was arrested in Phoenix on January 12 and is awaiting extradition to Oklahoma. Alysia was also arrested on January 12, 2023 and is currently in the Caddo County Jail. At this time, these are accusations and neither party has been convicted of any crime related to this investigation. The parties are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The girls biological parents have been interviewed by agents and are cooperating with the investigation. The OSBI is asking that the public not self-deploy to search for Athena. Individuals who search for Athena on their own could be trespassing or worse, interfering with the investigation by contaminating potential evidence. Please refrain from speculation regarding what the investigation has revealed to this point. Rumors on social media will not help the investigation and may instead hinder progress. If you have information about this case, please contact the OSBI tipline at (800) 522-8017 or email&nbsp;tips@osbi.ok.gov.&nbsp;You can remain anonymous.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673643845430.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>CADDO COUNTY, Okla.— The search for missing four-year-old Athena Brownfield is now considered a recovery operation, according to a Monday afternoon statement from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Special Agents from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, along with&nbsp; partners at the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP), have been searching areas of Caddo County for the toddler’s remains. Athena and her five-year-old sister are related to Alysia Adams and had been in the Adams’ care for at least a year. It was discovered that Athena was missing when a postal carrier found the five-year-old outside the Adams’ home with no adult supervision on January 10, 2023. The postal carrier notified the Cyril Police Department and that’s when the investigation into Athena’s whereabouts began.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673617381405.png" alt="Ayysia Adams-photo Caddo Co." />
 <figcaption>Ayysia Adams-photo Caddo Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Alysia Adams is facing two counts of Child Neglect and Ivon Adams is facing one count of First Degree Murder and one count of Child Neglect.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673636085787.png" alt="Adams-photo Maricopa County" />
 <figcaption>Adams-photo Maricopa County</figcaption>
 </figure>Ivon Adams was arrested in Phoenix on January 12 and is awaiting extradition to Oklahoma. Alysia was also arrested on January 12, 2023 and is currently in the Caddo County Jail. At this time, these are accusations and neither party has been convicted of any crime related to this investigation. The parties are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The girls biological parents have been interviewed by agents and are cooperating with the investigation. The OSBI is asking that the public not self-deploy to search for Athena. Individuals who search for Athena on their own could be trespassing or worse, interfering with the investigation by contaminating potential evidence. Please refrain from speculation regarding what the investigation has revealed to this point. Rumors on social media will not help the investigation and may instead hinder progress. If you have information about this case, please contact the OSBI tipline at (800) 522-8017 or email&nbsp;tips@osbi.ok.gov.&nbsp;You can remain anonymous.

Search for missing 4-year-old now a recovery operation

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service's Free File Guided Tax 
Preparation service is live and ready for taxpayers to use. Free File 
went live January 13, 2023, 10 days prior to the 2023 filing season 
start date. The IRS starts accepting individual tax returns on January 
23.

<a href="https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free">IRS Free File</a>
 marks its 21st filing season this year and is one of many free options 
available to taxpayers for filing their taxes either online or in 
person. IRS Free File is offered via a public-private partnership 
between the IRS and the Free File Inc., formerly the Free File Alliance.
 Through this partnership, leading tax software providers make their 
online products available in both English and Spanish for free.

Seven partners will provide IRS Free File online products this year 
to any taxpayer or family who earned $73,000 or less in 2022.

Because the filing season does not start until January 23, IRS Free 
File providers will accept completed tax returns and hold them until 
they can be filed electronically on that date.

Those who make over $73,000 can use the IRS's Free File Fillable 
Forms (FFFF), the electronic version of IRS paper forms beginning 
January 23. This product is best for people comfortable preparing their 
own taxes.

Each IRS Free File provider sets its own eligibility rules for products based on age, income and state residency.

Taxpayers that made $73,000 or less in 2022 will likely find a 
product that matches their needs. Some providers also offer free state 
return preparation. Active-duty military can use any IRS Free File 
products if their adjusted gross income was $73,000 in 2022 or less.

To find the right IRS Free File product taxpayers can:

No computer? No problem. IRS Free File products support mobile 
phone access. Taxpayers can do their taxes on their smart phone or 
tablet.

For 2023, the following providers are participating in IRS Free File:

For 2023, ezTaxReturn.com will provide an IRS Free File product in Spanish.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRSWASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service's Free File Guided Tax 
Preparation service is live and ready for taxpayers to use. Free File 
went live January 13, 2023, 10 days prior to the 2023 filing season 
start date. The IRS starts accepting individual tax returns on January 
23.<a href="https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free">IRS Free File</a>
 marks its 21st filing season this year and is one of many free options 
available to taxpayers for filing their taxes either online or in 
person. IRS Free File is offered via a public-private partnership 
between the IRS and the Free File Inc., formerly the Free File Alliance.
 Through this partnership, leading tax software providers make their 
online products available in both English and Spanish for free.Seven partners will provide IRS Free File online products this year 
to any taxpayer or family who earned $73,000 or less in 2022.Because the filing season does not start until January 23, IRS Free 
File providers will accept completed tax returns and hold them until 
they can be filed electronically on that date.Those who make over $73,000 can use the IRS's Free File Fillable 
Forms (FFFF), the electronic version of IRS paper forms beginning 
January 23. This product is best for people comfortable preparing their 
own taxes.<h2>How IRS Free File online works</h2>Each IRS Free File provider sets its own eligibility rules for products based on age, income and state residency.Taxpayers that made $73,000 or less in 2022 will likely find a 
product that matches their needs. Some providers also offer free state 
return preparation. Active-duty military can use any IRS Free File 
products if their adjusted gross income was $73,000 in 2022 or less.To find the right IRS Free File product taxpayers can:<ol>
 <li>Go to <a href="https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free">IRS.gov/freefile</a>,</li><li>Click on Use Free Guided Tax Preparation. Then select IRS Free File Online Lookup Tool for help in finding the right product, or</li><li>Use the Browse All Offers tool to review each offer,</li><li>Select the best product for them, and</li><li>Follow the links to the provider's website to begin their tax return.</li>
 </ol>No computer? No problem. IRS Free File products support mobile 
phone access. Taxpayers can do their taxes on their smart phone or 
tablet.<h2>IRS Free File participants</h2>For 2023, the following providers are participating in IRS Free File:<ul>
 <li>1040Now</li><li>ezTaxReturn.com</li><li>FileYourTaxes.com</li><li>On-Line Taxes</li><li>TaxAct</li><li>FreeTaxUSA</li><li>TaxSlayer</li>
 </ul>For 2023, ezTaxReturn.com will provide an IRS Free File product in Spanish.

IRS Free File launched, aims to save taxpayers hard-earned dollars

GEARY COUNTY —Oscar winning screen writer and Kansas native Kevin Willmott delivered the keynote remarks at the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in Junction City Monday. He told a large audience at the C.L. Hoover Opera House that Junction City is now an example, " of the multiracial democracy that America want to be. "

Willmott remembered during his time growing up that Junction City did not celebrate that diversity. "It was ashamed of it. Junction City always had this bad reputation. Of course part of it was from Ninth Street, but the other part of it was because it was so diverse."

Willmott said Junction City residents need to embrace who they are. "We need to celebrate who we are, we need to tell the world who we are."

The program also included a singing performance of "Glory" by Justin Aaron, recently a contestant on NBC's "The Voice," and Jerel D. McGeachy Jr. with his "I've been to the Mountaintop" remarks.

There was a march to 10th and Washington where the fourth in a series of Junction City statues was unveiled.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673902350152.jpeg" alt="Kevin Willmott speaking at the Martin Luther King Jr. ceremony" />
 <figcaption>Kevin Willmott speaking at the Martin Luther King Jr. ceremony</figcaption>
 </figure>GEARY COUNTY —Oscar winning screen writer and Kansas native Kevin Willmott delivered the keynote remarks at the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in Junction City Monday. He told a large audience at the C.L. Hoover Opera House that Junction City is now an example, " of the multiracial democracy that America want to be. "Willmott remembered during his time growing up that Junction City did not celebrate that diversity. "It was ashamed of it. Junction City always had this bad reputation. Of course part of it was from Ninth Street, but the other part of it was because it was so diverse."Willmott said Junction City residents need to embrace who they are. "We need to celebrate who we are, we need to tell the world who we are."The program also included a singing performance of "Glory" by Justin Aaron, recently a contestant on NBC's "The Voice," and Jerel D. McGeachy Jr. with his "I've been to the Mountaintop" remarks.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673904457042.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>There was a march to 10th and Washington where the fourth in a series of Junction City statues was unveiled.

Oscar winner, Kan. native points to diversity in Junction City

WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jill-biden">Jill Biden'</a>&nbsp;s advocacy for curing cancer didn't start with her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/d8f69eb645d74b7886387f713981b739">son's death in 2015 from brain cancer</a>. It began decades earlier, long before she came into the national spotlight, and could now be further energized by her own brush with a common form of skin cancer.

The first lady often says the worst three words anyone will ever hear are, “You have cancer." She heard a version of that phrase for herself this past week.

A lesion that doctors had found above her right eye during a routine screening late last year was removed on Wednesday and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-maryland-mexico-city-surgery-545cac7c3ddca1f095e84383fdf8cd2d">confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma</a>&nbsp;— a highly treatable form of skin cancer. While Biden was being prepped to remove the lesion, doctors found and removed another one from the left side of her chest, also confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma. A third lesion from her left eyelid was being examined.

While it's too early to know when and how Biden might address her situation publicly, her experience could inject new purpose into what has become part of her life's work highlighting research into curing cancer and urging people to get regular screenings.

Personal experiences can add potency to a public figure's advocacy.

“Nothing like ‘I’ve been there, done that' and being personally involved," said Myra Gutin, a first lady scholar at Rider University.

Biden's spokesperson, Vanessa Valdivia, said “the first lady's fight against cancer has always been personal. She knows that cancer touches us all.”

Biden's advocacy dates to 1993, when four girlfriends were diagnosed with breast cancer, including her pal Winnie, who succumbed to the disease. She said last year in a speech that “Winnie inspired me to take up the cause of prevention and education.”

That experience led her to create the Biden Breast Health Initiative, one of the first breast health programs in the United States, to teach 16-to 18-year-old girls about caring for their breasts. Biden was among staffers who went into Delaware's high schools to conduct lectures and demonstrations.

Her mother, Bonny Jean Jacobs, and father, Donald Jacobs, died of cancer, in 2008 and 1999, respectively. A few years ago, one of her four sisters needed an auto-stem cell transplant to treat her cancer.

In May 2015,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/beau-biden">Beau Biden</a>, President Joe Biden's son with his late first wife, died of a rare and aggressive brain cancer, leaving behind a wife and two young kids. Joe Biden was vice president at the time and the blow from Beau's loss led him to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-entertainment-stephen-colbert-campaign-2016-beau-biden-37fed6382cc84756929b48eaef4be9ff">decide against running for president in 2016</a>. Jill Biden, who had helped raise Beau from a young age after she married his dad, was convinced he would survive the disease and later described feeling “blinded by the darkness” when he died.

After their son's death, the Bidens helped push for a national commitment to “end cancer as we know it.” Then-President Barack Obama — Biden's boss — put the vice president in charge of what the White House named the Cancer Moonshot.

The Bidens resurrected the initiative after Joe Biden became president and added a new goal of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-cancer-initiative-122f2d0782a30d7cf766f2892fc5962a">cutting cancer death rates by at least 50% over the next 25 years</a>, and improving the experience of living with and surviving cancer for patients and their families.

“We’re ensuring that all of our government is ready to get to work,” Jill Biden said at the relaunch announcement at the White House last February. “We’re going to break down the walls that hold research back. We’re going to bring the best of our nation together — patients, survivors, caregivers, researchers, doctors, and advocates — all of you — so that we can get this done.”

In the years between Biden serving as vice president and running for president, the Bidens headed up the Biden Cancer Initiative, a charity.

Jill Biden, 71, has been using her first lady platform to highlight research into a cancer cure, along with other issues she has long championed, including education and military families.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-race-and-ethnicity-health-disparities-cancer-virginia-2d2b44953030216aeee380b4b64295b4">Her first trip outside of Washington</a>&nbsp;after the January 2021 inauguration was to Virginia Commonwealth University's Massey Cancer Center in Richmond to call for an end to disparities in health care that she said have hurt communities of color.

She has toured cancer centers, including those for children, in New York City, South Carolina, Tennessee, Costa Rica, San Francisco and Florida, among others. She joined the Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies — two of her favorite professional sports teams — for events, including during the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-health-sports-jill-biden-baseball-976bb1c829fcb1284ae40ce5759038e5">World Series</a>, to highlight efforts to fight cancer through early detection and to honor patients.

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month last October, Jill Biden hosted a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-entertainment-health-jill-government-and-politics-a662294f8cdb930e5b8a26c42b07dba1">White House event with the American Cancer Society and singer Mary J. Blige,</a>&nbsp;who became an advocate for cancer screening after losing aunts and other relatives to various forms of cancer.

The first lady also partnered with the Lifetime cable channel to encourage women to get mammograms. A Democrat, she gave&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-jill-covid-government-and-politics-a5391541e8cf5323668dde873758916c">an interview last year to Newsmax</a>, the conservative cable news channel, to discuss the federal investment in accelerating the cancer fight.

She regularly encourages audiences to schedule cancer screening appointments they skipped during the pandemic out of fear of visiting doctor's offices.

Asked on Friday how the first lady was doing, the president flashed a thumbs-up to reporters.

<a href="https://www.cancer.org/cancer/basal-and-squamous-cell-skin-cancer.html">Basal cell carcinoma</a>, for which the first lady was treated with the procedure known as Mohs surgery, is the most common type of skin cancer, but also the most curable form. It’s considered highly treatable, especially when caught early. It is a slow-growing cancer that doesn't usually spread and seldom causes serious complications or becomes life-threatening.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.skincancer.org/blog/first-lady-jill-biden-undergoes-mohs-surgery/">Skin Cancer Foundation</a>&nbsp;says the delicate skin around the eyes is especially vulnerable to damage from the sun’s ultraviolet rays, which makes basal cell carcinoma on and around the eyelids particularly common.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673893202587.png" alt="A lesion that doctors had found above her right eye during a routine screening late last year was removed on Wednesday and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-maryland-mexico-city-surgery-545cac7c3ddca1f095e84383fdf8cd2d">confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma</a>&nbsp;— a highly treatable form of skin cancer.-White House photo" />
 <figcaption>A lesion that doctors had found above her right eye during a routine screening late last year was removed on Wednesday and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-maryland-mexico-city-surgery-545cac7c3ddca1f095e84383fdf8cd2d">confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma</a>&nbsp;— a highly treatable form of skin cancer.-White House photo</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jill-biden">Jill Biden'</a>&nbsp;s advocacy for curing cancer didn't start with her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/d8f69eb645d74b7886387f713981b739">son's death in 2015 from brain cancer</a>. It began decades earlier, long before she came into the national spotlight, and could now be further energized by her own brush with a common form of skin cancer.The first lady often says the worst three words anyone will ever hear are, “You have cancer." She heard a version of that phrase for herself this past week.A lesion that doctors had found above her right eye during a routine screening late last year was removed on Wednesday and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-maryland-mexico-city-surgery-545cac7c3ddca1f095e84383fdf8cd2d">confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma</a>&nbsp;— a highly treatable form of skin cancer. While Biden was being prepped to remove the lesion, doctors found and removed another one from the left side of her chest, also confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma. A third lesion from her left eyelid was being examined.While it's too early to know when and how Biden might address her situation publicly, her experience could inject new purpose into what has become part of her life's work highlighting research into curing cancer and urging people to get regular screenings.Personal experiences can add potency to a public figure's advocacy.“Nothing like ‘I’ve been there, done that' and being personally involved," said Myra Gutin, a first lady scholar at Rider University.Biden's spokesperson, Vanessa Valdivia, said “the first lady's fight against cancer has always been personal. She knows that cancer touches us all.”Biden's advocacy dates to 1993, when four girlfriends were diagnosed with breast cancer, including her pal Winnie, who succumbed to the disease. She said last year in a speech that “Winnie inspired me to take up the cause of prevention and education.”That experience led her to create the Biden Breast Health Initiative, one of the first breast health programs in the United States, to teach 16-to 18-year-old girls about caring for their breasts. Biden was among staffers who went into Delaware's high schools to conduct lectures and demonstrations.Her mother, Bonny Jean Jacobs, and father, Donald Jacobs, died of cancer, in 2008 and 1999, respectively. A few years ago, one of her four sisters needed an auto-stem cell transplant to treat her cancer.In May 2015,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/beau-biden">Beau Biden</a>, President Joe Biden's son with his late first wife, died of a rare and aggressive brain cancer, leaving behind a wife and two young kids. Joe Biden was vice president at the time and the blow from Beau's loss led him to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-entertainment-stephen-colbert-campaign-2016-beau-biden-37fed6382cc84756929b48eaef4be9ff">decide against running for president in 2016</a>. Jill Biden, who had helped raise Beau from a young age after she married his dad, was convinced he would survive the disease and later described feeling “blinded by the darkness” when he died.After their son's death, the Bidens helped push for a national commitment to “end cancer as we know it.” Then-President Barack Obama — Biden's boss — put the vice president in charge of what the White House named the Cancer Moonshot.The Bidens resurrected the initiative after Joe Biden became president and added a new goal of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-cancer-initiative-122f2d0782a30d7cf766f2892fc5962a">cutting cancer death rates by at least 50% over the next 25 years</a>, and improving the experience of living with and surviving cancer for patients and their families.“We’re ensuring that all of our government is ready to get to work,” Jill Biden said at the relaunch announcement at the White House last February. “We’re going to break down the walls that hold research back. We’re going to bring the best of our nation together — patients, survivors, caregivers, researchers, doctors, and advocates — all of you — so that we can get this done.”In the years between Biden serving as vice president and running for president, the Bidens headed up the Biden Cancer Initiative, a charity.Jill Biden, 71, has been using her first lady platform to highlight research into a cancer cure, along with other issues she has long championed, including education and military families.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-race-and-ethnicity-health-disparities-cancer-virginia-2d2b44953030216aeee380b4b64295b4">Her first trip outside of Washington</a>&nbsp;after the January 2021 inauguration was to Virginia Commonwealth University's Massey Cancer Center in Richmond to call for an end to disparities in health care that she said have hurt communities of color.She has toured cancer centers, including those for children, in New York City, South Carolina, Tennessee, Costa Rica, San Francisco and Florida, among others. She joined the Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies — two of her favorite professional sports teams — for events, including during the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-health-sports-jill-biden-baseball-976bb1c829fcb1284ae40ce5759038e5">World Series</a>, to highlight efforts to fight cancer through early detection and to honor patients.For Breast Cancer Awareness Month last October, Jill Biden hosted a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-entertainment-health-jill-government-and-politics-a662294f8cdb930e5b8a26c42b07dba1">White House event with the American Cancer Society and singer Mary J. Blige,</a>&nbsp;who became an advocate for cancer screening after losing aunts and other relatives to various forms of cancer.The first lady also partnered with the Lifetime cable channel to encourage women to get mammograms. A Democrat, she gave&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-jill-covid-government-and-politics-a5391541e8cf5323668dde873758916c">an interview last year to Newsmax</a>, the conservative cable news channel, to discuss the federal investment in accelerating the cancer fight.She regularly encourages audiences to schedule cancer screening appointments they skipped during the pandemic out of fear of visiting doctor's offices.Asked on Friday how the first lady was doing, the president flashed a thumbs-up to reporters.<a href="https://www.cancer.org/cancer/basal-and-squamous-cell-skin-cancer.html">Basal cell carcinoma</a>, for which the first lady was treated with the procedure known as Mohs surgery, is the most common type of skin cancer, but also the most curable form. It’s considered highly treatable, especially when caught early. It is a slow-growing cancer that doesn't usually spread and seldom causes serious complications or becomes life-threatening.The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.skincancer.org/blog/first-lady-jill-biden-undergoes-mohs-surgery/">Skin Cancer Foundation</a>&nbsp;says the delicate skin around the eyes is especially vulnerable to damage from the sun’s ultraviolet rays, which makes basal cell carcinoma on and around the eyelids particularly common.

Jill Biden's skin cancer could fuel advocacy in cancer fight

BRUSSELS (AP) — The U.S. military's new, expanded combat training of Ukrainian forces began in Germany on Sunday, with a goal of getting a battalion of about 500 troops back on the battlefield to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-politics-government-moscow-f2e3f238c9d8ea294e0ed8b1905caba4?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=TopNews&amp;utm_campaign=position_05">fight the Russians</a>&nbsp;in the next five to eight weeks, said Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Milley, who plans to visit the Grafenwoehr training area on Monday to get a first-hand look at the program, said the troops being trained left Ukraine a few days ago. In Germany is a full set of weapons and equipment for them to use.

Until now the Pentagon had declined to say exactly when the training would start.

The so-called combined arms training is aimed at honing the skills of the Ukrainian forces so they will be better prepared to launch an offensive or counter any surge in Russian attacks. They will learn how to better move and coordinate their company- and battalion-size units in battle, using combined artillery, armor and ground forces.

Speaking to two reporters traveling with him to Europe on Sunday, Milley said the complex training — combined with an array of new weapons, artillery, tanks and other vehicles heading to Ukraine — will be key to helping the country's forces take back territory that has been captured by Russia in the nearly 11-month-old war.

“This support is really important for Ukraine to be able to defend itself,” Milley said. “And we’re hoping to be able to pull this together here in short order.”

The goal, he said, is for all the incoming weapons and equipment to be delivered to Ukraine so that the newly trained forces will be able to use it “sometime before the spring rains show up. That would be ideal.”

BRUSSELS (AP) — The U.S. military's new, expanded combat training of Ukrainian forces began in Germany on Sunday, with a goal of getting a battalion of about 500 troops back on the battlefield to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-politics-government-moscow-f2e3f238c9d8ea294e0ed8b1905caba4?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=TopNews&amp;utm_campaign=position_05">fight the Russians</a>&nbsp;in the next five to eight weeks, said Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.Milley, who plans to visit the Grafenwoehr training area on Monday to get a first-hand look at the program, said the troops being trained left Ukraine a few days ago. In Germany is a full set of weapons and equipment for them to use.Until now the Pentagon had declined to say exactly when the training would start.The so-called combined arms training is aimed at honing the skills of the Ukrainian forces so they will be better prepared to launch an offensive or counter any surge in Russian attacks. They will learn how to better move and coordinate their company- and battalion-size units in battle, using combined artillery, armor and ground forces.Speaking to two reporters traveling with him to Europe on Sunday, Milley said the complex training — combined with an array of new weapons, artillery, tanks and other vehicles heading to Ukraine — will be key to helping the country's forces take back territory that has been captured by Russia in the nearly 11-month-old war.“This support is really important for Ukraine to be able to defend itself,” Milley said. “And we’re hoping to be able to pull this together here in short order.”The goal, he said, is for all the incoming weapons and equipment to be delivered to Ukraine so that the newly trained forces will be able to use it “sometime before the spring rains show up. That would be ideal.”The new instruction comes as Ukrainian forces face fierce fighting in the eastern Donetsk province, where the Russian military has claimed it has control of the small salt-mining town of Soledar. Ukraine asserts that its troops are still fighting, but if Moscow’s troops take control of Soledar it would allow them to inch closer to the bigger city of Bakhmut, where fighting has raged for months.Russia also launched a widespread barrage of missile strikes,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-world-news-7226af5e8d9ce80db42c87222b195bd4">including in Kyiv</a>, the northeastern city of Kharkiv and the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-government-united-kingdom-57dc26750d98b0451c6578df8f679953">southeastern city of Dnipro</a>, where the death toll in one apartment building rose to 30.Milley said he wants to make sure the training is on track and whether anything else is needed, and also ensure that it will line up well with the equipment deliveries.The program will include classroom instruction and field work that will begin with small squads and gradually grow to involve larger units. It would culminate with a more complex combat exercise bringing an entire battalion and a headquarters unit together.Until now, the U.S. focus has been on providing Ukrainian forces with more immediate battlefield needs, particularly on how to use the wide array of Western weapons systems pouring into the country.The U.S. has already trained more than 3,100 Ukrainian troops on how to use and maintain certain weapons and other equipment, including howitzers, armored vehicles and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS. Other nations are also conducting training on the weapons they provide.In announcing the new program last month, Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said the idea “is to be able to give them this advanced level of collective training that enables them to conduct effective combined arms operations and maneuver on the battlefield.”Milley said the U.S. was doing this type of training prior to the Russian invasion last February. But once the war began, U.S. National Guard and special operations forces that were doing training inside Ukraine all left the country. This new effort, which is being done by U.S. Army Europe Africa’s 7th Army Training Command, will be a continuation of what they had been doing prior to the invasion. Other European allies are also providing training.