&nbsp;JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on drug allegations.&nbsp;

Just before 8:30a.m. Oct. 6, Sheriff's Deputies conducted a traffic stop on a Mercedes E350 on 150th Road, just west of U.S. Highway 75 in rural Jackson County, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

&nbsp; Deputies conducted a probable cause search and located illegal drug contraband.&nbsp; The driver, Tyler Ryan Simmons, 46, of Topeka was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail for possession of methamphetamine, possession of a hallucinogenic drug and possession of drug paraphernalia.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728396652103.png" alt="Simmons-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Simmons-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>&nbsp;JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on drug allegations.&nbsp;Just before 8:30a.m. Oct. 6, Sheriff's Deputies conducted a traffic stop on a Mercedes E350 on 150th Road, just west of U.S. Highway 75 in rural Jackson County, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.&nbsp; Deputies conducted a probable cause search and located illegal drug contraband.&nbsp; The driver, Tyler Ryan Simmons, 46, of Topeka was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail for possession of methamphetamine, possession of a hallucinogenic drug and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Kansas man accused of transporting methamphetamine

The Federal Trade Commission is sending more than $88,000 in refunds to consumers who bought Chinese-made measuring cups marketed as “Made in USA” by Instant Brands, the maker of Pyrex-brand kitchen and home products, according to a media release.

The FTC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/01/ftc-order-requires-pyrex-glass-manufacturer-pay-falsely-claiming-chinese-products-were-made-usa">took action against Instant Brands</a>&nbsp;in 2023 charging that the company claimed that all its popular glass measuring cups were made in the United States, despite some measuring cups actually being imported from China. All told, more than 110,000 units of Chinese-made measuring cup sets were sold to U.S. consumers while being marketed as “Made in USA.” Instant Brands agreed to a settlement with the FTC that stopped the company from making deceptive claims about products being “Made in USA” and required them to pay a monetary judgment.

The FTC is sending checks to 10,259 consumers. Recipients should cash their checks within 90 days, as indicated on the check. Consumers who have questions about their payment should contact the refund administrator, Simpluris, at 833-244-7320, or visit the FTC website to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/recent-ftc-cases-resulting-refunds/refund-programs-frequently-asked-questions">view frequently asked questions</a>&nbsp;about the refund process. The Commission never requires people to pay money or provide account information to get a refund.

The Commission’s&nbsp;<a href="https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/federal.trade.commission/viz/Refunds_15797958402020/RefundsbyCase">interactive dashboards for refund data</a>&nbsp;provide a state-by-state breakdown of refunds in FTC cases. In 2023,&nbsp;FTC actions led to $330 million in refunds to consumers across the country.

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/bureaus-offices/bureau-consumer-protection">protect and educate consumers</a>. &nbsp;The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. Learn more about consumer topics at&nbsp;<a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/">consumer.ftc.gov</a>, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at&nbsp;<a href="https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/">ReportFraud.ftc.gov</a>. Follow the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/stay-connected/social-media">FTC on social media</a>, read&nbsp;<a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts">consumer alerts</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog">business blog</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/stay-connected">sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts</a>.

The Federal Trade Commission is sending more than $88,000 in refunds to consumers who bought Chinese-made measuring cups marketed as “Made in USA” by Instant Brands, the maker of Pyrex-brand kitchen and home products, according to a media release.The FTC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/01/ftc-order-requires-pyrex-glass-manufacturer-pay-falsely-claiming-chinese-products-were-made-usa">took action against Instant Brands</a>&nbsp;in 2023 charging that the company claimed that all its popular glass measuring cups were made in the United States, despite some measuring cups actually being imported from China. All told, more than 110,000 units of Chinese-made measuring cup sets were sold to U.S. consumers while being marketed as “Made in USA.” Instant Brands agreed to a settlement with the FTC that stopped the company from making deceptive claims about products being “Made in USA” and required them to pay a monetary judgment.The FTC is sending checks to 10,259 consumers. Recipients should cash their checks within 90 days, as indicated on the check. Consumers who have questions about their payment should contact the refund administrator, Simpluris, at 833-244-7320, or visit the FTC website to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/recent-ftc-cases-resulting-refunds/refund-programs-frequently-asked-questions">view frequently asked questions</a>&nbsp;about the refund process. The Commission never requires people to pay money or provide account information to get a refund.The Commission’s&nbsp;<a href="https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/federal.trade.commission/viz/Refunds_15797958402020/RefundsbyCase">interactive dashboards for refund data</a>&nbsp;provide a state-by-state breakdown of refunds in FTC cases. In 2023,&nbsp;FTC actions led to $330 million in refunds to consumers across the country.The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/bureaus-offices/bureau-consumer-protection">protect and educate consumers</a>. &nbsp;The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. Learn more about consumer topics at&nbsp;<a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/">consumer.ftc.gov</a>, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at&nbsp;<a href="https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/">ReportFraud.ftc.gov</a>. Follow the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/stay-connected/social-media">FTC on social media</a>, read&nbsp;<a href="https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts">consumer alerts</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog">business blog</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/stay-connected">sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts</a>.

Pyrex refund for glass products falsely advertised as ‘Made in USA’

Justices reject Kimberly Younger’s claim that her rights were violated when the judge in her original trial allowed a defendant to testify remotely via videoconference

By ALLISON KITE <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

The Kansas Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a woman who orchestrated the murder of a couple working at a traveling carnival during a stop in Barton County.

Kimberly Younger had claimed that her Constitutional rights were violated in the original trial when a witness was allowed to testify remotely via videoconference. Both the U.S. and Kansas constitutions guarantee defendants’ rights to confront witnesses to criminal cases.

In oral arguments before the&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/tag/kansas-supreme-court/">Kansas Supreme Court</a>, Younger’s defense attorney, Clayton Jay Perkins, said Younger had been “convicted of capital murder without having killed anyone.”

“Her conviction rests on the troubling foundation of the credibility of co-defendants,” Perkins said, “including the actual killers that received reduced or lesser convictions and had incentives to place culpability on Miss Younger — and whose testimony was propped up by numerous Constitutional and legal errors.”

Attorneys for Younger declined to comment, saying Younger had not signed a release allowing them to speak with media.&nbsp;

Younger was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for her role in the murders of Alfred and Pauline Carpenter, an elderly couple from Wichita that sold merchandise from a camper at county fairs.&nbsp;

Younger — who also used the names Myrna Khan, Jenna Roberts and Tiffany Jones — is in her 50s and worked as a truck driver and ticket seller at the carnival, which in the summer of 2018, stopped at the Barton County Fair.&nbsp;

At the carnival, Younger shared a unit in the bunkhouse with her significant other — and possible husband —&nbsp;Michael Fowler. Younger was known to Fowler as Jenna.&nbsp;

The court ruling outlines an elaborate story she told police about how a competing carnival owner with mafia ties instructed her and others to kill the Carpenters and dispose of their bodies in Arkansas.&nbsp;

Fellow employees Rusty Frasier and Christine Tenney were given instructions by Younger to help Fowler with the killing.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<a href="https://kscourts.gov/KSCourts/media/KsCourts/Opinions/124601.pdf?ext=.pdf" target="_blank">According to the Kansas Supreme Court ruling</a>, in July 2018, Younger asked Alfred Carpenter out of the camper to talk about buying his&nbsp;business as he and Pauline Carpenter were preparing to retire. The plan was for&nbsp;Fowler to then slit his throat. Carpenter fought back, and Frasier rushed in and stabbed him. Then, Fowler shot Alfred Carpenter and entered the trailer and shot Pauline.&nbsp;

The group then drove the trailer with the bodies for more than six hours to Van Buren, Arkansas, and stayed with Fowler’s daughter and son-in-law. They then drove to Ozark National Forest where Fowler’s son-in-law and his other daughter’s boyfriend helped them put the bodies in a ravine and cover them with a mattress, rocks and dirt.&nbsp;

During the Van Buren police’s investigation, Younger initially identified herself as Tiffany Jones. When she became “belligerent,” she was arrested and put in the police car where she was recorded without her knowledge and made incriminating statements.&nbsp;

At the police station, the gun used to kill the Carpenters was found in her backpack. While she was interviewed, “the others started cooperating with law enforcement almost immediately,” the Supreme Court ruling says.

First, Younger denied the murders, but “she eventually told an elaborate version of what had happened, blaming the events on a crime syndicate.” She was charged in December&nbsp;2018.

Fowler, Frasier and Tenney all pleaded guilty to various charges and testified against her at trial.&nbsp;

At trial in September 2021, Younger claimed another traveling carnival owner, Frank Zaitshik, “ran a criminal enterprise, paid her to transport drugs and guns around the country, and hired bodyguards to shadow Fowler and protect him from a supposed hitman.” She said Zaitshik put the group up to the murders.

Zaitshik was called as a witness and allowed —&nbsp;over Younger’s objections — to testify remotely via videoconference because of his concerns about COVID-19. He said that “he had no connections with criminal enterprises, he had no idea who Fowler or Younger …&nbsp;were, he had never directed anyone to commit murders, and he did not have Italian ancestry.”&nbsp;

Younger’s counsel claimed the judge’s decision to allow Zaitshik to testify remotely violated her right to confront witnesses, guaranteed by both the U.S. and Kansas constitutions.

But the justices cited case law saying the “right to a face-to-face confrontation with an adversarial witness is not absolute and is subject to narrow exceptions when necessary to further important public policies.”

The witness’ underlying health issues and concern about contracting COVID-19, the justices said, “suffice to allow an at-risk witness to testify remotely.”&nbsp;

Younger’s lawyers also attempted to have her conviction overturned on the grounds that she made incriminating statements before being informed of her right to remain silent and to request counsel.&nbsp;

But the court found Younger had made incriminating statements voluntarily while in the back of the police car. They found that despite requesting counsel at the police station, she voluntarily re-initiated an interrogation with police, who had stopped questioning her while they waited for an attorney.&nbsp;

“She repeatedly said she wanted to talk,” the ruling says. “She even showed impatience at delays in the interview when she outright asked whether they even wanted to hear what she had to say. There is little indication of coercive conduct by the police.”&nbsp;

Younger’s attorneys also sought, unsuccessfully, to suppress evidence found in Younger’s backpack, which she gave written consent for police to search.&nbsp;

While the Kansas Supreme Court upheld Younger’s convictions, it overturned portions of the restitution she was ordered to pay, finding that the court didn’t have enough evidence to justify the claim. It remanded the restitution issue back to the trial court for correction.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728381811046.png" alt="Kimberly Younger-photo Kanas Dept. of Corrections" />
 <figcaption>Kimberly Younger-photo Kanas Dept. of Corrections</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Justices reject Kimberly Younger’s claim that her rights were violated when the judge in her original trial allowed a defendant to testify remotely via videoconference</h2>By ALLISON KITE <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>The Kansas Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a woman who orchestrated the murder of a couple working at a traveling carnival during a stop in Barton County.Kimberly Younger had claimed that her Constitutional rights were violated in the original trial when a witness was allowed to testify remotely via videoconference. Both the U.S. and Kansas constitutions guarantee defendants’ rights to confront witnesses to criminal cases.In oral arguments before the&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/tag/kansas-supreme-court/">Kansas Supreme Court</a>, Younger’s defense attorney, Clayton Jay Perkins, said Younger had been “convicted of capital murder without having killed anyone.”“Her conviction rests on the troubling foundation of the credibility of co-defendants,” Perkins said, “including the actual killers that received reduced or lesser convictions and had incentives to place culpability on Miss Younger — and whose testimony was propped up by numerous Constitutional and legal errors.”Attorneys for Younger declined to comment, saying Younger had not signed a release allowing them to speak with media.&nbsp;Younger was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for her role in the murders of Alfred and Pauline Carpenter, an elderly couple from Wichita that sold merchandise from a camper at county fairs.&nbsp;Younger — who also used the names Myrna Khan, Jenna Roberts and Tiffany Jones — is in her 50s and worked as a truck driver and ticket seller at the carnival, which in the summer of 2018, stopped at the Barton County Fair.&nbsp;At the carnival, Younger shared a unit in the bunkhouse with her significant other — and possible husband —&nbsp;Michael Fowler. Younger was known to Fowler as Jenna.&nbsp;The court ruling outlines an elaborate story she told police about how a competing carnival owner with mafia ties instructed her and others to kill the Carpenters and dispose of their bodies in Arkansas.&nbsp;Fellow employees Rusty Frasier and Christine Tenney were given instructions by Younger to help Fowler with the killing.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://kscourts.gov/KSCourts/media/KsCourts/Opinions/124601.pdf?ext=.pdf" target="_blank">According to the Kansas Supreme Court ruling</a>, in July 2018, Younger asked Alfred Carpenter out of the camper to talk about buying his&nbsp;business as he and Pauline Carpenter were preparing to retire. The plan was for&nbsp;Fowler to then slit his throat. Carpenter fought back, and Frasier rushed in and stabbed him. Then, Fowler shot Alfred Carpenter and entered the trailer and shot Pauline.&nbsp;The group then drove the trailer with the bodies for more than six hours to Van Buren, Arkansas, and stayed with Fowler’s daughter and son-in-law. They then drove to Ozark National Forest where Fowler’s son-in-law and his other daughter’s boyfriend helped them put the bodies in a ravine and cover them with a mattress, rocks and dirt.&nbsp;During the Van Buren police’s investigation, Younger initially identified herself as Tiffany Jones. When she became “belligerent,” she was arrested and put in the police car where she was recorded without her knowledge and made incriminating statements.&nbsp;At the police station, the gun used to kill the Carpenters was found in her backpack. While she was interviewed, “the others started cooperating with law enforcement almost immediately,” the Supreme Court ruling says.First, Younger denied the murders, but “she eventually told an elaborate version of what had happened, blaming the events on a crime syndicate.” She was charged in December&nbsp;2018.Fowler, Frasier and Tenney all pleaded guilty to various charges and testified against her at trial.&nbsp;At trial in September 2021, Younger claimed another traveling carnival owner, Frank Zaitshik, “ran a criminal enterprise, paid her to transport drugs and guns around the country, and hired bodyguards to shadow Fowler and protect him from a supposed hitman.” She said Zaitshik put the group up to the murders.Zaitshik was called as a witness and allowed —&nbsp;over Younger’s objections — to testify remotely via videoconference because of his concerns about COVID-19. He said that “he had no connections with criminal enterprises, he had no idea who Fowler or Younger …&nbsp;were, he had never directed anyone to commit murders, and he did not have Italian ancestry.”&nbsp;Younger’s counsel claimed the judge’s decision to allow Zaitshik to testify remotely violated her right to confront witnesses, guaranteed by both the U.S. and Kansas constitutions.But the justices cited case law saying the “right to a face-to-face confrontation with an adversarial witness is not absolute and is subject to narrow exceptions when necessary to further important public policies.”The witness’ underlying health issues and concern about contracting COVID-19, the justices said, “suffice to allow an at-risk witness to testify remotely.”&nbsp;Younger’s lawyers also attempted to have her conviction overturned on the grounds that she made incriminating statements before being informed of her right to remain silent and to request counsel.&nbsp;But the court found Younger had made incriminating statements voluntarily while in the back of the police car. They found that despite requesting counsel at the police station, she voluntarily re-initiated an interrogation with police, who had stopped questioning her while they waited for an attorney.&nbsp;“She repeatedly said she wanted to talk,” the ruling says. “She even showed impatience at delays in the interview when she outright asked whether they even wanted to hear what she had to say. There is little indication of coercive conduct by the police.”&nbsp;Younger’s attorneys also sought, unsuccessfully, to suppress evidence found in Younger’s backpack, which she gave written consent for police to search.&nbsp;While the Kansas Supreme Court upheld Younger’s convictions, it overturned portions of the restitution she was ordered to pay, finding that the court didn’t have enough evidence to justify the claim. It remanded the restitution issue back to the trial court for correction.

Kan. court upholds woman’s conviction in 2018 county fair murders

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Authorities investigating a fatal house fire on Sunday in Topeka have determined the cause of this fire was intentionally set,&nbsp;according to Topeka Fire Department spokesperson Rosie Nichols.&nbsp; The incident is being investigated as a homicide.

 Just after 6p.m. Sunday, crews from the Topeka Fire Department&nbsp; responded to a reported house fire at 1640 SW Buchanan Street.

Firs responders found heavy smoke and flames coming from the two-story residence. Firefighters performed a search and found an individual on the second floor of the residence who was later pronounced deceased. 

Crews extinguished the fire. Investigators have not released name of the victim.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728296520340.png" alt="Photo courtesy WIBW TV" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy WIBW TV</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Authorities investigating a fatal house fire on Sunday in Topeka have determined the cause of this fire was intentionally set,&nbsp;according to Topeka Fire Department spokesperson Rosie Nichols.&nbsp; The incident is being investigated as a homicide. Just after 6p.m. Sunday, crews from the Topeka Fire Department&nbsp; responded to a reported house fire at 1640 SW Buchanan Street.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728296248154.png" alt="Photo courtesy WIBW TV" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy WIBW TV</figcaption>
 </figure>Firs responders found heavy smoke and flames coming from the two-story residence. Firefighters performed a search and found an individual on the second floor of the residence who was later pronounced deceased. Crews extinguished the fire. Investigators have not released name of the victim.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Homicide: Deadly Kan. house fire was intentionally set

One year after former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody resigned, he returns to town for his own criminal case

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/akaminski/">ANNA KAMINSKI</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sherman-smith/">SHERMAN SMITH</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

MARION — Former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody returned Monday to the town where he&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/08/11/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-marion-county-newspaper-seizing-computers-records-and-cellphones/">raided a newspaper</a>&nbsp;to face a dozen journalists along with a felony charge for his actions after the raid.

Cody&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/08/12/police-defend-raid-on-kansas-newspaper-amid-backlash-over-brazen-violation-of-press-freedom/">led police</a>&nbsp;in the Aug. 11, 2023, raid on the Marion County Record, the editor’s home and a councilwoman’s home under the false pretense that a newspaper reporter had committed identity theft by looking up restaurateur Kari Newell’s driving record. Special prosecutors charged Cody with one count of interference with the judicial process, a low-level felony, for asking Newell after the raid to&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/08/20/marion-woman-told-investigators-she-deleted-texts-with-police-chief-to-avoid-rumor-of-affair/">delete text messages</a>&nbsp;between the two. Cody told her he was concerned their relationship would be misinterpreted, according to court documents.

<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/08/05/one-year-after-chilling-police-raid-on-kansas-newspaper-aftershocks-linger-in-marion/">One year later</a>, Cody is party to five federal civil lawsuits in addition to the criminal case.

Monday’s hearing, which lasted less than 10 minutes, was Cody’s first public appearance in the town since he resigned as police chief amid intense scrutiny in October 2023. In a courtroom with an audience mostly of reporters, Cody was straight-faced and silent.

District Judge Ryan Rosauer rejected Cody’s motion to dismiss the charge for lack of probable cause.

Rosauer, prosecutors and Cody’s defense agreed that Cody won’t be required to appear in court for minor hearings and case proceedings, including the case’s next scheduled hearing on Dec. 16. Court filings show Cody is believed to be living in Hawaii.

Cody and Sal Intagliata, a Wichita attorney who is defending Cody, declined to answer reporters’ questions as they left the courthouse. Intagliata said the “full story” would come out as the case is litigated in court. Cody didn’t speak.

Intagliata, as he ushered Cody into a car, told reporters: “If I have any comment at all on behalf of Mr. Cody, it would be this: that the people of Marion County, really the most important people involved in this situation, take a minute to reserve judgment, take a moment to, like, avoid jumping to conclusions, and allow the system to work.”

Cody won’t be required to pay a cash bond. Instead, Rosauer ordered a $5,000 personal recognizance bond, which Cody only will have to pay if he fails to show up to court when required.

If convicted, Cody would face presumed probation.

Following the hearing, Marion County Record editor and publisher Eric Meyer answered questions from a dozen reporters who gathered outside the newspaper office across the street from the courthouse. They asked him to respond to Intagliata.

“We can take a delay of the justice system, as long as the delay actually results in proper assessment of things,” Meyer said. “We’re not in a hurry. He should have plenty of time to think about what he did.”

Meyer said Cody shouldn’t be the only one who is charged with a crime. Others, Meyer said, should have intervened — including other police officers, the sheriff, the county attorney, and the magistrate who signed the search warrants.

“Somewhere the system failed,” Meyer said. “These are the people who are supposed to protect our rights. They didn’t do it. That’s why I hate to see Gideon Cody be the fall guy for all this. Yes, he deserves a great deal of credit or blame for what went on in here, but there are others who were well aware of it.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728384281817.png" alt=" Former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody on Oct. 7, 2024, enters the Marion County Courthouse for his first appearance in a low-level felony case. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> Former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody on Oct. 7, 2024, enters the Marion County Courthouse for his first appearance in a low-level felony case. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>One year after former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody resigned, he returns to town for his own criminal case</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/akaminski/">ANNA KAMINSKI</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sherman-smith/">SHERMAN SMITH</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>MARION — Former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody returned Monday to the town where he&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/08/11/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-marion-county-newspaper-seizing-computers-records-and-cellphones/">raided a newspaper</a>&nbsp;to face a dozen journalists along with a felony charge for his actions after the raid.Cody&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/08/12/police-defend-raid-on-kansas-newspaper-amid-backlash-over-brazen-violation-of-press-freedom/">led police</a>&nbsp;in the Aug. 11, 2023, raid on the Marion County Record, the editor’s home and a councilwoman’s home under the false pretense that a newspaper reporter had committed identity theft by looking up restaurateur Kari Newell’s driving record. Special prosecutors charged Cody with one count of interference with the judicial process, a low-level felony, for asking Newell after the raid to&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/08/20/marion-woman-told-investigators-she-deleted-texts-with-police-chief-to-avoid-rumor-of-affair/">delete text messages</a>&nbsp;between the two. Cody told her he was concerned their relationship would be misinterpreted, according to court documents.<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/08/05/one-year-after-chilling-police-raid-on-kansas-newspaper-aftershocks-linger-in-marion/">One year later</a>, Cody is party to five federal civil lawsuits in addition to the criminal case.Monday’s hearing, which lasted less than 10 minutes, was Cody’s first public appearance in the town since he resigned as police chief amid intense scrutiny in October 2023. In a courtroom with an audience mostly of reporters, Cody was straight-faced and silent.District Judge Ryan Rosauer rejected Cody’s motion to dismiss the charge for lack of probable cause.Rosauer, prosecutors and Cody’s defense agreed that Cody won’t be required to appear in court for minor hearings and case proceedings, including the case’s next scheduled hearing on Dec. 16. Court filings show Cody is believed to be living in Hawaii.Cody and Sal Intagliata, a Wichita attorney who is defending Cody, declined to answer reporters’ questions as they left the courthouse. Intagliata said the “full story” would come out as the case is litigated in court. Cody didn’t speak.Intagliata, as he ushered Cody into a car, told reporters: “If I have any comment at all on behalf of Mr. Cody, it would be this: that the people of Marion County, really the most important people involved in this situation, take a minute to reserve judgment, take a moment to, like, avoid jumping to conclusions, and allow the system to work.”Cody won’t be required to pay a cash bond. Instead, Rosauer ordered a $5,000 personal recognizance bond, which Cody only will have to pay if he fails to show up to court when required.If convicted, Cody would face presumed probation.Following the hearing, Marion County Record editor and publisher Eric Meyer answered questions from a dozen reporters who gathered outside the newspaper office across the street from the courthouse. They asked him to respond to Intagliata.“We can take a delay of the justice system, as long as the delay actually results in proper assessment of things,” Meyer said. “We’re not in a hurry. He should have plenty of time to think about what he did.”Meyer said Cody shouldn’t be the only one who is charged with a crime. Others, Meyer said, should have intervened — including other police officers, the sheriff, the county attorney, and the magistrate who signed the search warrants.“Somewhere the system failed,” Meyer said. “These are the people who are supposed to protect our rights. They didn’t do it. That’s why I hate to see Gideon Cody be the fall guy for all this. Yes, he deserves a great deal of credit or blame for what went on in here, but there are others who were well aware of it.”

Former police chief, who raided Kansas newspaper, returns to face criminal charge

Washington, D.C.&nbsp;– U.S. Senator Roger&nbsp;Marshall, joined Senator James Lankford (R-OK) in a letter to President Joe Biden calling out the Administration’s reliance on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to address the border crisis which has diminished FEMA’s readiness for disaster relief, including hurricane response, according to a media release from Marshall's office.

“Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated: ‘We are expecting another hurricane hitting—we do not have the funds, FEMA does not have the funds, to make it through the season.’…Your Administration has spent over $650 million on FEMA’s border-related programs in FY2024. Since taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration has spent around $1.5 billion on FEMA’s border-related programs. We are concerned that your Administration’s reliance on FEMA to address the ongoing border crisis, under Vice President Harris as ‘border czar,’ has diminished FEMA’s readiness for disaster relief, including hurricane response,”&nbsp;the Senators wrote in the letter.&nbsp;

“FEMA’s continued entanglement in DHS’s efforts to respond to the border crisis could impact its readiness and emergency response mission. Rather than ensuring FEMA is ready to respond to hurricanes and other emergencies, FEMA has been pulled into a border crisis mission. FEMA’s mission is ‘helping people before, during, and after disasters,’ not helping DHS clean up the impact of your Administration’s reckless border policies. We are very concerned that FEMA’s role at the border has impacted its readiness and preparation efforts for Hurricane Helene and its response efforts,”&nbsp;the Senators continued.&nbsp;

We write today to raise our concerns on the impact of the ongoing border crisis on Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) readiness. Yesterday, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated: “We are expecting another hurricane hitting—we do not have the funds, FEMA does not have the funds, to make it through the season.” Similarly, you indicated this week that you are considering requesting that Congress convene a special session to consider supplemental funding for FEMA. Congress has appropriated over $30 billion to FEMA for FY2024. Your Administration has spent over $650 million on FEMA’s border-related programs in FY2024. Since taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration has spent around $1.5 billion on FEMA’s border-related programs. We are concerned that your Administration’s reliance on FEMA to address the ongoing border crisis, under Vice President Harris as “border czar,” has diminished FEMA’s readiness for disaster relief, including hurricane response.

On the first day of the Biden-Harris Administration, you took decisive action to open the border and invite the chaos we have seen over the past 3.5 years. You ended Remain in Mexico, stopped deporting illegal immigrants, and terminated border wall construction. Over 8.4 million migrants have been encountered since you took those actions to open the border. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) set multiple records for the most encounters in a single day and in a single month during your Administration. We have repeatedly asked you, your Cabinet, and officials across the Federal government what the plan is for addressing this historic border crisis. By March 2021, FEMA was already mobilized to address the surge of unaccompanied minors after your Administration exempted them from the Title 42 order. As your Administration began planning for the end of the Title 42 order, we learned that you had placed a senior FEMA official as the senior coordinating official for your response to impending surge.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Since the end of the Title 42 order, FEMA has continued to play a role in addressing the ongoing border crisis through the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) and through the Shelter and Services Program (SSP). These programs have supported the US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) “Plan for Southwest Border Security and Preparedness,” which calls for FEMA to “bolster[…] the capacity of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to receive noncitizens after they have been processed by CBP and are awaiting the results of their immigration removal proceedings. And ... coordination with and support for state, local, and community leaders to help mitigate increased impacts to their communities.” Oversight from the DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that some illegal aliens who were ineligible for EFSP and SSP funding ended up receiving benefits funded by these programs. All told, FEMA has received $1.7 billion for its southern border response efforts. Emblematic of this Administration’s approach, one FEMA official informed my Subcommittee staff during a site visit that the Biden-Harris border crisis is like a hurricane: “FEMA can buy its way out of the border crisis if Congress allocates it enough money.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Each year under your Administration, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and DHS have regularly requested that Congress cut detention beds and funding for border enforcement measures. Those same budget requests asked Congress to continue funding FEMA’s border-related work. FEMA’s efforts responding to the border crisis could have been much more limited if your Administration would have instead used your authorities to secure the border.&nbsp;

FEMA’s continued entanglement in DHS’s efforts to respond to the border crisis could impact its readiness and emergency response mission. Rather than ensuring FEMA is ready to respond to hurricanes and other emergencies, FEMA has been pulled into a border crisis mission. FEMA’s mission is “helping people before, during, and after disasters,” not helping DHS clean up the impact of your Administration’s reckless border policies. We are very concerned that FEMA’s role at the border has impacted its readiness and preparation efforts for Hurricane Helene and its response efforts. To better understand the impact of FEMA’s border efforts on its hurricane response mission, we ask the following questions:&nbsp;

1. &nbsp; &nbsp; Since January 20, 2021, how many FEMA full-time employees (FTEs) have been detailed or transferred to border-related mission duties? How many FEMA FTEs have joined a border-related volunteer force or related opportunity from DHS?&nbsp;

2. &nbsp; &nbsp; Since January 20, 2021, how much money has FEMA reprogrammed to support its border-related mission duties? Please share a copy of each border-related reprogramming request.&nbsp;

3. &nbsp; &nbsp; Has the Administration conducted any strategic planning or assessment on the impact of FEMA’s engagement at the southern border? If so, please share a copy of such strategic plan or assessment. If not, why not?&nbsp;

4. &nbsp; &nbsp; The DHS OIG found that FEMA funds related to southern border programs have gone to ineligible illegal aliens. What is FEMA’s plan for recovering those funds?

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to receiving your response by not later than October 18, 2024.

Washington, D.C.&nbsp;– U.S. Senator Roger&nbsp;Marshall, joined Senator James Lankford (R-OK) in a letter to President Joe Biden calling out the Administration’s reliance on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to address the border crisis which has diminished FEMA’s readiness for disaster relief, including hurricane response, according to a media release from Marshall's office.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728335149953.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>“Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated: ‘We are expecting another hurricane hitting—we do not have the funds, FEMA does not have the funds, to make it through the season.’…Your Administration has spent over $650 million on FEMA’s border-related programs in FY2024. Since taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration has spent around $1.5 billion on FEMA’s border-related programs. We are concerned that your Administration’s reliance on FEMA to address the ongoing border crisis, under Vice President Harris as ‘border czar,’ has diminished FEMA’s readiness for disaster relief, including hurricane response,”&nbsp;the Senators wrote in the letter.&nbsp;“FEMA’s continued entanglement in DHS’s efforts to respond to the border crisis could impact its readiness and emergency response mission. Rather than ensuring FEMA is ready to respond to hurricanes and other emergencies, FEMA has been pulled into a border crisis mission. FEMA’s mission is ‘helping people before, during, and after disasters,’ not helping DHS clean up the impact of your Administration’s reckless border policies. We are very concerned that FEMA’s role at the border has impacted its readiness and preparation efforts for Hurricane Helene and its response efforts,”&nbsp;the Senators continued.&nbsp;Read the entire letter belowDear President Biden:We write today to raise our concerns on the impact of the ongoing border crisis on Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) readiness. Yesterday, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated: “We are expecting another hurricane hitting—we do not have the funds, FEMA does not have the funds, to make it through the season.” Similarly, you indicated this week that you are considering requesting that Congress convene a special session to consider supplemental funding for FEMA. Congress has appropriated over $30 billion to FEMA for FY2024. Your Administration has spent over $650 million on FEMA’s border-related programs in FY2024. Since taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration has spent around $1.5 billion on FEMA’s border-related programs. We are concerned that your Administration’s reliance on FEMA to address the ongoing border crisis, under Vice President Harris as “border czar,” has diminished FEMA’s readiness for disaster relief, including hurricane response.On the first day of the Biden-Harris Administration, you took decisive action to open the border and invite the chaos we have seen over the past 3.5 years. You ended Remain in Mexico, stopped deporting illegal immigrants, and terminated border wall construction. Over 8.4 million migrants have been encountered since you took those actions to open the border. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) set multiple records for the most encounters in a single day and in a single month during your Administration. We have repeatedly asked you, your Cabinet, and officials across the Federal government what the plan is for addressing this historic border crisis. By March 2021, FEMA was already mobilized to address the surge of unaccompanied minors after your Administration exempted them from the Title 42 order. As your Administration began planning for the end of the Title 42 order, we learned that you had placed a senior FEMA official as the senior coordinating official for your response to impending surge.&nbsp;&nbsp;Since the end of the Title 42 order, FEMA has continued to play a role in addressing the ongoing border crisis through the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) and through the Shelter and Services Program (SSP). These programs have supported the US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) “Plan for Southwest Border Security and Preparedness,” which calls for FEMA to “bolster[…] the capacity of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to receive noncitizens after they have been processed by CBP and are awaiting the results of their immigration removal proceedings. And ... coordination with and support for state, local, and community leaders to help mitigate increased impacts to their communities.” Oversight from the DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that some illegal aliens who were ineligible for EFSP and SSP funding ended up receiving benefits funded by these programs. All told, FEMA has received $1.7 billion for its southern border response efforts. Emblematic of this Administration’s approach, one FEMA official informed my Subcommittee staff during a site visit that the Biden-Harris border crisis is like a hurricane: “FEMA can buy its way out of the border crisis if Congress allocates it enough money.”&nbsp;&nbsp;Each year under your Administration, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and DHS have regularly requested that Congress cut detention beds and funding for border enforcement measures. Those same budget requests asked Congress to continue funding FEMA’s border-related work. FEMA’s efforts responding to the border crisis could have been much more limited if your Administration would have instead used your authorities to secure the border.&nbsp;FEMA’s continued entanglement in DHS’s efforts to respond to the border crisis could impact its readiness and emergency response mission. Rather than ensuring FEMA is ready to respond to hurricanes and other emergencies, FEMA has been pulled into a border crisis mission. FEMA’s mission is “helping people before, during, and after disasters,” not helping DHS clean up the impact of your Administration’s reckless border policies. We are very concerned that FEMA’s role at the border has impacted its readiness and preparation efforts for Hurricane Helene and its response efforts. To better understand the impact of FEMA’s border efforts on its hurricane response mission, we ask the following questions:&nbsp;1. &nbsp; &nbsp; Since January 20, 2021, how many FEMA full-time employees (FTEs) have been detailed or transferred to border-related mission duties? How many FEMA FTEs have joined a border-related volunteer force or related opportunity from DHS?&nbsp;2. &nbsp; &nbsp; Since January 20, 2021, how much money has FEMA reprogrammed to support its border-related mission duties? Please share a copy of each border-related reprogramming request.&nbsp;3. &nbsp; &nbsp; Has the Administration conducted any strategic planning or assessment on the impact of FEMA’s engagement at the southern border? If so, please share a copy of such strategic plan or assessment. If not, why not?&nbsp;4. &nbsp; &nbsp; The DHS OIG found that FEMA funds related to southern border programs have gone to ineligible illegal aliens. What is FEMA’s plan for recovering those funds?Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to receiving your response by not later than October 18, 2024.

Kan. U.S. Senator slams Biden for using disaster relief funds for migrant shelters

WYANDOTTE COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating a fatal weekend shooting have identified the victim as 35-year-old Terry D. Moore of Kansas City, Kansas.

Just after 1a.m. Saturday police responded to report of a shooting in the 500 Block of Barnett Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, according to a media release.

First responders found Moore on the road with apparent gunshot wounds.&nbsp; He was pronounced dead at the scene.&nbsp; Police have not reported an arrest or suspect details.

WYANDOTTE COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating a fatal weekend shooting have identified the victim as 35-year-old Terry D. Moore of Kansas City, Kansas.Just after 1a.m. Saturday police responded to report of a shooting in the 500 Block of Barnett Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, according to a media release.First responders found Moore on the road with apparent gunshot wounds.&nbsp; He was pronounced dead at the scene.&nbsp; Police have not reported an arrest or suspect details.

Police ID man who died in Kansas shooting

TOPEKA&nbsp;– Governor Laura Kelly announced Monday that the Kansas Division of Emergency Management received another Emergency Management Assistance Compact request from Florida for a swift water search and rescue task force in preparation for Hurricane Milton’s arrival, according to a media release from Kelly's office.

Working with the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Kansas Task Force 2 was deployed Sunday night to Florida.

“Kansas is once again sending assistance to Florida due to another large and powerful hurricane landing this week in the Gulf Coast,”&nbsp;Governor Laura Kelly said.&nbsp;“We’re committed to mobilizing resources and personnel to provide immediate support to those affected by Hurricane Milton.”

“The personnel responding to Florida to assist with Hurricane Milton have trained for this kind of disaster response,”&nbsp;Mark Engholm, Kansas Fire Marshal, said. “They are committed to providing professional search and rescue support to those in need. Kansas can be proud of our men and women who have chosen to deploy.”

Kansas Task Force 2 consists of personnel from the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Chanute Fire Department, Cherryvale Fire-Rescue, Johnson County Med-Act, Manhattan Fire Department, Neodesha Fire Department, Salina Fire Department, Shawnee Kansas Fire Department, and Wichita Fire Department.

Their objectives will be to search for and rescue individuals, provide basic life support medical care, transport humans and animals to the nearest location for secondary air or land transport, provide shore-based and boat-based water rescue, provide animal rescues, and support helicopter and urban search and rescue in water environments.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728334485679.png" alt="Image National Weather Service" />
 <figcaption>Image National Weather Service</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA&nbsp;– Governor Laura Kelly announced Monday that the Kansas Division of Emergency Management received another Emergency Management Assistance Compact request from Florida for a swift water search and rescue task force in preparation for Hurricane Milton’s arrival, according to a media release from Kelly's office.Working with the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Kansas Task Force 2 was deployed Sunday night to Florida.“Kansas is once again sending assistance to Florida due to another large and powerful hurricane landing this week in the Gulf Coast,”&nbsp;Governor Laura Kelly said.&nbsp;“We’re committed to mobilizing resources and personnel to provide immediate support to those affected by Hurricane Milton.”“The personnel responding to Florida to assist with Hurricane Milton have trained for this kind of disaster response,”&nbsp;Mark Engholm, Kansas Fire Marshal, said. “They are committed to providing professional search and rescue support to those in need. Kansas can be proud of our men and women who have chosen to deploy.”Kansas Task Force 2 consists of personnel from the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Chanute Fire Department, Cherryvale Fire-Rescue, Johnson County Med-Act, Manhattan Fire Department, Neodesha Fire Department, Salina Fire Department, Shawnee Kansas Fire Department, and Wichita Fire Department.Their objectives will be to search for and rescue individuals, provide basic life support medical care, transport humans and animals to the nearest location for secondary air or land transport, provide shore-based and boat-based water rescue, provide animal rescues, and support helicopter and urban search and rescue in water environments.

Kansas sending 2nd swift water search, rescue task force to Florida 

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Mega Millions, the lottery game that has produced a record six jackpot wins exceeding $1 billion, is getting ready for a “mega” overhaul with plans to be bigger and better than ever when the new and improved game launches in April 2025, according to a media lease. 

Among the enhancements, players will benefit from:

“We are creating a game that both our existing players and people new to Mega Millions will love and get excited about playing,” said Joshua Johnston, Lead Director of the Mega Millions Consortium. “We expect more billion-dollar jackpots than ever before, meaning creating more billionaires and many more millionaires as the jackpots climb, plus this game will continue the important legacy of supporting great causes everywhere Mega Millions is played.

”When the new and improved game launches next April, tickets will cost $5 per play. This is only the game’s second price adjustment since the first ticket was sold more than 20 years ago and the first change since the current game matrix was adopted in 2017.Since Mega Millions launched in 2002, it has produced six winners of billion-dollar jackpots. Since the last change in 2017 more than 1,200 players have become millionaires, an average of 3 millionaires per week.Mega Millions is a national game with tickets sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are conducted at 11 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays and Fridays in Atlanta, Georgia. Lottery profits support a wide variety of good causes and are allocated differently in each jurisdiction.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/5/1620755777014.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>OLYMPIA, Wash. - Mega Millions, the lottery game that has produced a record six jackpot wins exceeding $1 billion, is getting ready for a “mega” overhaul with plans to be bigger and better than ever when the new and improved game launches in April 2025, according to a media lease. Among the enhancements, players will benefit from:<ul>
 <li>Improved odds to win the jackpot</li><li>Bigger jackpots more frequently</li><li>Larger starting jackpots</li><li>Faster growing jackpots</li><li>A built-in multiplier on every play, automatically improving every non-jackpot win by 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X or 10X – up to $10 million for matching the five white balls</li><li>No breakeven prizes, meaning when a player wins, they’ll always win more than the cost of the ticket</li>
 </ul>“We are creating a game that both our existing players and people new to Mega Millions will love and get excited about playing,” said Joshua Johnston, Lead Director of the Mega Millions Consortium. “We expect more billion-dollar jackpots than ever before, meaning creating more billionaires and many more millionaires as the jackpots climb, plus this game will continue the important legacy of supporting great causes everywhere Mega Millions is played.”When the new and improved game launches next April, tickets will cost $5 per play. This is only the game’s second price adjustment since the first ticket was sold more than 20 years ago and the first change since the current game matrix was adopted in 2017.Since Mega Millions launched in 2002, it has produced six winners of billion-dollar jackpots. Since the last change in 2017 more than 1,200 players have become millionaires, an average of 3 millionaires per week.Mega Millions is a national game with tickets sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are conducted at 11 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays and Fridays in Atlanta, Georgia. Lottery profits support a wide variety of good causes and are allocated differently in each jurisdiction.

Price to purchase a Mega Millions ticket is going up

Richard Muma copied more than 50 passages from sources without full attribution

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/tim-carpenter/">TIM CARPENTER</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

WICHITA — Wichita State University president Richard Muma failed to give proper credit to more than 20 authors after copying their writing in his doctoral dissertation.

<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/10/07/read-the-evidence-examples-of-copied-material-in-wichita-state-university-presidents-dissertation/">Click here to view </a>some of the evidence

Muma, president of the university since 2020, runs afoul of academic standards and university policies by including extensive amounts of inadequately attributed material into his 2004 dissertation, according to academic professionals who reviewed Muma’s work.

A Kansas Reflector comparison of Muma’s 88-page dissertation with earlier scholarly work uncovered improperly ascribed phrases, sentences and paragraphs. In some cases, text copied from books and journals comprised the majority of entire pages in Muma’s dissertation.

Ten faculty at public and private colleges and universities said in interviews Muma’s dissertation amounted to plagiarism. None embraced Muma’s view that his dissertation adhered to academic publication standards.

Steven Mintz, a history professor at University of Texas-Austin who has authored or edited 15 books and found plagiarism of his own writing in international publications, said Muma’s dissertation would give the university a “black eye.”

“It is a form of theft. In my department, if I let a dissertation get to that stage, well, a student would be expelled, but I would be ostracized,” Mintz said.

Muma denied he plagiarized his dissertation through Wichita State spokeswoman Lainie Mazzullo-Hart, who said allegations of academic misconduct, especially assertions of plagiarism, were a serious matter.

Despite repeated requests via phone and email over five weeks, WSU declined to make Muma available for an interview.

“What I can share with you is that Dr. Muma vehemently denies any accusation of plagiarism and maintains that the research, analysis and conclusions in his dissertation were entirely original, and all referenced material were properly cited in accordance with academic standards,” Mazzullo-Hart said.

Muma’s dissertation, “<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Muma_Dissertation.pdf">Use of Mintzberg’s Model of Managerial Roles as a Framework to Describe a Population of Academic Health Profession Administrators</a>,” relied on parentheses — in the form of (Bennett, 1983) — to cite sources. He also included reference materials in a bibliography.

But Muma’s research paper lacked routine techniques for attributing other authors’ work. Typically, attribution is made through single or double quotation marks, italics or indentation of margins on the page.

Muma was a tenured professor and department chair at the time he submitted the dissertation on physician assistant education programs to a faculty review panel at University of Missouri-St. Louis. The project earned him a doctorate in higher education. With that credential, Muma advanced through the hierarchy at WSU from department chairman to vice president, provost and president.

Misappropriated text started with the first sentence in his dissertation: It was a mirror image to the opening of the 1983 book “Managing the Academic Department” by John Bennett, who earned a doctorate at Yale University, served as a college provost and authored more than 100 articles and six books.

“Important? Definitely. Overworked? Probably. Prepared for the job? Rarely. This is the typical academic department chairperson,” Bennett wrote.

Muma copied the sequence word for word, but didn’t place quotation marks around the text to show readers the prose was created by someone else. Muma replicated that pattern dozens of times in his dissertation.

Of 255 words on the first page of Muma’s dissertation, more than 150 were copied from published work by Bennett and two other scholars, Kathleen Stassen Berger and Allan Tucker.

In a lengthy passage on Page 22, Muma deleted quote marks from borrowed text, keeping the reader in the dark that there was an original author. On Page 24 of the dissertation, three-fourths of 284 words were copied from other scholarly writing and pasted into the dissertation. All but a handful of 230 words on Page 29 were drawn verbatim from previously published academic work.

In 2002, for example, Berger wrote an academic article on “Inevitable Conflicts of a Department Chair.” Her distinctive opening lines: “Too much to do, too little time. Deadlines ignored; demands not met; requests trashed. Students, faculty, staff, and administrators queue up with phone messages, mailbox memos, emails and knocks on my door.”

Muma’s casting two years later echoed Berger: “It seems that academic department chairs have too much to do and no time to do it. Frequently they ignore deadlines, have demands that are not met, and requests are not answered.” That was followed by verbatim text: “Students, faculty, staff, and administrators queue up with phone messages, mailbox memos, emails, and knocks at the door.”

Higher education institutions most often describe this type of academic misconduct as seizing work of others without full credit. Plagiarism could result from insufficiently paraphrasing research and writing performed by others or by inadequately citing thoughts of others. Lesser infractions might occur because of carelessness in conducting research or lack of familiarity with U.S. standards for academic writing.

The American Association of University Professors’ statement on plagiarism, adopted nearly 35 years ago, says those who claimed words, ideas or methods of others with the intent of being credited for that work committed “theft of a special kind.” AAUP said plagiarism was the antithesis of “honest labor that characterizes true scholarship.”

Concern about plagiarism among college students escalated in recent years along with access to generative artificial intelligence capable of completing academic assignments. Sophisticated software has been deployed at universities to test students’ work for plagiarism. AI cross-check resources weren’t a prominent feature of higher education when Muma was in graduate school and completed his dissertation.

Anxiety about academic dishonesty has infiltrated U.S. faculty ranks, including Harvard University where the university’s president resigned, in part, over allegations of plagiarism.

Other recent faculty cases of alleged plagiarism have emerged at Columbia University, University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Washington.

In five chapters of Muma’s dissertation, which included findings of an opinion survey of health educators and professionals, Kansas Reflector identified approximately 55 passages of inadequately attributed material.

“That’s a problem in my eyes,” said Jonathan Bailey, founder of Plagiarism Today and a copyright and plagiarism consultant in New Orleans. “When you copy and paste wholesale like that, you’re not proving you have the knowledge and understanding. This person did a shortcut.”

U.S. colleges and universities discipline students, including dismissal, for violating policies requiring they avoid plagiarism by distinguishing their original expression from information drawn from other sources. Plagiarism is considered an especially grave error when perpetrated by graduate students or faculty members expected to be well-versed in scholarly writing.

Individuals engaged in higher education research, teaching or administration told Kansas Reflector the insufficient attribution in Muma’s dissertation reached the level of plagiarism.

Tim Hill, professor of political science at Doane University in Nebraska and recipient of a 2003 doctorate from Ohio State University, said his review led to an undeniable conclusion.

“The standard of the profession says this counts as plagiarism,” Hill said. “I keep thinking (of) being a faculty member at that institution when this breaks. How do you walk into the classroom and say academic honesty is important? From the perspective of the audience, he’s lying to them. It harms everyone involved.”

The&nbsp;<a href="https://academicintegrity.org/events-conferences/idoa-international-day-of-action-for-academic-integrity" target="_blank">International Day of Action for Academic Integrity</a>&nbsp;will be Oct. 16. Wichita State scheduled events during the month to emphasize academic integrity as the responsibility of all faculty, staff and students.

Kansas Rep. Kirk Haskins, a Topeka Democrat who earned a doctorate in higher education at the University of Kansas and a master’s degree at WSU, said he was trained to include quotation marks and other attribution when making use of scholarship from other people.

Haskins, who serves as chairman of graduate-level programs at Baker University in Baldwin City, said taking material without sufficient attribution could suggest an individual didn’t understand dissertation writing practices. Or, he said, it could demonstrate what a person thought he or she could get away with while producing a capstone educational achievement.

“(Muma) has done a commendable job in his time as president,” Haskins said. “However, I find these issues should be taken seriously because it pulls threads of higher ed’s academic integrity.”

Kansas Reflector also interviewed college and university educators without identifying Muma, his job title or employer. These interview subjects were informed of the breadth of attribution issues and that the author was awarded a doctorate, remained a faculty member and was employed as an administrator.

Kansas Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Louisburg Republican who taught at Johnson County Community College and is now an associate vice president at Pittsburg State University, serves as chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee.

“Every step of the way, it’s a matter of ‘show us your work,’ ” said Baumgardner, who holds a master’s degree. “This notion of appropriation of someone else’s work is critical. A reputation is what can make or break an institution. Anytime someone dishonestly advances, it leaves another in the dust.”

At Wichita State, students found to have violated plagiarism policy could fail a class or receive a warning, probation, suspension or expulsion.

WSU requires faculty to “practice intellectual honesty.” The statement says faculty have a duty to “acknowledge their academic debts.”

“As members of their institution,” the policy manual says, “faculty members seek above all to be effective teachers and scholars.”

Policies regarding research misconduct at WSU, adopted in 1997 and last revised in 2017, cover “fabrication, falsification, plagiarism or other practices that seriously deviate from those that are commonly accepted within the scientific community.”

The Kansas Board of Regents policy manual is silent on faculty plagiarism, said Matt Keith, spokesman for the board. The Board of Regents has responsibility for hiring presidents and chancellors at the state’s six public universities.

Muma was named acting president in September 2020 by the Board of Regents simultaneous to the departure of WSU president Jay Golden. The state board formally appointed him the 15th president of WSU in May 2021.

WSU made Muma its first gay president and Muma was the first physician assistant in the country to rise through the ranks to become a university president.

Muma, in his fourth year as WSU president, received a 4% raise in July to increase his annual salary to $520,000.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728303448862.png" alt=" Wichita State University President Richard Muma earned a doctorate in 2004 from University of Missouri-St. Louis with a dissertation that includes dozens of passages from more than 20 scholars without quotation marks to properly cite original authors. Academics interviewed by Kansas Reflector say Muma’s dissertation includes plagiarism. (Thad Allton for Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> Wichita State University President Richard Muma earned a doctorate in 2004 from University of Missouri-St. Louis with a dissertation that includes dozens of passages from more than 20 scholars without quotation marks to properly cite original authors. Academics interviewed by Kansas Reflector say Muma’s dissertation includes plagiarism. (Thad Allton for Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Richard Muma copied more than 50 passages from sources without full attribution</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/tim-carpenter/">TIM CARPENTER</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>WICHITA — Wichita State University president Richard Muma failed to give proper credit to more than 20 authors after copying their writing in his doctoral dissertation.<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/10/07/read-the-evidence-examples-of-copied-material-in-wichita-state-university-presidents-dissertation/">Click here to view </a>some of the evidenceMuma, president of the university since 2020, runs afoul of academic standards and university policies by including extensive amounts of inadequately attributed material into his 2004 dissertation, according to academic professionals who reviewed Muma’s work.A Kansas Reflector comparison of Muma’s 88-page dissertation with earlier scholarly work uncovered improperly ascribed phrases, sentences and paragraphs. In some cases, text copied from books and journals comprised the majority of entire pages in Muma’s dissertation.Ten faculty at public and private colleges and universities said in interviews Muma’s dissertation amounted to plagiarism. None embraced Muma’s view that his dissertation adhered to academic publication standards.Steven Mintz, a history professor at University of Texas-Austin who has authored or edited 15 books and found plagiarism of his own writing in international publications, said Muma’s dissertation would give the university a “black eye.”“It is a form of theft. In my department, if I let a dissertation get to that stage, well, a student would be expelled, but I would be ostracized,” Mintz said.<h2>WSU stands by Muma</h2>Muma denied he plagiarized his dissertation through Wichita State spokeswoman Lainie Mazzullo-Hart, who said allegations of academic misconduct, especially assertions of plagiarism, were a serious matter.Despite repeated requests via phone and email over five weeks, WSU declined to make Muma available for an interview.“What I can share with you is that Dr. Muma vehemently denies any accusation of plagiarism and maintains that the research, analysis and conclusions in his dissertation were entirely original, and all referenced material were properly cited in accordance with academic standards,” Mazzullo-Hart said.Muma’s dissertation, “<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Muma_Dissertation.pdf">Use of Mintzberg’s Model of Managerial Roles as a Framework to Describe a Population of Academic Health Profession Administrators</a>,” relied on parentheses — in the form of (Bennett, 1983) — to cite sources. He also included reference materials in a bibliography.But Muma’s research paper lacked routine techniques for attributing other authors’ work. Typically, attribution is made through single or double quotation marks, italics or indentation of margins on the page.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728303407224.png" alt=" The first sentence of Wichita State University President Richard Muma’s 2004 doctoral dissertation is copied — without quotation marks — from the first sentence of the 1983 book “Managing the Academic Department” by John Bennett, who earned a doctorate at Yale University. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> The first sentence of Wichita State University President Richard Muma’s 2004 doctoral dissertation is copied — without quotation marks — from the first sentence of the 1983 book “Managing the Academic Department” by John Bennett, who earned a doctorate at Yale University. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>A dissertation review</h2>Muma was a tenured professor and department chair at the time he submitted the dissertation on physician assistant education programs to a faculty review panel at University of Missouri-St. Louis. The project earned him a doctorate in higher education. With that credential, Muma advanced through the hierarchy at WSU from department chairman to vice president, provost and president.Misappropriated text started with the first sentence in his dissertation: It was a mirror image to the opening of the 1983 book “Managing the Academic Department” by John Bennett, who earned a doctorate at Yale University, served as a college provost and authored more than 100 articles and six books.“Important? Definitely. Overworked? Probably. Prepared for the job? Rarely. This is the typical academic department chairperson,” Bennett wrote.Muma copied the sequence word for word, but didn’t place quotation marks around the text to show readers the prose was created by someone else. Muma replicated that pattern dozens of times in his dissertation.Of 255 words on the first page of Muma’s dissertation, more than 150 were copied from published work by Bennett and two other scholars, Kathleen Stassen Berger and Allan Tucker.In a lengthy passage on Page 22, Muma deleted quote marks from borrowed text, keeping the reader in the dark that there was an original author. On Page 24 of the dissertation, three-fourths of 284 words were copied from other scholarly writing and pasted into the dissertation. All but a handful of 230 words on Page 29 were drawn verbatim from previously published academic work.In 2002, for example, Berger wrote an academic article on “Inevitable Conflicts of a Department Chair.” Her distinctive opening lines: “Too much to do, too little time. Deadlines ignored; demands not met; requests trashed. Students, faculty, staff, and administrators queue up with phone messages, mailbox memos, emails and knocks on my door.”Muma’s casting two years later echoed Berger: “It seems that academic department chairs have too much to do and no time to do it. Frequently they ignore deadlines, have demands that are not met, and requests are not answered.” That was followed by verbatim text: “Students, faculty, staff, and administrators queue up with phone messages, mailbox memos, emails, and knocks at the door.”<h2>Defining plagiarism</h2>Higher education institutions most often describe this type of academic misconduct as seizing work of others without full credit. Plagiarism could result from insufficiently paraphrasing research and writing performed by others or by inadequately citing thoughts of others. Lesser infractions might occur because of carelessness in conducting research or lack of familiarity with U.S. standards for academic writing.The American Association of University Professors’ statement on plagiarism, adopted nearly 35 years ago, says those who claimed words, ideas or methods of others with the intent of being credited for that work committed “theft of a special kind.” AAUP said plagiarism was the antithesis of “honest labor that characterizes true scholarship.”Concern about plagiarism among college students escalated in recent years along with access to generative artificial intelligence capable of completing academic assignments. Sophisticated software has been deployed at universities to test students’ work for plagiarism. AI cross-check resources weren’t a prominent feature of higher education when Muma was in graduate school and completed his dissertation.Anxiety about academic dishonesty has infiltrated U.S. faculty ranks, including Harvard University where the university’s president resigned, in part, over allegations of plagiarism.Other recent faculty cases of alleged plagiarism have emerged at Columbia University, University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Washington.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728303341893.png" alt=" Wichita State University president Richard Muma inserted phrases, sentences and paragraphs into his doctoral dissertation without proper credit to original authors. Muma declined requests for an interview, but WSU says the 2004 dissertation is “original.” In this image, highlighted phrases denote inadequately attributed material. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> Wichita State University president Richard Muma inserted phrases, sentences and paragraphs into his doctoral dissertation without proper credit to original authors. Muma declined requests for an interview, but WSU says the 2004 dissertation is “original.” In this image, highlighted phrases denote inadequately attributed material. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>A shortcut’</h2>In five chapters of Muma’s dissertation, which included findings of an opinion survey of health educators and professionals, Kansas Reflector identified approximately 55 passages of inadequately attributed material.“That’s a problem in my eyes,” said Jonathan Bailey, founder of Plagiarism Today and a copyright and plagiarism consultant in New Orleans. “When you copy and paste wholesale like that, you’re not proving you have the knowledge and understanding. This person did a shortcut.”U.S. colleges and universities discipline students, including dismissal, for violating policies requiring they avoid plagiarism by distinguishing their original expression from information drawn from other sources. Plagiarism is considered an especially grave error when perpetrated by graduate students or faculty members expected to be well-versed in scholarly writing.Individuals engaged in higher education research, teaching or administration told Kansas Reflector the insufficient attribution in Muma’s dissertation reached the level of plagiarism.Tim Hill, professor of political science at Doane University in Nebraska and recipient of a 2003 doctorate from Ohio State University, said his review led to an undeniable conclusion.“The standard of the profession says this counts as plagiarism,” Hill said. “I keep thinking (of) being a faculty member at that institution when this breaks. How do you walk into the classroom and say academic honesty is important? From the perspective of the audience, he’s lying to them. It harms everyone involved.”The&nbsp;<a href="https://academicintegrity.org/events-conferences/idoa-international-day-of-action-for-academic-integrity" target="_blank">International Day of Action for Academic Integrity</a>&nbsp;will be Oct. 16. Wichita State scheduled events during the month to emphasize academic integrity as the responsibility of all faculty, staff and students.Kansas Rep. Kirk Haskins, a Topeka Democrat who earned a doctorate in higher education at the University of Kansas and a master’s degree at WSU, said he was trained to include quotation marks and other attribution when making use of scholarship from other people.Haskins, who serves as chairman of graduate-level programs at Baker University in Baldwin City, said taking material without sufficient attribution could suggest an individual didn’t understand dissertation writing practices. Or, he said, it could demonstrate what a person thought he or she could get away with while producing a capstone educational achievement.“(Muma) has done a commendable job in his time as president,” Haskins said. “However, I find these issues should be taken seriously because it pulls threads of higher ed’s academic integrity.”Kansas Reflector also interviewed college and university educators without identifying Muma, his job title or employer. These interview subjects were informed of the breadth of attribution issues and that the author was awarded a doctorate, remained a faculty member and was employed as an administrator.Kansas Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Louisburg Republican who taught at Johnson County Community College and is now an associate vice president at Pittsburg State University, serves as chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee.“Every step of the way, it’s a matter of ‘show us your work,’ ” said Baumgardner, who holds a master’s degree. “This notion of appropriation of someone else’s work is critical. A reputation is what can make or break an institution. Anytime someone dishonestly advances, it leaves another in the dust.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728303262352.png" alt="Wichita State University policy on professional ethics says faculty derive obligations from membership in a community of scholars, which includes a duty to “acknowledge their academic debts” to other scholars. In addition, WSU’s definition of research misconduct includes fabrication, falsification and plagiarism. (Thad Allton for Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Wichita State University policy on professional ethics says faculty derive obligations from membership in a community of scholars, which includes a duty to “acknowledge their academic debts” to other scholars. In addition, WSU’s definition of research misconduct includes fabrication, falsification and plagiarism. (Thad Allton for Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>WSU policies</h2>At Wichita State, students found to have violated plagiarism policy could fail a class or receive a warning, probation, suspension or expulsion.WSU requires faculty to “practice intellectual honesty.” The statement says faculty have a duty to “acknowledge their academic debts.”“As members of their institution,” the policy manual says, “faculty members seek above all to be effective teachers and scholars.”Policies regarding research misconduct at WSU, adopted in 1997 and last revised in 2017, cover “fabrication, falsification, plagiarism or other practices that seriously deviate from those that are commonly accepted within the scientific community.”The Kansas Board of Regents policy manual is silent on faculty plagiarism, said Matt Keith, spokesman for the board. The Board of Regents has responsibility for hiring presidents and chancellors at the state’s six public universities.Muma was named acting president in September 2020 by the Board of Regents simultaneous to the departure of WSU president Jay Golden. The state board formally appointed him the 15th president of WSU in May 2021.WSU made Muma its first gay president and Muma was the first physician assistant in the country to rise through the ranks to become a university president.Muma, in his fourth year as WSU president, received a 4% raise in July to increase his annual salary to $520,000.

Wichita State University president’s doctoral dissertation raises concerns of academic misconduct

BARBER COUNTY —The Silver Alert issued August 3, for 73-year-old David Reese remains active, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.&nbsp;

After two months, the Harper Police Department shared that on the morning of Oct. 4, David Reese’s chocolate lab, that had accompanied him when he disappeared, was found in good health. She was returned to his family.  The dog was found not far from the last sighting of Reese near Little Mule and Hardtner Shortcut in Barber County. Police searched over 50 square miles again but still did not locate David or his truck.&nbsp;

David Reese, 73, was reported missing to the Harper Police Department and a silver alert was issued on Aug. 3. He was last seen on Aug. 1, but later a sighting was reported placing him near Little Mule and Hardtner Shortcut in Barber County.

Law enforcement have conducted multiple searches in an effort to find him.

Reese was believed to be driving a white 2017 Chevy Silverado bearing Kansas tag 885 NEW.

He is described as a white male who is 5-feet -11 inches tall and weighs around 250 pounds. He has brown eyes, a white beard, and is balding. He was likely wearing a baseball cap. Reese has diabetes, anxiety, and a condition impairing cognition and memory.

 If you see David Reese or his vehicle, please call 911 immediately. If you have other information about this case, contact the Harper Police Department at (620) 842-3830.If you own property in Barber County, please take the time to thoroughly check your land and immediately report anything out of the ordinary.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728310404447.png" alt="David Reese courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>David Reese courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>BARBER COUNTY —The Silver Alert issued August 3, for 73-year-old David Reese remains active, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.&nbsp;After two months, the Harper Police Department shared that on the morning of Oct. 4, David Reese’s chocolate lab, that had accompanied him when he disappeared, was found in good health. She was returned to his family. The dog was found not far from the last sighting of Reese near Little Mule and Hardtner Shortcut in Barber County. Police searched over 50 square miles again but still did not locate David or his truck.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1722706150273.png" alt="David Reese courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>David Reese courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>David Reese, 73, was reported missing to the Harper Police Department and a silver alert was issued on Aug. 3. He was last seen on Aug. 1, but later a sighting was reported placing him near Little Mule and Hardtner Shortcut in Barber County.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728310557814.png" alt="photo KBI" />
 <figcaption>photo KBI</figcaption>
 </figure>Law enforcement have conducted multiple searches in an effort to find him.Reese was believed to be driving a white 2017 Chevy Silverado bearing Kansas tag 885 NEW.He is described as a white male who is 5-feet -11 inches tall and weighs around 250 pounds. He has brown eyes, a white beard, and is balding. He was likely wearing a baseball cap. Reese has diabetes, anxiety, and a condition impairing cognition and memory. If you see David Reese or his vehicle, please call 911 immediately. If you have other information about this case, contact the Harper Police Department at (620) 842-3830.If you own property in Barber County, please take the time to thoroughly check your land and immediately report anything out of the ordinary.

Silver Alert for Kan. man still active; searchers found his dog

Danforth, a former Republican U.S. Senator and U.N. ambassador, boosted Josh Hawley’s early career but broke with him after Jan. 6, 2021

By RUDI KELLER &nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

A U.S. Senate candidate seeking to create a new party to bridge political divisions on Thursday enlisted the state’s senior former officeholder to help put a spotlight on his campaign.

Jared Young, a Joplin businessman who petitioned to form the Better Party, toured the state with former U.S. Sen. Jack Danforth, a Republican who was also Missouri attorney general and ambassador to the United Nations.

Young is running against Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, who has the same seat Danforth held from 1977 to 1995, Democratic nominee Lucas Kunce as well as Green Party candidate Nathan Kllne and Libertarian Party nominee W.C. Young.

Young is trying to draw disaffected Republicans, independents and moderate Democrats to his banner of the Better Party.

Polling he did in 2023 convinced him an independent candidate had a fighting chance, Young said.

“Hawley is shockingly unpopular for an incumbent Republican in a red state,” Young said.

Danforth, one of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.columbiatribune.com/story/news/2015/10/16/danforth-cites-longtime-friendship-with/21775715007/" target="_blank">Hawley’s earliest boosters</a>, broke with his Republican protégé after the Jan. 6, 2021, riots, calling that early support the “<a href="https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/columns/tony-messenger/messenger-danforth-calls-his-support-of-hawley-the-worst-mistake-of-his-life/article_0f8288fc-4b22-5fe7-8cb9-d29161a7cf81.html" target="_blank">worst mistake of my life</a>” and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2021/02/03/danforth-says-regrets-over-hawley-make-him-feel-like-dr-frankensein/">saying on a podcast</a>&nbsp;that it is “what Dr. Frankenstein must have felt.”

During a joint interview with the candidate Thursday, Danforth said Young represents a reasonable, results-oriented approach to politics.

The Republican Party once adhered to the principles of controlling the national debt and backing a strong national defense in protection of powers threatened by force, Danforth said.&nbsp;

“The political system is broken, and my party, both parties, have gravitated toward the fringes,” Danforth said. “But my party, especially the MAGA version, has thrown overboard every principle that the Republican Party stood for, for decades, generations.”

The national debt is $35 trillion and during the Trump administration, Danforth said, it increased 40%.

“Under a Republican president,” Danforth said. “Nobody cares.”

Hawley, Danforth said, disqualified himself as a serious legislator on Jan. 6, 2021.

“He went on national television and he said, ‘this is going to be decided on January 6.’ He knew that that was not true, knew it, and he said it anyway,” Danforth said. “And then he went out front, convened, and he exhorted a mob, knowing that he couldn’t accomplish anything other than convene the mob and exhort the mob.”

The nation deserved an apology from Hawley after the riots, Young said.

“He just sat back and he waited to see which way the political winds were blowing, and as soon as he decided that actually this is politically advantageous to lean into this, he was all in on it and now he sells mugs with his fist raised to the mob,” Young said.

Hawley’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Young and Danforth’s criticisms.

Young is one of the best-funded independent candidate in Missouri in recent political history, using $765,000 of his own money and $164,000 raised from donors to finance his campaign. But he’s not registered in any of the polls conducted in the race.

He’s helping Young but not to the extent he did in 2022 when Danforth created a&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/07/20/danforth-pac-backing-independent-senate-candidate-in-missouri-adds-750k-to-tv-ad-buy/">PAC with $5 million</a>&nbsp;to run ads backing independent candidate John Wood. That effort fizzled when Wood&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/08/23/citing-greitens-defeat-john-wood-abandons-independent-run-for-u-s-senate-in-missouri/">withdrew from the race</a>&nbsp;after now-Sen. Eric Schmitt won the Republican primary.

Young had about $465,000 on hand on July 17, while Hawley had $5.8 million and Kunce had $4.2 million. Since then, Hawley has spent $3.3 million on television advertising and Kunce has spent $5.3 million, according to tracking of FCC reports by The Independent.&nbsp;

A PAC called Show Me Strong has spent another $1.6 million on television ads backing Hawley, but it is the only significant non-candidate spending in the race.

Danforth has opened a network for fundraising, Young said, and he’s working to bring “similarly big names that are disenchanted Republicans that don’t like Josh Hawley to come and join us in the state.”

“The challenge is just making sure every voter knows who Jared Young is and what I stand for, and I’m comfortable with losing the election if everyone knows about me and they just decide, no, this is not what we want,” he said.

Young, 38, was educated at Brigham Young University, graduating in 2010, and Harvard Law, graduating in 2014. He worked for a year at a Washington, D.C. law firm.

He realized he didn’t want to practice law, Young said, and accepted a job in Joplin at Employer Advantage, a benefits administrator for businesses, where he became CEO. He led the company through an acquisition in 2022 and has been working on the campaign since mid-2023.&nbsp;

The main message he’s hearing, Young said, is that people want a government that isn’t caught up in endless gridlock.

“We’re so exhausted, so frustrated, so disgusted with the direction and the tone of our national politics,” Young said. “But every election, it seems to be getting worse instead of better, and nobody’s stepping up to say, look, we need something completely different.”

Kunce is using the same playbook as Hawley in his campaign, Young said.

“Now you play anger, you insult, you focus on making them hate Hawley,” Young said. “And so what was his very first thing when he started his campaign? Josh Hawley is a fraud and a coward. Josh Hawley is a fraud and a coward. Josh Hawley’s a fraud and a coward. Now it’s more of Josh Hawley is a creepy weirdo.

“It’s not substance, and people are just so exhausted by it,” Young said.

Kunce’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Young said he would back Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford’s bipartisan bill to&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/05/24/bipartisan-border-bill-loses-support-fails-procedural-vote-in-u-s-senate/">bolster border security</a>, worked out in prolonged negotiations but scuttled by the opposition of former President Donald Trump.&nbsp;

He said he opposes any attempt to make abortion policy at the national level. He also opposes Amendment 3, the Missouri ballot measure that would guarantee the right to an abortion in the state constitution.

“I’m a moderate pro-lifer,” Young said. “I believe that every abortion is a tragedy, but that we do ourselves a disservice as the pro-life cause when we take an uncompromising all or nothing approach.”

The annual deficit in government spending can only be closed with a combination of tax increases and cuts, Young said.&nbsp;

“You can’t do a level of cuts that would make a difference, that would be palatable to the people,” Young said.

During the&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/09/20/hawley-kunce-clash-over-aid-to-ukraine-abortion-rights-ballot-measure-during-senate-debate/">only debate of the campaign</a>, held at the Missouri Press Association convention last month, Hawley called for the U.S. to cut off aid to Ukraine, which has been on the defensive in a war with Russia since February 2022. Young was on stage that day, as were Kunce and Kline.&nbsp;

He disagreed with Hawley that day and said Thursday it is essential the aid continue.

“It is in our strategic interest, and it’s our moral duty to be supporting Ukraine,” Young said.

Danforth’s sense that Hawley failed in his duty and his role in promoting Hawley to power makes his opposition to the incumbent a personal matter.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1728302838331.png" alt="Jared Young, left, the Better Party candidate for U.S. Senate, with former Republican U.S. Sen. Jack Danforth on Thursday morning during a statewide election tour (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption>Jared Young, left, the Better Party candidate for U.S. Senate, with former Republican U.S. Sen. Jack Danforth on Thursday morning during a statewide election tour (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Danforth, a former Republican U.S. Senator and U.N. ambassador, boosted Josh Hawley’s early career but broke with him after Jan. 6, 2021</h2>By RUDI KELLER &nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>A U.S. Senate candidate seeking to create a new party to bridge political divisions on Thursday enlisted the state’s senior former officeholder to help put a spotlight on his campaign.Jared Young, a Joplin businessman who petitioned to form the Better Party, toured the state with former U.S. Sen. Jack Danforth, a Republican who was also Missouri attorney general and ambassador to the United Nations.Young is running against Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, who has the same seat Danforth held from 1977 to 1995, Democratic nominee Lucas Kunce as well as Green Party candidate Nathan Kllne and Libertarian Party nominee W.C. Young.Young is trying to draw disaffected Republicans, independents and moderate Democrats to his banner of the Better Party.Polling he did in 2023 convinced him an independent candidate had a fighting chance, Young said.“Hawley is shockingly unpopular for an incumbent Republican in a red state,” Young said.Danforth, one of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.columbiatribune.com/story/news/2015/10/16/danforth-cites-longtime-friendship-with/21775715007/" target="_blank">Hawley’s earliest boosters</a>, broke with his Republican protégé after the Jan. 6, 2021, riots, calling that early support the “<a href="https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/columns/tony-messenger/messenger-danforth-calls-his-support-of-hawley-the-worst-mistake-of-his-life/article_0f8288fc-4b22-5fe7-8cb9-d29161a7cf81.html" target="_blank">worst mistake of my life</a>” and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2021/02/03/danforth-says-regrets-over-hawley-make-him-feel-like-dr-frankensein/">saying on a podcast</a>&nbsp;that it is “what Dr. Frankenstein must have felt.”During a joint interview with the candidate Thursday, Danforth said Young represents a reasonable, results-oriented approach to politics.The Republican Party once adhered to the principles of controlling the national debt and backing a strong national defense in protection of powers threatened by force, Danforth said.&nbsp;“The political system is broken, and my party, both parties, have gravitated toward the fringes,” Danforth said. “But my party, especially the MAGA version, has thrown overboard every principle that the Republican Party stood for, for decades, generations.”The national debt is $35 trillion and during the Trump administration, Danforth said, it increased 40%.“Under a Republican president,” Danforth said. “Nobody cares.”Hawley, Danforth said, disqualified himself as a serious legislator on Jan. 6, 2021.“He went on national television and he said, ‘this is going to be decided on January 6.’ He knew that that was not true, knew it, and he said it anyway,” Danforth said. “And then he went out front, convened, and he exhorted a mob, knowing that he couldn’t accomplish anything other than convene the mob and exhort the mob.”The nation deserved an apology from Hawley after the riots, Young said.“He just sat back and he waited to see which way the political winds were blowing, and as soon as he decided that actually this is politically advantageous to lean into this, he was all in on it and now he sells mugs with his fist raised to the mob,” Young said.Hawley’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Young and Danforth’s criticisms.Young is one of the best-funded independent candidate in Missouri in recent political history, using $765,000 of his own money and $164,000 raised from donors to finance his campaign. But he’s not registered in any of the polls conducted in the race.He’s helping Young but not to the extent he did in 2022 when Danforth created a&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/07/20/danforth-pac-backing-independent-senate-candidate-in-missouri-adds-750k-to-tv-ad-buy/">PAC with $5 million</a>&nbsp;to run ads backing independent candidate John Wood. That effort fizzled when Wood&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/08/23/citing-greitens-defeat-john-wood-abandons-independent-run-for-u-s-senate-in-missouri/">withdrew from the race</a>&nbsp;after now-Sen. Eric Schmitt won the Republican primary.Young had about $465,000 on hand on July 17, while Hawley had $5.8 million and Kunce had $4.2 million. Since then, Hawley has spent $3.3 million on television advertising and Kunce has spent $5.3 million, according to tracking of FCC reports by The Independent.&nbsp;A PAC called Show Me Strong has spent another $1.6 million on television ads backing Hawley, but it is the only significant non-candidate spending in the race.Danforth has opened a network for fundraising, Young said, and he’s working to bring “similarly big names that are disenchanted Republicans that don’t like Josh Hawley to come and join us in the state.”He knows that it is a longshot race.“The challenge is just making sure every voter knows who Jared Young is and what I stand for, and I’m comfortable with losing the election if everyone knows about me and they just decide, no, this is not what we want,” he said.Young, 38, was educated at Brigham Young University, graduating in 2010, and Harvard Law, graduating in 2014. He worked for a year at a Washington, D.C. law firm.He realized he didn’t want to practice law, Young said, and accepted a job in Joplin at Employer Advantage, a benefits administrator for businesses, where he became CEO. He led the company through an acquisition in 2022 and has been working on the campaign since mid-2023.&nbsp;The main message he’s hearing, Young said, is that people want a government that isn’t caught up in endless gridlock.“We’re so exhausted, so frustrated, so disgusted with the direction and the tone of our national politics,” Young said. “But every election, it seems to be getting worse instead of better, and nobody’s stepping up to say, look, we need something completely different.”Kunce is using the same playbook as Hawley in his campaign, Young said.“Now you play anger, you insult, you focus on making them hate Hawley,” Young said. “And so what was his very first thing when he started his campaign? Josh Hawley is a fraud and a coward. Josh Hawley is a fraud and a coward. Josh Hawley’s a fraud and a coward. Now it’s more of Josh Hawley is a creepy weirdo.“It’s not substance, and people are just so exhausted by it,” Young said.Kunce’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.Young said he would back Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford’s bipartisan bill to&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/05/24/bipartisan-border-bill-loses-support-fails-procedural-vote-in-u-s-senate/">bolster border security</a>, worked out in prolonged negotiations but scuttled by the opposition of former President Donald Trump.&nbsp;He said he opposes any attempt to make abortion policy at the national level. He also opposes Amendment 3, the Missouri ballot measure that would guarantee the right to an abortion in the state constitution.“I’m a moderate pro-lifer,” Young said. “I believe that every abortion is a tragedy, but that we do ourselves a disservice as the pro-life cause when we take an uncompromising all or nothing approach.”The annual deficit in government spending can only be closed with a combination of tax increases and cuts, Young said.&nbsp;“You can’t do a level of cuts that would make a difference, that would be palatable to the people,” Young said.During the&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/09/20/hawley-kunce-clash-over-aid-to-ukraine-abortion-rights-ballot-measure-during-senate-debate/">only debate of the campaign</a>, held at the Missouri Press Association convention last month, Hawley called for the U.S. to cut off aid to Ukraine, which has been on the defensive in a war with Russia since February 2022. Young was on stage that day, as were Kunce and Kline.&nbsp;He disagreed with Hawley that day and said Thursday it is essential the aid continue.“It is in our strategic interest, and it’s our moral duty to be supporting Ukraine,” Young said.Danforth’s sense that Hawley failed in his duty and his role in promoting Hawley to power makes his opposition to the incumbent a personal matter.&nbsp;Hawley is a graduate of Yale Law School and clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts, Danforth noted. He taught constitutional law at the University of Missouri before winning office.Hawley is smarter than the politician he plays on TV, Danforth said.“Members of the Senate are more performers than institutionalists, and they’re performers to get themselves on TV, on MSNBC or Fox News,” Danforth said. “And the way to do that is to be the most outrageous person you can be.”If he doesn’t win, Young could establish the Better Party for future elections by winning more than 2% of the vote. For the next two election cycles, candidates could run for any partisan office on the party’s ticket, a right that would be extended if it continues meeting the 2% threshold.“One of the biggest hurdles for independents is they have to expend so many resources just to get on the ballot,” he said, “and they already are resource-poor candidates. It puts them way behind the ball right from the start.”