WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegset announced that he has decided that the 20 soldiers who received the Medal of Honor for their actions in 1890 at Wounded Knee will keep their awards&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SecWar/status/1971342502650429458" target="_blank">in a video posted to social media</a>&nbsp;Thursday evening.

Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-medals-soldiers-wounded-knee-7c6a7cfd2b2d9ce6b4ce0d9731439cb4">ordered the review of the awards in 2024</a>&nbsp;after a Congressional recommendation in the 2022 defense bill — itself a reflection of efforts by some lawmakers to rescind the awards for those who participated in the bloody massacre on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near Wounded Knee Creek.

While the events of that day are sometimes described as a battle, historical records show that the U.S. Army, which was in the midst of amid a campaign to repress the tribes in the area, killed an estimated 250 Native Americans, including women and children, of the Lakota Sioux tribe, while attempting to disarm Native American fighters who had already surrendered at their camp.

“We’re making it clear that (the soldiers) deserve those medals,” Hegseth said in the video, before adding that “their place in our nation’s history is no longer up for debate.”

After the fighting, Medals of Honor were given to 20 soldiers from the 7th Cavalry Regiment, and their awards cite a range of actions including bravery, efforts to rescue fellow troops and actions to “dislodge Sioux Indians” who were concealed in a ravine.

The event also became a celebrated part of the regiment’s history, with their&nbsp;<a href="https://tioh.army.mil/Catalog/HeraldryMulti.aspx?CategoryId=3116&amp;grp=2&amp;menu=Uniformed%20Services" target="_blank">coat of arms still featuring the head of a Native American chief</a>&nbsp;to “commemorate Indian campaigns,” according to the military’s Institute of Heraldry.

In 1990, Congress apologized to the descendants of those killed at Wounded Knee but did not revoke the medals.

According to Hegseth, the review panel ordered by Austin “concluded that these brave soldiers should, in fact, rightfully keep their medals from actions,” but an official from the defense secretary’s office couldn’t say if the report he was referencing in the video would be made public.

President Donald Trump issued an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/" target="_blank">executive order</a>&nbsp;in March titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” that decried efforts to reinterpret American history and, since then, Hegseth has undertaken multiple actions that have subverted the recommendations of a Congressionally-mandated commission that examined the use of Confederate names and references in the military.

He reverted the names of several Army bases back to their original, Confederate-linked names, though by honoring different figures.

Hegseth also restored&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/confederate-memorial-arlington-national-cemetery-39de92aaafbe3765ca8fb8c343445c98">a 1914 memorial to the Confederacy</a>&nbsp;that was removed from Arlington National Cemetery. The monument features a classical female figure, crowned with olive leaves, representing the American South, alongside sanitized depictions of slavery.

In September, the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, also confirmed that a painting of Gen. Robert E. Lee dressed in his Confederate uniform was back on display in the school’s library after being removed in 2022. The portrait shows a Black man leading Lee’s horse in the background, which had been hanging in the library since the 1950s before it was placed in storage.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1759066705724.png" alt="Plastic flowers and American flags are placed atop graves at the Wounded Knee Memorial and cemetery on June 30, 2024. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)" />
 <figcaption>Plastic flowers and American flags are placed atop graves at the Wounded Knee Memorial and cemetery on June 30, 2024. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegset announced that he has decided that the 20 soldiers who received the Medal of Honor for their actions in 1890 at Wounded Knee will keep their awards&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SecWar/status/1971342502650429458" target="_blank">in a video posted to social media</a>&nbsp;Thursday evening.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Under my direction, the soldiers who fought at the Battle of Wounded Knee will keep their medals. This decision is final. Their place in history is settled. <a href="https://t.co/klQlB6MZ6l">pic.twitter.com/klQlB6MZ6l</a>&mdash; Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar/status/1971342502650429458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 25, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-medals-soldiers-wounded-knee-7c6a7cfd2b2d9ce6b4ce0d9731439cb4">ordered the review of the awards in 2024</a>&nbsp;after a Congressional recommendation in the 2022 defense bill — itself a reflection of efforts by some lawmakers to rescind the awards for those who participated in the bloody massacre on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near Wounded Knee Creek.While the events of that day are sometimes described as a battle, historical records show that the U.S. Army, which was in the midst of amid a campaign to repress the tribes in the area, killed an estimated 250 Native Americans, including women and children, of the Lakota Sioux tribe, while attempting to disarm Native American fighters who had already surrendered at their camp.“We’re making it clear that (the soldiers) deserve those medals,” Hegseth said in the video, before adding that “their place in our nation’s history is no longer up for debate.”After the fighting, Medals of Honor were given to 20 soldiers from the 7th Cavalry Regiment, and their awards cite a range of actions including bravery, efforts to rescue fellow troops and actions to “dislodge Sioux Indians” who were concealed in a ravine.The event also became a celebrated part of the regiment’s history, with their&nbsp;<a href="https://tioh.army.mil/Catalog/HeraldryMulti.aspx?CategoryId=3116&amp;grp=2&amp;menu=Uniformed%20Services" target="_blank">coat of arms still featuring the head of a Native American chief</a>&nbsp;to “commemorate Indian campaigns,” according to the military’s Institute of Heraldry.In 1990, Congress apologized to the descendants of those killed at Wounded Knee but did not revoke the medals.According to Hegseth, the review panel ordered by Austin “concluded that these brave soldiers should, in fact, rightfully keep their medals from actions,” but an official from the defense secretary’s office couldn’t say if the report he was referencing in the video would be made public.President Donald Trump issued an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/" target="_blank">executive order</a>&nbsp;in March titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” that decried efforts to reinterpret American history and, since then, Hegseth has undertaken multiple actions that have subverted the recommendations of a Congressionally-mandated commission that examined the use of Confederate names and references in the military.He reverted the names of several Army bases back to their original, Confederate-linked names, though by honoring different figures.Hegseth also restored&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/confederate-memorial-arlington-national-cemetery-39de92aaafbe3765ca8fb8c343445c98">a 1914 memorial to the Confederacy</a>&nbsp;that was removed from Arlington National Cemetery. The monument features a classical female figure, crowned with olive leaves, representing the American South, alongside sanitized depictions of slavery.In September, the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, also confirmed that a painting of Gen. Robert E. Lee dressed in his Confederate uniform was back on display in the school’s library after being removed in 2022. The portrait shows a Black man leading Lee’s horse in the background, which had been hanging in the library since the 1950s before it was placed in storage.___

 🎥Wounded Knee soldiers, many based in Kan., will keep Medals of Honor

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials put the leader of Iowa's largest school district&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iowa-des-moines-superintendent-ian-roberts-b52a9ea28d002d27832c67513403368e">on administrative leave</a>&nbsp;Saturday, a day after federal immigration agents arrested him because they said he was in the country illegally.

The Des Moines school board voted unanimously to place Superintendent Ian Roberts on paid leave during a three-minute-long special meeting. The board said Roberts was not available to carry out his duties for the 30,000-student district and stated that officials would reassess his status after getting more information.

After the meeting, school board president Jackie Norris read a statement, saying word of Roberts' arrest Friday made for a “jarring day” but noting that board members still didn't have all the facts.

U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-deportations-immigration-expedited-removal-d7146e4e633426afe86031cdf14a60d4">Immigration and Customs Enforcement</a>&nbsp;said agents detained Roberts because he was in the country illegally, didn't have authorization to work and was subject to a final removal order issued in 2024. ICE agents stopped Roberts while he was driving a school-issued vehicle, and the agency said he then fled into a wooded area before being apprehended with help from Iowa State Patrol officers.

He was held in the Woodbury County Jail in Sioux City, in northwest Iowa, about 150 miles from Des Moines.

“I want to be clear, no one here was aware of any citizenship or immigration issues that Dr. Roberts may have been facing,” Norris said. “The accusations ICE had made against Dr. Roberts are very serious, and we are taking them very seriously.”

Norris said Roberts has retained a Des Moines law firm to represent him. Lawyer Alfredo Parrish confirmed his firm was representing Roberts but declined to comment on his case.

Norris also repeated that the district had done a background check on Roberts before he was hired that didn't indicate any problems and that he signed a form affirming he was a U.S. citizen. A company that aided in the search for a superintendent in 2023 also hired another firm to conduct “comprehensive criminal, credit and background checks” on Roberts that didn't indicate any citizenship issues, Norris said.

Also Saturday, the Iowa Department of Education released a statement saying Roberts stated he was a U.S. citizen when he applied for an administrator license. The department said the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners conducted a criminal history check with state and federal authorities before issuing a license.

The department said it is reviewing the Des Moines district's hiring procedures for ensuring people are authorized to work in the U.S.

Roberts had previously said he was born to immigrant parents from Guyana and spent much of his childhood in Brooklyn, New York. He competed in the 2000 Olympics in track and field for Guyana.

ICE said he entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999.

A former senior Guyanese police official on Saturday remembered Roberts as a middle-distance runner who could have risen through the ranks of the South American country’s police force had he not emigrated to the U.S. decades ago. Retired assistant Guyana Police Force commissioner Paul Slowe said Roberts entered the Police Force after graduating from the country’s standard military officers’ course.

"He served for a few years and then left. He was not dismissed or dishonorably discharged at all; he just moved on,” Slowe told The Associated Press. “He was a good, promising and disciplined man.”

Associated Press writer Bert Wilkinson in Georgetown, Guyana, contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1758925503158.png" alt="&nbsp;Ian Roberts in February 2020.- photo ICE" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;Ian Roberts in February 2020.- photo ICE</figcaption>
 </figure>DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials put the leader of Iowa's largest school district&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iowa-des-moines-superintendent-ian-roberts-b52a9ea28d002d27832c67513403368e">on administrative leave</a>&nbsp;Saturday, a day after federal immigration agents arrested him because they said he was in the country illegally.The Des Moines school board voted unanimously to place Superintendent Ian Roberts on paid leave during a three-minute-long special meeting. The board said Roberts was not available to carry out his duties for the 30,000-student district and stated that officials would reassess his status after getting more information.After the meeting, school board president Jackie Norris read a statement, saying word of Roberts' arrest Friday made for a “jarring day” but noting that board members still didn't have all the facts.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1758925645393.png" alt="-Roberts Photo from September 26, 2025- image ICE" />
 <figcaption>-Roberts Photo from September 26, 2025- image ICE</figcaption>
 </figure>U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-deportations-immigration-expedited-removal-d7146e4e633426afe86031cdf14a60d4">Immigration and Customs Enforcement</a>&nbsp;said agents detained Roberts because he was in the country illegally, didn't have authorization to work and was subject to a final removal order issued in 2024. ICE agents stopped Roberts while he was driving a school-issued vehicle, and the agency said he then fled into a wooded area before being apprehended with help from Iowa State Patrol officers.He was held in the Woodbury County Jail in Sioux City, in northwest Iowa, about 150 miles from Des Moines.“I want to be clear, no one here was aware of any citizenship or immigration issues that Dr. Roberts may have been facing,” Norris said. “The accusations ICE had made against Dr. Roberts are very serious, and we are taking them very seriously.”Norris said Roberts has retained a Des Moines law firm to represent him. Lawyer Alfredo Parrish confirmed his firm was representing Roberts but declined to comment on his case.Norris also repeated that the district had done a background check on Roberts before he was hired that didn't indicate any problems and that he signed a form affirming he was a U.S. citizen. A company that aided in the search for a superintendent in 2023 also hired another firm to conduct “comprehensive criminal, credit and background checks” on Roberts that didn't indicate any citizenship issues, Norris said.Also Saturday, the Iowa Department of Education released a statement saying Roberts stated he was a U.S. citizen when he applied for an administrator license. The department said the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners conducted a criminal history check with state and federal authorities before issuing a license.The department said it is reviewing the Des Moines district's hiring procedures for ensuring people are authorized to work in the U.S.Roberts had previously said he was born to immigrant parents from Guyana and spent much of his childhood in Brooklyn, New York. He competed in the 2000 Olympics in track and field for Guyana.ICE said he entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999.A former senior Guyanese police official on Saturday remembered Roberts as a middle-distance runner who could have risen through the ranks of the South American country’s police force had he not emigrated to the U.S. decades ago. Retired assistant Guyana Police Force commissioner Paul Slowe said Roberts entered the Police Force after graduating from the country’s standard military officers’ course."He served for a few years and then left. He was not dismissed or dishonorably discharged at all; he just moved on,” Slowe told The Associated Press. “He was a good, promising and disciplined man.”___Associated Press writer Bert Wilkinson in Georgetown, Guyana, contributed to this report.

Des Moines schools leader on leave after his arrest by immigration agents

<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">Jennifer Shutt</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ashley-murray/">Ashley Murray</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jacob-fischler/">Jacob Fischler</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ariana-figueroa/">Ariana Figueroa</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/shauneen-miranda/">Shauneen Miranda</a>

WASHINGTON — Congress’ failure to pass a short-term government funding bill before midnight Tuesday will lead to the first shutdown in nearly seven years and give President Donald Trump broad authority to determine what federal operations keep running — which will have a huge impact on the government, its employees, states and Americans.&nbsp;

A funding lapse this year would have a considerably wider effect than the 35-day one that took place during Trump’s first term and could last longer, given heightened political tensions.&nbsp;

The last shutdown didn’t affect the departments of Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Labor and Veterans Affairs, since Congress had approved those agencies’ full-year funding bills.

Lawmakers had also enacted the Legislative Branch appropriations bill, exempting Capitol Hill from any repercussions.&nbsp;

That isn’t the case this time around since none of the dozen government spending bills have become law. That means nearly every corner of the federal government will feel the pain in some way&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/chance-government-shutdown-rises-us-senate-fails-advance-spending-bill" target="_blank">if a compromise isn’t reached</a>&nbsp;by the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1.&nbsp;

States Newsroom’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/category/dc-bureau" target="_blank">Washington, D.C. Bureau</a>&nbsp;offers you a quick guide to what could happen if Republicans and Democrats don’t broker an agreement in time.

How does the White House budget office determine what government operations are essential during a shutdown?

Generally, federal programs that include the preservation of life or property as well as those addressing national security continue during a shutdown, while all other activities are supposed to cease until a funding bill becomes law.&nbsp;

But the president holds expansive power to determine what activities within the executive branch are essential and which aren’t, making the effects of a shutdown hard to pinpoint unless the Trump administration shares that information publicly.&nbsp;

Presidential administrations have&nbsp;<a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/information-for-agencies/agency-contingency-plans/" target="_blank">traditionally posted</a>&nbsp;contingency plans on the White House budget office’s website, detailing how each agency would shut down — explaining which employees are exempt and need to keep working, and which are furloughed.&nbsp;

That appears to have changed this year. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-resources/guidance/agency-contingency-plans/" target="_blank">web page</a>&nbsp;that would normally host dozens of contingency plans remained blank until late September, when the White House budget office posted that a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/a11.pdf" target="_blank">940-page document</a>&nbsp;released in August calls for the plans to be “hosted solely on each agency’s website.”

Only a few departments had plans from this year posted on their websites as of Friday afternoon.

The White House budget office expects agencies to develop Reduction in Force plans as part of their shutdown preparation, signaling a prolonged funding lapse will include mass firings and layoffs.

While the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-threatens-mass-firings-federal-employees-government-shutdown" target="_blank">two-page memo</a>&nbsp;doesn’t detail which agencies would be most affected, it says layoffs will apply to programs, projects, or activities that are “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”

Trump will be paid during a shutdown since&nbsp;<a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-2/section-1/" target="_blank">Article II, Section 1, Clause 7</a>&nbsp;of the Constitution prevents the president’s salary from being increased or decreased during the current term.

No one else in the executive branch — including Cabinet secretaries, more than 2 million civilian employees and over 1 million active duty military personnel — will receive their paycheck until after the shutdown ends.&nbsp;

Are federal courts exempt from a shutdown since they’re a separate branch of government?

The Supreme Court will continue to conduct normal operations in the event of a shutdown, according to its Public Information Office.&nbsp;

The office said the court “will rely on permanent funds not subject to annual approval, as it has in the past, to maintain operations through the duration of short-term lapses of annual appropriations,” in a statement shared with States Newsroom.&nbsp;

As for any impact on lower federal courts, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said the federal judiciary was still assessing the fiscal 2026 outlook and had no comment.&nbsp;

The office serves as the central support arm of the federal judiciary.&nbsp;

During the last&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uscourts.gov/data-news/judiciary-news/2018/12/22/judiciary-operating-during-shutdown" target="_blank">government shutdown</a>&nbsp;from late 2018 into early 2019,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uscourts.gov/data-news/judiciary-news/2019/01/07/judiciary-operating-limited-funds-during-shutdown" target="_blank">federal courts</a>&nbsp;remained open using court fee balances and “no-year” funds, which are available for an indefinite period.&nbsp;

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has said that if those funds run out, they would operate under the terms of the Anti-Deficiency Act, which “allows work to continue during a lapse in appropriations if it is necessary to support the exercise of Article III judicial powers.”&nbsp;

Supreme Court justices and appointed federal judges continue to get paid during a government shutdown, as&nbsp;<a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/article-3/" target="_blank">Article III</a>&nbsp;of the Constitution says the judges’ compensation “shall not be diminished” during their term.

What happens to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid?

The three programs exist largely outside of the annual appropriations process, since lawmakers categorized them as “mandatory spending.”&nbsp;

This means Social Security checks as well as reimbursements to health care providers for Medicare and Medicaid services should continue as normal.

One possible hitch is the salaries for people who run those programs are covered by annual appropriations bills, so there could be some staffing problems for the Social Security Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, depending on their contingency plans.&nbsp;

The first Trump administration’s&nbsp;<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201026053427/https://www.ssa.gov/agency/shutdown/materials/contingency-plan-09-23-20.pdf" target="_blank">shutdown guidance</a>&nbsp;for the Social Security Administration showed 54,000 of 63,000 employees at that agency would have kept working. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/budget/fy-2021-cms-contingency-staffing-plan/index.html" target="_blank">CMS plan</a>&nbsp;from 2020 shows that it intended to keep about 50% of its employees working in the event of a shutdown. Neither had a current plan as of Friday.

Will the Department of Veterans Affairs be able to keep providing health care and benefits?

Veterans can expect health care to continue uninterrupted at VA medical centers and outpatient clinics in the event of a shutdown. Vets would also continue to receive benefits, including compensation, pension, education and housing, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs&nbsp;<a href="https://department.va.gov/contingency-planning/" target="_blank">contingency planning</a>&nbsp;for a funding lapse that is currently published on the department’s website. It’s unclear if the plan will be the one the Trump administration puts into action.

But a shutdown would affect other VA services. For example, the GI Bill hotline would close, and all in-person and virtual career counseling and transition assistance services would be unavailable.

Additionally, all regional VA benefits offices would shutter until Congress agreed to fund the government. The closures would include the Manila Regional Office in the Philippines that serves veterans in the Pacific region.

All department public outreach to veterans would also cease.

Will Hubbard, spokesperson for Veterans Education Success, said his advocacy organization is bracing for increased phone calls and emails from veterans who would normally call the GI Bill hotline.

“Questions are going to come up, veterans are going to be looking for answers, and they’re not going to be able to call like they would be able to normally, that’s going to be a big problem,” Hubbard said.

“Most of the benefits that people are going to be most concerned about will not be affected, but the ones that do get affected, for the people that that hits, I mean, it’s going to matter a lot to them. It’s going to change the direction of their planning, and potentially the direction of their life,” Hubbard said.

The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Office of Management and Budget did not respond to a request for current VA shutdown guidance.

What happens to immigration enforcement and immigration courts?&nbsp;

As the Trump administration continues with its aggressive immigration tactics in cities with high immigrant populations, that enforcement is likely to continue during a government shutdown, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2025-03/2025_0303_dhs_procedures_related_to_a_lapse_in_appropriations.pdf" target="_blank">March guidance</a>&nbsp;for operating in a government shutdown.

Immigration-related fees will continue, such as for processing visas and applications from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.&nbsp;

And DHS expects nearly all of its U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees to be exempt — 17,500 out of 20,500 — and continue working without pay amid a government shutdown.&nbsp;

That means that ICE officers will continue to arrest, detain and remove from the country immigrants without legal status. DHS is currently concentrating immigration enforcement efforts in Chicago, known as “Operation Midway Blitz.”

Other employees within DHS, such as those in Transportation Security Administration, will also be retained during a government shutdown. There are about 58,000 TSA employees that would be exempt and continue to work without pay in airports across the country.&nbsp;&nbsp;

DHS did not respond to States Newsroom’s request for a contingency plan if there is a government shutdown.

Separately, a shutdown would also burden the overwhelmed immigration court system that is housed within the Department of Justice. It would lead to canceling or rescheduling court cases, when there is already a backlog of 3.4 million cases.

The only exceptions are immigration courts that are located within Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, detention centers, but most cases would need to be rescheduled. The partial government shutdown that began in December 2018 caused nearly 43,000 court cases to be canceled,&nbsp;<a href="https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/543/" target="_blank">according to a report</a>&nbsp;by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC.

And 28 states have an immigration court, requiring some immigrants to travel hundreds, or thousands, of miles for their appointment.&nbsp;

States that do not have an immigration court include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Will people be able to visit national parks or use public lands during a shutdown?&nbsp;

Probably, but that may be bad for parks’ long-term health.

During the 2018-2019 shutdown, the first Trump administration kept parks open, with skeleton staffs across the country struggling to maintain National Park Service facilities.

Theresa Pierno, the president and CEO of the advocacy group National Parks Conservation Association, said in a Sept. 23 statement the last shutdown devastated areas of some parks.

“Americans watched helplessly as Joshua Trees were cut down, park buildings were vandalized, prehistoric petroglyphs were defaced, trash overflowed leading to wildlife impacts, and human waste piled up,” she wrote. “Visitor safety and irreplaceable natural and cultural resources were put at serious risk. We cannot allow this to happen again.”

The National Park Service’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.doi.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2024-03/doi-nps-contingency-plan-2024.pdf" target="_blank">latest contingency plan</a>&nbsp;was published in March 2024, during President Joe Biden’s administration. It calls for at least some closures during a shutdown, though the document says the response will differ from park to park.&nbsp;

Restricting access to parks is difficult due to their physical characteristics, the document said, adding that staffing would generally be maintained at a minimum to allow visitors. However, some areas that are regularly closed could be locked up for the duration of a shutdown.

But that contingency plan is likely to change before Tuesday, spokespeople for the Park Service and the Interior Department, which oversees NPS, said Sept. 25.

“The lapse in funding plans on our website are from 2024,” an email from the NPS office of public affairs said. “They are currently being reviewed and updated.”

Hunters and others seeking to use public lands maintained by Interior’s Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, which is overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will likely be able to continue to do so, though they may have to make alternative plans if they’d planned to use facilities such as campgrounds.&nbsp;

Land Tawney, the co-chair of the advocacy group American Hunters and Anglers, said campgrounds, toilets and facilities that require staffing would be inaccessible, but most public lands would remain available.

“Those lands are kind of open and they’re just unmanned, I would say, and that’s not really gonna change much,” he said. “If you’re staying in a campground, you’ve got to figure something else out.”

As with national parks, access to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuges and other hunting and fishing sites will differ from site to site, Tawney said. The Fish and Wildlife Service doesn’t require permits for hunting on its lands, but access to some refuges is determined by a staff-run lottery drawing. If those drawings can’t be held, access to those sites will be limited, Tawney said.

What happens to the Internal Revenue Service?

How the Internal Revenue Service would operate during a government shutdown remains unclear.&nbsp;

When Congress teetered on letting funding run out in March, the nation’s revenue collection agency released a contingency&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26126431-irs-fy25lapseplan/" target="_blank">plan</a>&nbsp;to continue full operations during the height of tax filing season.&nbsp;

The IRS planned to use funds allocated in the 2022 budget reconciliation law to keep its roughly 95,000 employees processing returns and refunds, answering the phones, and pursuing audits.&nbsp;

Ultimately Congress&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-signs-stopgap-spending-bill-law-following-us-senate-passage" target="_blank">agreed</a>&nbsp;on a stopgap funding bill to avoid a March shutdown, but much has changed since then.

The new tax and spending&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/fourth-july-trump-signs-his-big-beautiful-bill-law" target="_blank">law</a>, signed by Trump on July 4 and often referred to as the “one big beautiful bill,” made major changes to the U.S. tax code.&nbsp;

Additionally, the agency, which processes roughly 180 million income tax returns per year, has lost about a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/JRC26_FullReport.pdf" target="_blank">quarter</a>&nbsp;of its workforce since January. Top leadership has also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/billy-long-ousted-trump-irs-chief-after-less-2-months-office" target="_blank">turned over</a>&nbsp;six times in 2025.

Rachel Snyderman, of the Bipartisan Policy Center, said workforce reductions combined with a string of leadership changes could factor into how the agency would operate during a funding lapse.

“It’s really difficult to understand both what the status of the agency would be if the government were to shut down in less than a week, and also the impacts that a prolonged shutdown could have on taxpayer services and taxpayers at large,” said Snyderman, the think tank’s managing director of economic policy.

Do federal employees get back pay after a shutdown ends?

According to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/furlough-guidance/guidance-for-shutdown-furloughs.pdf" target="_blank">Office of Personnel Management</a>&nbsp;— the executive branch’s chief human resources agency — “after the lapse in appropriations has ended, employees who were furloughed as the result of the lapse will receive retroactive pay for those furlough periods.”&nbsp;

The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/24/text/statute?statuteId=45971" target="_blank">Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019</a>&nbsp;requires furloughed government employees to receive back pay as a result of a government shutdown.&nbsp;

That law does not apply to federal contractors, who face uncertainty in getting paid during a shutdown.&nbsp;

What role does Congress have during a shutdown?

The House and Senate must approve a stopgap spending bill or all dozen full-year appropriations bills to end a shutdown, a feat that requires the support of at least some Democrats to get past the upper chamber’s 60-vote legislative filibuster.&nbsp;

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., control their respective chambers’ calendars as well as the floor schedule, so they could keep holding votes on the stopgap bill&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/chance-government-shutdown-rises-us-senate-fails-advance-spending-bill" target="_blank">Democrats have already rejected</a>&nbsp;or try to pass individual bills to alleviate the impacts on certain agencies.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Neither Johnson nor Thune has yet to suggest bipartisan negotiations with Democratic leaders about funding the government. And while they are open to discussions about extending the enhanced tax credits for people who buy their health insurance from the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, they don’t want that decision connected to the funding debate.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Democratic leaders have said repeatedly that Republicans shouldn’t expect them to vote for legislation they had no say in drafting, especially with a health care cliff for millions of Americans coming at the end of the year.&nbsp;

Members of Congress will receive their paychecks regardless of how long a shutdown lasts, but the people who work for them would only receive their salaries after it ends.&nbsp;

Lawmakers must be paid under language in&nbsp;<a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-6/" target="_blank">Article I, Section 6, Clause 1</a>&nbsp;of the Constitution as well as the&nbsp;<a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-27/" target="_blank">27th Amendment</a>, which bars members of Congress from changing their salaries during the current session.&nbsp;

Lawmakers have discretion to decide which of their staff members continue working during a shutdown and which are furloughed.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Capitol Police, which is tasked with protecting members amid a sharp rise in political violence, said a shutdown “would not affect the security of the Capitol Complex.”&nbsp;

“Our officers, and the professional staff who perform or support emergency functions, would still report to work,” the spokesperson said. “Employees who are not required for emergency functions would be furloughed until funding is available.”

Federal government shutdown is nearing: A guide for what to expect

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement investigating a shooting&nbsp; in Wichita continue asking the public for help to locate&nbsp;16-year-old Cesar Govea, according to a statement from Wichita Police.

Govea is wanted in connection with a shooting on August 24, that injured his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend and a 17-year-old boy. The victims were inside a vehicle near Wichita and Waterwalk when Govea opened fire.

Govea is considered armed and dangerous. Do not approach him.

If you know his whereabouts, do not approach him and call 911 immediately. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1756165563203.png" alt="Govea photo Wichita Police" />
 <figcaption>Govea photo Wichita Police</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement investigating a shooting&nbsp; in Wichita continue asking the public for help to locate&nbsp;16-year-old Cesar Govea, according to a statement from Wichita Police.Govea is wanted in connection with a shooting on August 24, that injured his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend and a 17-year-old boy. The victims were inside a vehicle near Wichita and Waterwalk when Govea opened fire.Govea is considered armed and dangerous. Do not approach him.If you know his whereabouts, do not approach him and call 911 immediately. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.

Search continues for Kan. teen accused of shooting ex-girlfriend 

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sherman-smith/">SHERMAN SMITH</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/03/kansas-state-garden-city-cc-striving-to-shrink-bachelors-degree-educational-desert/?emci=8e6f56cf-3bca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;emdi=a9416bb1-82ca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;ceid=115039">Kansas Reflecto</a>r

TOPEKA — Kansas hospital leaders sent&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Enhanced-Premium-Tax-Credit-Letter-to-Kansas-Congressional-Delegation.pdf">a letter</a>&nbsp;to the state’s congressional delegation urging members to&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/09/24/kansas-governor-says-health-care-cuts-will-have-disastrous-effects-if-congress-cant-reach-deal/">extend premium tax credits</a>&nbsp;for those who receive health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace.

Republicans in Congress, including the state’s two senators and three of the four House members, stripped the tax credits from low-income families as part of a tax and spending bill earlier this year. As the federal government approaches a possible shutdown next week, Democrats are refusing to support a short-term spending plan unless Republicans make the tax credits permanent.

Health care providers say the loss of tax credits will especially hurt families and hospitals in rural parts of the state.

“The reality is that for a rural hospital like ours, every dollar counts,” said Preston Sayers, CEO of Kingman Healthcare Center. “A failure to extend the tax credits will cause Kansans to lose their coverage, and they often won’t qualify for Medicaid. This will lead to a surge in uncompensated care and make it even more difficult to keep our doors open and provide the care our communities depend on.”

More than 160,000 Kansans benefit from the tax credits that are expected to expire. They can expect to see a 77% increase in premiums.

That means a hike of $2,500 per year for a family earning $64,000 per year, or $18,000 for a 60-year-old couple making $82,800 per year, according to a news release from Ascension Via Christi, which operates hospitals in Wichita.

“As health care providers on the front lines of patient care, we know firsthand the devastating impact that a loss of affordable coverage would have on our communities,” said Kevin Strecker, CEO of Ascension Via Christi. “This is a direct threat to the financial well-being of Kansas families and the stability of our health care system, particularly our rural hospitals, which serve as a lifeline for their communities.”

In the letter sent Thursday to all six members of the state’s congressional delegation, the hospital leaders said as Kansans lose coverage, hospitals will face rising costs from uncompensated care. The letter was sent to Republican Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall, Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids, and Republican Reps. Derek Schmidt, Ron Estes and Tracey Mann.

It was signed by leaders of Ascension Via Christi, Caldwell Regional Medical Center, Children’s Mercy Kansas City, Greenwood County Hospital, Hillsboro Community Hospital, Kingman Healthcare Center, NMC Health in Newton, Patterson Health Center in Anthony, Salina Regional Health Center and Wesley Healthcare.

“Allowing the premium tax cuts to expire will directly affect our ability as a rural health care provider to care for the community where we live, work and serve,” said Vallerie Gleason, President and CEO of NMC Health. “I urge our Kansas congressional delegation, who care deeply about rural Kansas and rural hospitals, to support extensions of the premium tax cuts.”

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/sherman-smith/">SHERMAN SMITH</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/03/kansas-state-garden-city-cc-striving-to-shrink-bachelors-degree-educational-desert/?emci=8e6f56cf-3bca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;emdi=a9416bb1-82ca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;ceid=115039">Kansas Reflecto</a>rTOPEKA — Kansas hospital leaders sent&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Enhanced-Premium-Tax-Credit-Letter-to-Kansas-Congressional-Delegation.pdf">a letter</a>&nbsp;to the state’s congressional delegation urging members to&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/09/24/kansas-governor-says-health-care-cuts-will-have-disastrous-effects-if-congress-cant-reach-deal/">extend premium tax credits</a>&nbsp;for those who receive health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace.Republicans in Congress, including the state’s two senators and three of the four House members, stripped the tax credits from low-income families as part of a tax and spending bill earlier this year. As the federal government approaches a possible shutdown next week, Democrats are refusing to support a short-term spending plan unless Republicans make the tax credits permanent.Health care providers say the loss of tax credits will especially hurt families and hospitals in rural parts of the state.“The reality is that for a rural hospital like ours, every dollar counts,” said Preston Sayers, CEO of Kingman Healthcare Center. “A failure to extend the tax credits will cause Kansans to lose their coverage, and they often won’t qualify for Medicaid. This will lead to a surge in uncompensated care and make it even more difficult to keep our doors open and provide the care our communities depend on.”More than 160,000 Kansans benefit from the tax credits that are expected to expire. They can expect to see a 77% increase in premiums.That means a hike of $2,500 per year for a family earning $64,000 per year, or $18,000 for a 60-year-old couple making $82,800 per year, according to a news release from Ascension Via Christi, which operates hospitals in Wichita.“As health care providers on the front lines of patient care, we know firsthand the devastating impact that a loss of affordable coverage would have on our communities,” said Kevin Strecker, CEO of Ascension Via Christi. “This is a direct threat to the financial well-being of Kansas families and the stability of our health care system, particularly our rural hospitals, which serve as a lifeline for their communities.”In the letter sent Thursday to all six members of the state’s congressional delegation, the hospital leaders said as Kansans lose coverage, hospitals will face rising costs from uncompensated care. The letter was sent to Republican Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall, Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids, and Republican Reps. Derek Schmidt, Ron Estes and Tracey Mann.It was signed by leaders of Ascension Via Christi, Caldwell Regional Medical Center, Children’s Mercy Kansas City, Greenwood County Hospital, Hillsboro Community Hospital, Kingman Healthcare Center, NMC Health in Newton, Patterson Health Center in Anthony, Salina Regional Health Center and Wesley Healthcare.“Allowing the premium tax cuts to expire will directly affect our ability as a rural health care provider to care for the community where we live, work and serve,” said Vallerie Gleason, President and CEO of NMC Health. “I urge our Kansas congressional delegation, who care deeply about rural Kansas and rural hospitals, to support extensions of the premium tax cuts.”

Kansas hospitals urge congressional delegation to restore health care tax credits

WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;'s administration is asking the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court">Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;to uphold his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/birthright-citizenship-immigration-trump-20919d26029cf0f98ecb0dc7f90a066b">birthright citizenship</a>&nbsp;order declaring that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.

The appeal, shared with The Associated Press on Saturday, sets in motion a process at the high court that could lead to a definitive ruling from the justices by early summer on whether the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-the-meaning-and-value-of-american-citizenship/">citizenship restrictions</a>&nbsp;are constitutional.

Lower-court judges have so far blocked them from taking effect anywhere. The Republican administration is not asking the court to let the restrictions take effect before it rules.

The Justice Department's petition has been shared with lawyers for parties challenging the order, but is not yet docketed at the Supreme Court.

Any decision on whether to take up the case probably is months away and arguments probably would not take place until the late winter or early spring.

“The lower court’s decisions invalidated a policy of prime importance to the president and his administration in a manner that undermines our border security,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote. “Those decisions confer, without lawful justification, the privilege of American citizenship on hundreds of thousands of unqualified people.”

Cody Wofsy, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who represents children who would be affected by Trump’s restrictions, said the administration’s plan is plainly unconstitutional.

“This executive order is illegal, full stop, and no amount of maneuvering from the administration is going to change that. We will continue to ensure that no baby’s citizenship is ever stripped away by this cruel and senseless order,” Wofsy said in an email.

Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his second term in the White House that would upend more than 125 years of understanding that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment confers citizenship on everyone born on American soil, with narrow exceptions for the children of foreign diplomats and those born to a foreign occupying force.

In a series of decisions, lower courts have struck down the executive order as unconstitutional, or likely so, even after a Supreme Court ruling in late June that limited judges’ use of nationwide injunctions.

While the Supreme Court curbed the use of nationwide injunctions, it did not rule out other court orders that could have nationwide effects, including in class-action lawsuits and those brought by states. The justices did not decide at that time whether the underlying citizenship order is constitutional.

But every lower court that has looked at the issue has concluded that Trump’s order violates or likely violates the 14th Amendment, which was intended to ensure that Black people, including former slaves, had citizenship.

The administration is appealing two cases.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco ruled in July that a group of states that sued over the order needed a nationwide injunction to prevent the problems that would be caused by birthright citizenship being in effect in some states and not others.

Also in July, a federal judge in New Hampshire blocked the citizenship order in a class-action lawsuit including all children who would be affected.

Birthright citizenship automatically makes anyone born in the United States an American citizen, including children born to mothers who are in the country illegally, under long-standing rules. The right was enshrined soon after the Civil War in the first sentence of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/800b0a2005254ec58369b9564f53be8f?utm_source=copy&amp;utm_medium=share">14th Amendment</a>.

The administration has asserted that children of noncitizens are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore not entitled to citizenship.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1672235865420.png" alt="Supreme Court Credit: Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States" />
 <figcaption>Supreme Court Credit: Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;'s administration is asking the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court">Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;to uphold his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/birthright-citizenship-immigration-trump-20919d26029cf0f98ecb0dc7f90a066b">birthright citizenship</a>&nbsp;order declaring that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.The appeal, shared with The Associated Press on Saturday, sets in motion a process at the high court that could lead to a definitive ruling from the justices by early summer on whether the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-the-meaning-and-value-of-american-citizenship/">citizenship restrictions</a>&nbsp;are constitutional.Lower-court judges have so far blocked them from taking effect anywhere. The Republican administration is not asking the court to let the restrictions take effect before it rules.The Justice Department's petition has been shared with lawyers for parties challenging the order, but is not yet docketed at the Supreme Court.Any decision on whether to take up the case probably is months away and arguments probably would not take place until the late winter or early spring.“The lower court’s decisions invalidated a policy of prime importance to the president and his administration in a manner that undermines our border security,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote. “Those decisions confer, without lawful justification, the privilege of American citizenship on hundreds of thousands of unqualified people.”Cody Wofsy, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who represents children who would be affected by Trump’s restrictions, said the administration’s plan is plainly unconstitutional.“This executive order is illegal, full stop, and no amount of maneuvering from the administration is going to change that. We will continue to ensure that no baby’s citizenship is ever stripped away by this cruel and senseless order,” Wofsy said in an email.Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his second term in the White House that would upend more than 125 years of understanding that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment confers citizenship on everyone born on American soil, with narrow exceptions for the children of foreign diplomats and those born to a foreign occupying force.In a series of decisions, lower courts have struck down the executive order as unconstitutional, or likely so, even after a Supreme Court ruling in late June that limited judges’ use of nationwide injunctions.While the Supreme Court curbed the use of nationwide injunctions, it did not rule out other court orders that could have nationwide effects, including in class-action lawsuits and those brought by states. The justices did not decide at that time whether the underlying citizenship order is constitutional.But every lower court that has looked at the issue has concluded that Trump’s order violates or likely violates the 14th Amendment, which was intended to ensure that Black people, including former slaves, had citizenship.The administration is appealing two cases.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco ruled in July that a group of states that sued over the order needed a nationwide injunction to prevent the problems that would be caused by birthright citizenship being in effect in some states and not others.Also in July, a federal judge in New Hampshire blocked the citizenship order in a class-action lawsuit including all children who would be affected.Birthright citizenship automatically makes anyone born in the United States an American citizen, including children born to mothers who are in the country illegally, under long-standing rules. The right was enshrined soon after the Civil War in the first sentence of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/800b0a2005254ec58369b9564f53be8f?utm_source=copy&amp;utm_medium=share">14th Amendment</a>.The administration has asserted that children of noncitizens are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore not entitled to citizenship.

Trump asks Supreme Court to uphold his order on birthright citizenship

KANSAS CITY—Two Kansas City men have now been sentenced in federal court for bank robbery.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Rathell Quavon Ross, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to 77 months. Ross’s co-defendant Gerrad D. Rivera-Willis was sentenced previously on April 22, 2025, to 72 months in prison for bank robbery, according to the United State's Attorney.

According to court documents, Rivera-Willis and Ross parked a vehicle near a bank in Kansas City, Mo., entered the bank and threatened its employees and demanded money.&nbsp;

 The two defendants left the bank with $2,033 and left in the same vehicle in which they arrived. Law enforcement officers were able to identify the vehicle, which had also been used in a previous bank robbery at a different bank. 

The vehicle was subsequently located at which point Ross and Rivera-Willis both fled on foot. Ross was found hiding under a tarp nearby in possession of the vehicle’s keys. Officers also tracked the path of Rivera-Willis’s flight from the vehicle with a K-9 and recovered the stolen $2,033 in currency from under a cinder block near where Rivera-Willis was arrested. 

Rivera-Willis admitted to taking part in the previous bank robbery and was ordered to pay $8,542 in restitution.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean T. Foley. It was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1759017083106.png" alt="Ross photo from an earlier arrest in Wyandotte County" />
 <figcaption>Ross photo from an earlier arrest in Wyandotte County</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY—Two Kansas City men have now been sentenced in federal court for bank robbery.&nbsp;&nbsp;Rathell Quavon Ross, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to 77 months. Ross’s co-defendant Gerrad D. Rivera-Willis was sentenced previously on April 22, 2025, to 72 months in prison for bank robbery, according to the United State's Attorney.According to court documents, Rivera-Willis and Ross parked a vehicle near a bank in Kansas City, Mo., entered the bank and threatened its employees and demanded money.&nbsp; The two defendants left the bank with $2,033 and left in the same vehicle in which they arrived. Law enforcement officers were able to identify the vehicle, which had also been used in a previous bank robbery at a different bank. The vehicle was subsequently located at which point Ross and Rivera-Willis both fled on foot. Ross was found hiding under a tarp nearby in possession of the vehicle’s keys. Officers also tracked the path of Rivera-Willis’s flight from the vehicle with a K-9 and recovered the stolen $2,033 in currency from under a cinder block near where Rivera-Willis was arrested. Rivera-Willis admitted to taking part in the previous bank robbery and was ordered to pay $8,542 in restitution.This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean T. Foley. It was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department.

Prison: Kansas City bank robbery suspect found under a tarp

MONTGMERY COUNTY—Four people were injured in an accident just after 4p.m. Friday in Montgomery County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2024 Jeep driven by Tenisha D.&nbsp;Mayberry, 38, Blue Springs, Mo., was northbound on Patterson Boulevard fleeing law enforcement. The driver failed to yield at a stop light at 8th Street in Coffeyville and struck the passenger side of eastbound Chevy Tahoe driven by Maia E, O'Connell, 17, Coffeyville.

After impact the Jeep traveled off the road and overturned. The Tahoe left the road and rolled onto its roof.

EMS transported Mayberry, a passenger in the Jeep Cortez J. Wasson, Jr. 19,&nbsp; Blue Springs, Missouri, O'Connell to Coffeyville Regional Hospital. EMS transported a passenger in the Tahoe Serafina L&nbsp; O'Connell, 15, Coffeyville, to&nbsp;St Francis Hospital in Tulsa. Wasson was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.&nbsp; Police did not report what prompted the chase.

MONTGMERY COUNTY—Four people were injured in an accident just after 4p.m. Friday in Montgomery County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2024 Jeep driven by Tenisha D.&nbsp;Mayberry, 38, Blue Springs, Mo., was northbound on Patterson Boulevard fleeing law enforcement. The driver failed to yield at a stop light at 8th Street in Coffeyville and struck the passenger side of eastbound Chevy Tahoe driven by Maia E, O'Connell, 17, Coffeyville.After impact the Jeep traveled off the road and overturned. The Tahoe left the road and rolled onto its roof.EMS transported Mayberry, a passenger in the Jeep Cortez J. Wasson, Jr. 19,&nbsp; Blue Springs, Missouri, O'Connell to Coffeyville Regional Hospital. EMS transported a passenger in the Tahoe Serafina L&nbsp; O'Connell, 15, Coffeyville, to&nbsp;St Francis Hospital in Tulsa. Wasson was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.&nbsp; Police did not report what prompted the chase.

2 adults, 2 Kan. teens hospitalized after crash during chase

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A man accused in connection with an Amber Alert in September of 2024 will now face a trial.

Judge William Wooley scheduled trial for Trevawn Strong, 30, of Wichita to begin November 17,&nbsp; according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.

Strong has been charged with abuse of a child, two counts of aggravated battery, two counts of aggravated assault, three counts of aggravated endangering a child, three counts of criminal threat, and misdemeanor counts of domestic battery, criminal restraint, and criminal damage to property, according the district attorney's office.

Just before 5 p.m. September 11,&nbsp; 2024, Strong forcibly took his 5-year-old son Trevawn Strong Jr from his mother utilizing a knife and firearm during a domestic incident at their residence in Wichita, according to police.

&nbsp;Strong&nbsp; threatened to kill his son, stabbed the boy's mother, and took the child.&nbsp; The Kansas Bureau of Investigation reported the boy was in imminent danger. The suspect left in a vehicle, but that vehicle was recovered in the 1900 block of N. Woodlawn in Wichita.&nbsp;

Just before 9p.m. police located the child and took Strong into custody.

He remains free on a $250,000 bond with conditions including electronic monitoring with pre-trial services, according to the district attorney's office.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1726138875380.png" alt="Strong photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Strong photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —A man accused in connection with an Amber Alert in September of 2024 will now face a trial.Judge William Wooley scheduled trial for Trevawn Strong, 30, of Wichita to begin November 17,&nbsp; according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.Strong has been charged with abuse of a child, two counts of aggravated battery, two counts of aggravated assault, three counts of aggravated endangering a child, three counts of criminal threat, and misdemeanor counts of domestic battery, criminal restraint, and criminal damage to property, according the district attorney's office.Just before 5 p.m. September 11,&nbsp; 2024, Strong forcibly took his 5-year-old son Trevawn Strong Jr from his mother utilizing a knife and firearm during a domestic incident at their residence in Wichita, according to police.&nbsp;Strong&nbsp; threatened to kill his son, stabbed the boy's mother, and took the child.&nbsp; The Kansas Bureau of Investigation reported the boy was in imminent danger. The suspect left in a vehicle, but that vehicle was recovered in the 1900 block of N. Woodlawn in Wichita.&nbsp;Just before 9p.m. police located the child and took Strong into custody.He remains free on a $250,000 bond with conditions including electronic monitoring with pre-trial services, according to the district attorney's office.

Trial set for father accused in violent Kansas Amber Alert

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/barbara-ortutay">BARBARA ORTUTAY</a> Associated Press

Despite years of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/meta-tiktok-snap-discord-zuckerberg-testify-senate-00754a6bea92aaad62585ed55f219932">congressional hearings</a>, lawsuits, academic research, whistleblowers and testimony from parents and teenagers about the dangers of Instagram, Meta’s wildly popular app has failed to protect children from harm, with “woefully ineffective” safety measures, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://fairplayforkids.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Teen-Accounts-Broken-Promises-How-Instagram-is-failing-to-protect-minors.pdf" target="_blank">new report</a>&nbsp;from former employee and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/social-media-teens-meta-instagram-arturo-bejar-5f7fb7d55fb9f0da12cf3a57837fa0c5">whistleblower Arturo Bejar</a>&nbsp;and four nonprofit groups.

Meta’s efforts at addressing teen safety and mental health on its platforms have long been met with criticism that the changes don’t go far enough. Now, the report’s authors claim Meta has chosen not to take “real steps” to address safety concerns, “opting instead for splashy headlines about new tools for parents and Instagram Teen Accounts for underage users.”

The report Thursday came from Bejar and the Cybersecurity For Democracy at New York University and Northeastern University, as well as the Molly Rose Foundation, Fairplay and ParentsSOS.

Meta said the report misrepresents its efforts on teen safety.

The report evaluated 47 of Meta’s 53 safety features for teens on Instagram, and found that the majority of them are either no longer available or ineffective. Others reduced harm, but came with some “notable limitations,” while only eight tools worked as intended with no limitations. The report’s focus was on Instagram’s design, not content moderation.

“This distinction is critical because social media platforms and their defenders often conflate efforts to improve platform design with censorship,” the report says. “However, assessing safety tools and calling out Meta when these tools do not work as promised, has nothing to do with free speech. Holding Meta accountable for deceiving young people and parents about how safe Instagram really is, is not a free speech issue.”

Meta called the report “misleading, dangerously speculative” and said it undermines “the important conversation about teen safety.

“This report repeatedly misrepresents our efforts to empower parents and protect teens, misstating how our safety tools work and how millions of parents and teens are using them today. Teen Accounts lead the industry because they provide automatic safety protections and straightforward parental controls,” Meta said. “The reality is teens who were placed into these protections saw less sensitive content, experienced less unwanted contact, and spent less time on Instagram at night. Parents also have robust tools at their fingertips, from limiting usage to monitoring interactions. We’ll continue improving our tools, and we welcome constructive feedback — but this report is not that.”

Meta has not disclosed what percentage of parents use its parental control tools. Such features can be useful for families in which parents are already involved in their child’s online life and activities, but experts say that’s not the reality for many people.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez — who has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/facebook-instagram-mark-zuckerberg-child-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-7257a60d768f59ce16a4d925b7ebfa40">filed a lawsuit against Meta</a>&nbsp;claiming it fails to protect children from predators — said it is unfortunate that Meta is “doubling down on its efforts to persuade parents and children that Meta’s platforms are safe — rather than making sure that its platforms are actually safe.”

The authors created teen test accounts as well as malicious adult and teen accounts that would attempt to interact with these accounts in order to evaluate Instagram’s safeguards.

For instance, while Meta has sought to limit adult strangers from contacting underage users on its app, adults can still communicate with minors “through many features that are inherent in Instagram’s design,” the report says. In many cases, adult strangers were recommended to the minor account by Instagram’s features such as reels and “people to follow.”

“Most significantly, when a minor experiences unwanted sexual advances or inappropriate contact, Meta’s own product design inexplicably does not include any effective way for the teen to let the company know of the unwanted advance,” the report says.

Meta said the report is misleading because it rates many of the safety tools not on what they promised to do but what the authors would like them to accomplish. For instance, the report says a feature that lets users manually hide comments works as described but adds that it “places a clear onus on the recipient” to do so and doesn’t allow the user to say why they hid the comment — which Meta had never promised it would do.

Instagram also pushes its disappearing messages feature to teenagers with an animated reward as an incentive to use it. Disappearing messages can be dangerous for minors and are used for drug sales and grooming, “and leave the minor account with no recourse,” according to the report.

Another safety feature, which is supposed to hide or filter out common offensive words and phrases in order to prevent harassment, was also found to be “largely ineffective.”

“Grossly offensive and misogynistic phrases were among the terms that we were freely able to send from one Teen Account to another,” the report says. For example, a message that encouraged the recipient to kill themselves — and contained a vulgar term for women — was not filtered and had no warnings applied to it.

Meta says the tool was never intended to filter all messages, only message requests. The company&nbsp;<a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2025/09/millions-teens-now-teen-accounts-plus-more-support-schools/" target="_blank">expanded its teen accounts</a>&nbsp;on Thursday to users worldwide.

As it sought to add safeguards for teens, Meta has also promised it&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/meta-facebook-instagram-teens-suicide-eating-disorders-83dce63d9beed0a3ad0c53240077099f">wouldn’t show inappropriate content</a>&nbsp;to teens, such as posts about self-harm, eating disorders or suicide. The report found that its teen avatars were nonetheless recommended age-inappropriate sexual content, including “graphic sexual descriptions, the use of cartoons to describe demeaning sexual acts, and brief displays of nudity.”

“We were also algorithmically recommended a range of violent and disturbing content, including Reels of people getting struck by road traffic, falling from heights to their death (with the last frame cut off so as not to see the impact), and people graphically breaking bones,” the report says.

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 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1758981317980.jpg" alt="Image courtesy of Pixabay" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy of Pixabay</figcaption>
 </figure>By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/barbara-ortutay">BARBARA ORTUTAY</a> Associated PressDespite years of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/meta-tiktok-snap-discord-zuckerberg-testify-senate-00754a6bea92aaad62585ed55f219932">congressional hearings</a>, lawsuits, academic research, whistleblowers and testimony from parents and teenagers about the dangers of Instagram, Meta’s wildly popular app has failed to protect children from harm, with “woefully ineffective” safety measures, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://fairplayforkids.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Teen-Accounts-Broken-Promises-How-Instagram-is-failing-to-protect-minors.pdf" target="_blank">new report</a>&nbsp;from former employee and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/social-media-teens-meta-instagram-arturo-bejar-5f7fb7d55fb9f0da12cf3a57837fa0c5">whistleblower Arturo Bejar</a>&nbsp;and four nonprofit groups.Meta’s efforts at addressing teen safety and mental health on its platforms have long been met with criticism that the changes don’t go far enough. Now, the report’s authors claim Meta has chosen not to take “real steps” to address safety concerns, “opting instead for splashy headlines about new tools for parents and Instagram Teen Accounts for underage users.”The report Thursday came from Bejar and the Cybersecurity For Democracy at New York University and Northeastern University, as well as the Molly Rose Foundation, Fairplay and ParentsSOS.Meta said the report misrepresents its efforts on teen safety.The report evaluated 47 of Meta’s 53 safety features for teens on Instagram, and found that the majority of them are either no longer available or ineffective. Others reduced harm, but came with some “notable limitations,” while only eight tools worked as intended with no limitations. The report’s focus was on Instagram’s design, not content moderation.“This distinction is critical because social media platforms and their defenders often conflate efforts to improve platform design with censorship,” the report says. “However, assessing safety tools and calling out Meta when these tools do not work as promised, has nothing to do with free speech. Holding Meta accountable for deceiving young people and parents about how safe Instagram really is, is not a free speech issue.”Meta called the report “misleading, dangerously speculative” and said it undermines “the important conversation about teen safety.“This report repeatedly misrepresents our efforts to empower parents and protect teens, misstating how our safety tools work and how millions of parents and teens are using them today. Teen Accounts lead the industry because they provide automatic safety protections and straightforward parental controls,” Meta said. “The reality is teens who were placed into these protections saw less sensitive content, experienced less unwanted contact, and spent less time on Instagram at night. Parents also have robust tools at their fingertips, from limiting usage to monitoring interactions. We’ll continue improving our tools, and we welcome constructive feedback — but this report is not that.”Meta has not disclosed what percentage of parents use its parental control tools. Such features can be useful for families in which parents are already involved in their child’s online life and activities, but experts say that’s not the reality for many people.New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez — who has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/facebook-instagram-mark-zuckerberg-child-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-7257a60d768f59ce16a4d925b7ebfa40">filed a lawsuit against Meta</a>&nbsp;claiming it fails to protect children from predators — said it is unfortunate that Meta is “doubling down on its efforts to persuade parents and children that Meta’s platforms are safe — rather than making sure that its platforms are actually safe.”The authors created teen test accounts as well as malicious adult and teen accounts that would attempt to interact with these accounts in order to evaluate Instagram’s safeguards.For instance, while Meta has sought to limit adult strangers from contacting underage users on its app, adults can still communicate with minors “through many features that are inherent in Instagram’s design,” the report says. In many cases, adult strangers were recommended to the minor account by Instagram’s features such as reels and “people to follow.”“Most significantly, when a minor experiences unwanted sexual advances or inappropriate contact, Meta’s own product design inexplicably does not include any effective way for the teen to let the company know of the unwanted advance,” the report says.Meta said the report is misleading because it rates many of the safety tools not on what they promised to do but what the authors would like them to accomplish. For instance, the report says a feature that lets users manually hide comments works as described but adds that it “places a clear onus on the recipient” to do so and doesn’t allow the user to say why they hid the comment — which Meta had never promised it would do.Instagram also pushes its disappearing messages feature to teenagers with an animated reward as an incentive to use it. Disappearing messages can be dangerous for minors and are used for drug sales and grooming, “and leave the minor account with no recourse,” according to the report.Another safety feature, which is supposed to hide or filter out common offensive words and phrases in order to prevent harassment, was also found to be “largely ineffective.”“Grossly offensive and misogynistic phrases were among the terms that we were freely able to send from one Teen Account to another,” the report says. For example, a message that encouraged the recipient to kill themselves — and contained a vulgar term for women — was not filtered and had no warnings applied to it.Meta says the tool was never intended to filter all messages, only message requests. The company&nbsp;<a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2025/09/millions-teens-now-teen-accounts-plus-more-support-schools/" target="_blank">expanded its teen accounts</a>&nbsp;on Thursday to users worldwide.As it sought to add safeguards for teens, Meta has also promised it&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/meta-facebook-instagram-teens-suicide-eating-disorders-83dce63d9beed0a3ad0c53240077099f">wouldn’t show inappropriate content</a>&nbsp;to teens, such as posts about self-harm, eating disorders or suicide. The report found that its teen avatars were nonetheless recommended age-inappropriate sexual content, including “graphic sexual descriptions, the use of cartoons to describe demeaning sexual acts, and brief displays of nudity.”“We were also algorithmically recommended a range of violent and disturbing content, including Reels of people getting struck by road traffic, falling from heights to their death (with the last frame cut off so as not to see the impact), and people graphically breaking bones,” the report says.In addition, Instagram also recommended a “range of self-harm, self-injury, and body image content” on teen accounts that the report says “would be reasonably likely to result in adverse impacts for young people, including teenagers experiencing poor mental health, or self-harm and suicidal ideation and behaviors.”The report also found that children under 13 — and appearing as young as six — were not only on the platform but were incentivized by Instagram’s algorithm to perform sexualized behavior such as suggestive dances.The authors made several recommendations for Meta to improve teen safety, including regular “red-team” testing of messaging and blocking controls, where a system is tested against one team pretending to be bad actors; providing an “easy, effective, and rewarding way” for teens to report inappropriate conduct or contacts in direct messages; and publishing data on teens’ experiences on the app. They also suggest that the recommendations made to a 13-year-old’s teen account should be “reasonably PG-rated,” and Meta should ask kids about their experiences of sensitive content they have been recommended, including “frequency, intensity, and severity.”“Until we see meaningful action, Teen Accounts will remain yet another missed opportunity to protect children from harm, and Instagram will continue to be an unsafe experience for far too many of our teens,” the report says.