SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement arrested a suspect after a reported armed robbery at a Circle K in southwest Wichita last week. Officers used a drone to quickly locate the suspect and direct officers to his location.

Just before 5:30 a.m. Jan. 2, police responded to a robbery call at the Circle K at 1254 S. Tyler in Wichita, according to a media release.

An employee told officers a man entered the store armed with a handgun and demanded cash from the register. The employee handed over cash, and the suspect, identified from Sedgwick County booking records as 46-year-old Charles G. Scott, fled westbound on a bicycle.

Officers found a bicycle just west of Tyler that appeared to have crashed. A responding officer deployed a drone and quickly spotted Scott hopping fences in the neighborhood west of the gas station. Officers moved in, took the Scott into custody, and recovered cash from his pocket. Officers also found clothing and a gun matching the description nearby along his path of travel.&nbsp;

"This is exactly how technology helps us in real time," Wichita Police Chief Joseph Sullivan said. "Drones let us quickly deploy, cover a perimeter, and direct officers to the suspect right away. In this case, that quick response was huge, and it helped us get someone who committed a violent crime off the street."

Scott is being held in the Sedgwick County Jail on requested of aggravated robbery, theft, drug possession and a numerous other allegations, according to online jail records.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767449289773.png" alt="Scott photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Scott photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement arrested a suspect after a reported armed robbery at a Circle K in southwest Wichita last week. Officers used a drone to quickly locate the suspect and direct officers to his location.Just before 5:30 a.m. Jan. 2, police responded to a robbery call at the Circle K at 1254 S. Tyler in Wichita, according to a media release.An employee told officers a man entered the store armed with a handgun and demanded cash from the register. The employee handed over cash, and the suspect, identified from Sedgwick County booking records as 46-year-old Charles G. Scott, fled westbound on a bicycle.Officers found a bicycle just west of Tyler that appeared to have crashed. A responding officer deployed a drone and quickly spotted Scott hopping fences in the neighborhood west of the gas station. Officers moved in, took the Scott into custody, and recovered cash from his pocket. Officers also found clothing and a gun matching the description nearby along his path of travel.&nbsp;"This is exactly how technology helps us in real time," Wichita Police Chief Joseph Sullivan said. "Drones let us quickly deploy, cover a perimeter, and direct officers to the suspect right away. In this case, that quick response was huge, and it helped us get someone who committed a violent crime off the street."Scott is being held in the Sedgwick County Jail on requested of aggravated robbery, theft, drug possession and a numerous other allegations, according to online jail records.

Drone helps police capture Kansas armed robbery suspect

<a href="https://apnews.com/author/david-bauder">DAVID BAUDER</a> Associated Press

In the wake of last weekend’s U.S. military action in Venezuela, the news media got something it has seldom heard from the Trump administration: a “thank you.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio credited news organizations that had learned in advance about Saturday’s strike that led to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/maduro-venezuela-trump-criminal-case-131f59e517cc8314a53c8dace230d328">capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro</a>&nbsp;with not putting the mission in jeopardy by publicly reporting on it before it happened.

Rubio’s acknowledgment was particularly noteworthy because Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has cited a mistrust of journalists’ ability to responsibly handle sensitive information as one of the chief reasons for imposing restrictive&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-press-access-hegseth-trump-restrictions-5d9c2a63e4e03b91fc1546bb09ffbf12">new press rules</a>&nbsp;on Pentagon reporters. Most mainstream news organizations have left posts in the Pentagon rather than agree to Hegseth’s policy.

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Rubio said the Republican administration withheld information about the mission from Congress ahead of time because “it will leak. It’s as simple as that.” But the primary reason was operational security, he said.

“Frankly, a number of media outlets had gotten leaks that this was coming and held it for that very reason,” Rubio said. “And we thank them for doing that or lives could have been lost. American lives.”

Semafor, citing “people familiar with communications between the administration and news organizations,” reported that The New York Times and The Washington Post had both learned of the raid in advance but held off reporting on it to avoid endangering U.S. military personnel. Representatives for both outlets declined to comment to The Associated Press on Monday.

Withholding information on a planned mission for that reason is routine for news organizations, said Dana Priest, a longtime national security reporter at the Post who now teaches at the University of Maryland. Even after the fact, the Post has asked government authorities about whether revealing certain details could endanger people, she said.

When The Atlantic magazine editor Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-signal-classified-information-308e7a81d70d6233c06a1f7330ae3004">included in a text chain</a>&nbsp;last spring where Hegseth revealed information about a military attack in Yemen, the journalist did not report on the events until well after U.S. personnel was out of danger and the information had been thoroughly checked out.

Most Americans learned of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-us-explosions-caracas-ca712a67aaefc30b1831f5bf0b50665e">the Venezuela attack</a>&nbsp;in the predawn hours of Saturday when President Donald Trump announced it on his Truth Social platform upon completion.

While The Associated Press did not have advance word that the operation would happen, its journalists in Venezuela heard and observed explosions taking place there, and that was reported on the news wire more than two hours before Trump’s announcement. The U.S. involvement was not made clear until Trump’s post, however.

Decisions on publication have many dimensions

Hegseth, in defending rules that restrict reporters’ movements and reporting in the Pentagon, told Fox News last year that “we have expectations that you’re not soliciting classified or sensitive information.” The Times last month&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-press-access-new-york-times-lawsuit-4902b47079139202a906921e6c685a80">filed a lawsuit</a>&nbsp;seeking to overturn the rules.

“What the so-called legacy Pentagon press corps has demonstrated is it can act responsibly, as it always has, to protect troops’ lives,” said Barbara Starr, a former CNN defense correspondent. “But even more important perhaps is it demonstrates the media makes every effort to continue to cover the news outside of Pete Hegseth’s control and endless message points.”

Decisions on whether to report information that could put lives or a mission in danger often involve high-level discussions between editors and government officials. But Priest stressed that in a country with freedom of the press, the ultimate decision on whether to report the information lies with the news organization.

Generations ago, President John F. Kennedy persuaded editors at the Times not to report when it learned in advance of a U.S.-backed attack by Cuban exiles on Fidel Castro’s forces at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. The mission proved a monumental failure, and a Times editor, Bill Keller, later said that Kennedy expressed regret that the newspaper had not reported on what it had known because it could have prevented a fiasco.

Many mainstream journalists covering the military and national security have extensive experience dealing with sensitive issues, Priest said. But there’s a difference, she said, between reporting information that could put someone in danger and that which could prove embarrassing to an administration.

“The reporters are not going to be deterred by a ridiculously broad censorship edict by the Trump administration,” Priest said. “They’re going to dig in and work even harder. Their mission is not to curry favor with the Trump administration. It’s to report information to the public.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767463872878.png" alt="Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Trump during a press conference on Sunday -image from White House video" />
 <figcaption>Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Trump during a press conference on Sunday -image from White House video</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://apnews.com/author/david-bauder">DAVID BAUDER</a> Associated PressIn the wake of last weekend’s U.S. military action in Venezuela, the news media got something it has seldom heard from the Trump administration: a “thank you.”Secretary of State Marco Rubio credited news organizations that had learned in advance about Saturday’s strike that led to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/maduro-venezuela-trump-criminal-case-131f59e517cc8314a53c8dace230d328">capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro</a>&nbsp;with not putting the mission in jeopardy by publicly reporting on it before it happened.Rubio’s acknowledgment was particularly noteworthy because Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has cited a mistrust of journalists’ ability to responsibly handle sensitive information as one of the chief reasons for imposing restrictive&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-press-access-hegseth-trump-restrictions-5d9c2a63e4e03b91fc1546bb09ffbf12">new press rules</a>&nbsp;on Pentagon reporters. Most mainstream news organizations have left posts in the Pentagon rather than agree to Hegseth’s policy.Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Rubio said the Republican administration withheld information about the mission from Congress ahead of time because “it will leak. It’s as simple as that.” But the primary reason was operational security, he said.“Frankly, a number of media outlets had gotten leaks that this was coming and held it for that very reason,” Rubio said. “And we thank them for doing that or lives could have been lost. American lives.”<h2>Advance word got out</h2>Semafor, citing “people familiar with communications between the administration and news organizations,” reported that The New York Times and The Washington Post had both learned of the raid in advance but held off reporting on it to avoid endangering U.S. military personnel. Representatives for both outlets declined to comment to The Associated Press on Monday.Withholding information on a planned mission for that reason is routine for news organizations, said Dana Priest, a longtime national security reporter at the Post who now teaches at the University of Maryland. Even after the fact, the Post has asked government authorities about whether revealing certain details could endanger people, she said.When The Atlantic magazine editor Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-signal-classified-information-308e7a81d70d6233c06a1f7330ae3004">included in a text chain</a>&nbsp;last spring where Hegseth revealed information about a military attack in Yemen, the journalist did not report on the events until well after U.S. personnel was out of danger and the information had been thoroughly checked out.Most Americans learned of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-us-explosions-caracas-ca712a67aaefc30b1831f5bf0b50665e">the Venezuela attack</a>&nbsp;in the predawn hours of Saturday when President Donald Trump announced it on his Truth Social platform upon completion.While The Associated Press did not have advance word that the operation would happen, its journalists in Venezuela heard and observed explosions taking place there, and that was reported on the news wire more than two hours before Trump’s announcement. The U.S. involvement was not made clear until Trump’s post, however.<h2>Decisions on publication have many dimensions</h2>Hegseth, in defending rules that restrict reporters’ movements and reporting in the Pentagon, told Fox News last year that “we have expectations that you’re not soliciting classified or sensitive information.” The Times last month&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-press-access-new-york-times-lawsuit-4902b47079139202a906921e6c685a80">filed a lawsuit</a>&nbsp;seeking to overturn the rules.“What the so-called legacy Pentagon press corps has demonstrated is it can act responsibly, as it always has, to protect troops’ lives,” said Barbara Starr, a former CNN defense correspondent. “But even more important perhaps is it demonstrates the media makes every effort to continue to cover the news outside of Pete Hegseth’s control and endless message points.”Decisions on whether to report information that could put lives or a mission in danger often involve high-level discussions between editors and government officials. But Priest stressed that in a country with freedom of the press, the ultimate decision on whether to report the information lies with the news organization.Generations ago, President John F. Kennedy persuaded editors at the Times not to report when it learned in advance of a U.S.-backed attack by Cuban exiles on Fidel Castro’s forces at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. The mission proved a monumental failure, and a Times editor, Bill Keller, later said that Kennedy expressed regret that the newspaper had not reported on what it had known because it could have prevented a fiasco.Many mainstream journalists covering the military and national security have extensive experience dealing with sensitive issues, Priest said. But there’s a difference, she said, between reporting information that could put someone in danger and that which could prove embarrassing to an administration.“The reporters are not going to be deterred by a ridiculously broad censorship edict by the Trump administration,” Priest said. “They’re going to dig in and work even harder. Their mission is not to curry favor with the Trump administration. It’s to report information to the public.”___

Trump admin. thanks the media for keeping quiet before the strike that captured Maduro

SULLIVAN COUNTY, Mo.—One person died in an accident in a crash with a MSHP Trooper just before 7:30a.m. Monday in Sullivan County, Missouri.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Toyota Tundra driven by a 25-year-old Milan man was eastbound on MO 6 on and one half miles east of Green City. The pickup crossed the center of the road and struck a 2023 Dodge Charger driven by a 28-year-old State Trooper, head-on.&nbsp; After impact the pickup overturned.&nbsp;&nbsp;

A 62-year-old female passenger in the Toyota was pronounced deceased at the scene.&nbsp; Sullivan County Ambulance transported the Trooper,&nbsp; the pickup driver and three additional passengers in the pickup including a 46-year-old man, 43-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man all of Milan to Northeast Regional Medial Center. Adair County Ambulance transported a 17-year-old male passenger in the pickup to Northeast Regional Medical Center.

The 62-year-old woman, 46-year-old man and 21-year-old man in the pickup were not wearing seat belts, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767710558370.png" alt="Photo MSHP" />
 <figcaption>Photo MSHP</figcaption>
 </figure>SULLIVAN COUNTY, Mo.—One person died in an accident in a crash with a MSHP Trooper just before 7:30a.m. Monday in Sullivan County, Missouri.The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Toyota Tundra driven by a 25-year-old Milan man was eastbound on MO 6 on and one half miles east of Green City. The pickup crossed the center of the road and struck a 2023 Dodge Charger driven by a 28-year-old State Trooper, head-on.&nbsp; After impact the pickup overturned.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767710535518.jpeg" alt="MSHP" />
 <figcaption>MSHP</figcaption>
 </figure>A 62-year-old female passenger in the Toyota was pronounced deceased at the scene.&nbsp; Sullivan County Ambulance transported the Trooper,&nbsp; the pickup driver and three additional passengers in the pickup including a 46-year-old man, 43-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man all of Milan to Northeast Regional Medial Center. Adair County Ambulance transported a 17-year-old male passenger in the pickup to Northeast Regional Medical Center.The 62-year-old woman, 46-year-old man and 21-year-old man in the pickup were not wearing seat belts, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

Woman dead, 6 injured after crash with State Trooper's car

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/mike-stobbe">MIKE STOBBE</a>

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. flu infections surged over the holidays, and health officials are calling it a severe season that is likely to get worse.

New government&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/fluview/surveillance/2025-week-52.html" target="_blank">data</a>&nbsp;posted Monday — for flu activity through the week of Christmas — showed that by some measures this season is already surpassing the flu epidemic of last winter, one of the harshest in recent history.

The data was released the same day that the Trump administration said it will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/childhood-vaccine-schedule-trump-rfk-hhs-9b8df9e2767c1261aaac4e2331e77fa3">no longer recommend</a>&nbsp;flu shots and some other types of vaccines for all children.

Forty-five states were reporting high or very high flu activity during the week of Christmas, up from 30 states&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/flu-subclade-k-cdc-vaccine-ca9bd270ca70602775168b0b651e3b2a">the week before</a>.

The higher numbers appear to be driven by the type of flu that’s been spreading, public health experts say.

One type of flu virus, called A H3N2, historically has caused the most hospitalizations and deaths in older people. So far this season, that’s the type most frequently reported. Even more concerning, more than 90% of the H3N2 infections analyzed were a new version — known as the subclade K variant — that differs from the strain in this year’s flu shots.

Flu seasons often don’t peak until January or February, so it’s too early to know how big a problem that mismatch will be.

“The fact that we’ve seen steady increases over the last several weeks without much of a decline or even a flattening would suggest to me that we’ve got the peak ahead of us,” said Dr. Robert Hopkins, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

Last flu season was bad, with the overall flu hospitalization rate the highest since the H1N1 flu pandemic 15 years ago.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/flu-deaths-children-cdc-e79b1e4169d629ad4bc1095d95d82110">Child flu deaths</a>&nbsp;reached 288, the worst recorded for regular U.S. flu season.

Nine pediatric flu deaths have been reported so far this season. For children, the percentage of emergency department visits due to flu has already surpassed the highest mark seen during the 2024-2025 season.

Hopkins said H3N2 typically hits older adults hardest, and rising rates among children and young adults suggest a severe flu season across all age groups.

Another ominous sign: The percentage of doctor’s office and medical clinic visits that were due to flu-like illness also was higher late last month than at any point during the previous flu season.

Deaths and hospitalizations have not reached last year’s levels, but those are lagging indicators, Hopkins noted.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates at least 11 million illnesses, 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths from flu have already occurred this season.

US government dials back vaccine recommendations

Public health experts recommend that everyone 6 months and older get an annual influenza vaccine.

But federal health officials on Monday announced they will no longer recommend flu vaccinations for U.S. children, saying it’s a decision parents and patients should make in consultation with their doctors.

However, flu vaccine will continue to be fully covered by private insurers and federal programs, including Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Vaccines for Children program, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said.

COVID-19 infections also have been rising,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/covid/php/surveillance/index.html" target="_blank">other federal data</a>&nbsp;show, though so far this winter they remain less common than flu. The Trump administration&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-vaccine-pregnant-women-children-70c358cad726e57d680234c3ecdec926">stopped recommending</a>&nbsp;COVID-19 shots for healthy children last year.

Hopkins voiced concern about a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.medicaid.gov/federal-policy-guidance/downloads/sho25005.pdf" target="_blank">federal notice</a>&nbsp;posted last week that said government Medicaid programs, which pay for medical services for low-income families, will no longer have to report on immunization rates.

CDC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/fluvaxview/dashboard/adult-coverage.html" target="_blank">survey data</a>&nbsp;suggests that U.S. flu vaccination rates are about the same as last year. But the Medicaid data — for flu as well as measles and other bugs — is a more comprehensive look at children who are at higher risk for many diseases, he said.

Federal health officials framed the move as part of an effort to distance how Medicaid doctors are rated and paid from how often they provided childhood vaccinations.

“Government bureaucracies should never coerce doctors or families into accepting vaccines or penalize physicians for respecting patient choice,” wrote Health Secretary&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-kennedy-trump-health-hhs-maha-5e1e9e3208c42b6a185facad26e3b457">Robert F. Kennedy Jr.</a>, who was a leading voice in the anti-vaccine community before President Donald Trump put him in charge of federal health agencies.

“That practice ends now,” Kennedy wrote&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SecKennedy/status/2006454741061038214?s=20" target="_blank">on social media</a>&nbsp;last week.

But Hopkins said the move will “eliminate a major source of data” that allows communities to assess efforts to protect children from vaccine-preventable diseases.

“This is a disastrous plan,” he added.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767660552159.png" alt="Most recent flu map from the CDC" />
 <figcaption>Most recent flu map from the CDC</figcaption>
 </figure>By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/mike-stobbe">MIKE STOBBE</a>NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. flu infections surged over the holidays, and health officials are calling it a severe season that is likely to get worse.New government&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/fluview/surveillance/2025-week-52.html" target="_blank">data</a>&nbsp;posted Monday — for flu activity through the week of Christmas — showed that by some measures this season is already surpassing the flu epidemic of last winter, one of the harshest in recent history.The data was released the same day that the Trump administration said it will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/childhood-vaccine-schedule-trump-rfk-hhs-9b8df9e2767c1261aaac4e2331e77fa3">no longer recommend</a>&nbsp;flu shots and some other types of vaccines for all children.Forty-five states were reporting high or very high flu activity during the week of Christmas, up from 30 states&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/flu-subclade-k-cdc-vaccine-ca9bd270ca70602775168b0b651e3b2a">the week before</a>.The higher numbers appear to be driven by the type of flu that’s been spreading, public health experts say.One type of flu virus, called A H3N2, historically has caused the most hospitalizations and deaths in older people. So far this season, that’s the type most frequently reported. Even more concerning, more than 90% of the H3N2 infections analyzed were a new version — known as the subclade K variant — that differs from the strain in this year’s flu shots.Flu seasons often don’t peak until January or February, so it’s too early to know how big a problem that mismatch will be.“The fact that we’ve seen steady increases over the last several weeks without much of a decline or even a flattening would suggest to me that we’ve got the peak ahead of us,” said Dr. Robert Hopkins, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.<h2>The second bad flu season in a row</h2>Last flu season was bad, with the overall flu hospitalization rate the highest since the H1N1 flu pandemic 15 years ago.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/flu-deaths-children-cdc-e79b1e4169d629ad4bc1095d95d82110">Child flu deaths</a>&nbsp;reached 288, the worst recorded for regular U.S. flu season.Nine pediatric flu deaths have been reported so far this season. For children, the percentage of emergency department visits due to flu has already surpassed the highest mark seen during the 2024-2025 season.Hopkins said H3N2 typically hits older adults hardest, and rising rates among children and young adults suggest a severe flu season across all age groups.Another ominous sign: The percentage of doctor’s office and medical clinic visits that were due to flu-like illness also was higher late last month than at any point during the previous flu season.Deaths and hospitalizations have not reached last year’s levels, but those are lagging indicators, Hopkins noted.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates at least 11 million illnesses, 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths from flu have already occurred this season.<h2>US government dials back vaccine recommendations</h2>Public health experts recommend that everyone 6 months and older get an annual influenza vaccine.But federal health officials on Monday announced they will no longer recommend flu vaccinations for U.S. children, saying it’s a decision parents and patients should make in consultation with their doctors.However, flu vaccine will continue to be fully covered by private insurers and federal programs, including Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Vaccines for Children program, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said.COVID-19 infections also have been rising,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/covid/php/surveillance/index.html" target="_blank">other federal data</a>&nbsp;show, though so far this winter they remain less common than flu. The Trump administration&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-vaccine-pregnant-women-children-70c358cad726e57d680234c3ecdec926">stopped recommending</a>&nbsp;COVID-19 shots for healthy children last year.<h2>US will stop collecting Medicaid data</h2>Hopkins voiced concern about a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.medicaid.gov/federal-policy-guidance/downloads/sho25005.pdf" target="_blank">federal notice</a>&nbsp;posted last week that said government Medicaid programs, which pay for medical services for low-income families, will no longer have to report on immunization rates.CDC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/fluvaxview/dashboard/adult-coverage.html" target="_blank">survey data</a>&nbsp;suggests that U.S. flu vaccination rates are about the same as last year. But the Medicaid data — for flu as well as measles and other bugs — is a more comprehensive look at children who are at higher risk for many diseases, he said.Federal health officials framed the move as part of an effort to distance how Medicaid doctors are rated and paid from how often they provided childhood vaccinations.“Government bureaucracies should never coerce doctors or families into accepting vaccines or penalize physicians for respecting patient choice,” wrote Health Secretary&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-kennedy-trump-health-hhs-maha-5e1e9e3208c42b6a185facad26e3b457">Robert F. Kennedy Jr.</a>, who was a leading voice in the anti-vaccine community before President Donald Trump put him in charge of federal health agencies.“That practice ends now,” Kennedy wrote&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SecKennedy/status/2006454741061038214?s=20" target="_blank">on social media</a>&nbsp;last week.But Hopkins said the move will “eliminate a major source of data” that allows communities to assess efforts to protect children from vaccine-preventable diseases.“This is a disastrous plan,” he added.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Kansas among states reporting high or very high flu activity

DOUGLAS COUNTY— A man who broke into City Hall early Monday was fatally shot by a city employee who was authorized and trained to carry a firearm within the building, according to Lawrence City Manager Craig Owens and Police Chief Rich Lockhart.

The 28-year-old man forced his way into the building about 8:00am through a back door, then broke through a door on the 4th floor, which is a secured area that is not open to the public.

City employees attempted to remove the man and a struggle began. The man was fatally shot. The investigation will be led by the Lawrence&nbsp; Police Department in cooperation with the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office.

No city employees were seriously injured. The deceased suspect is not known to police nor from the Lawrence area. Investigators are working to notify next of kin.

The Lawrence City Commission meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:30pm on Tuesday and will proceed as usual.

Other than that meeting, City Hall, including Municipal Court Offices, will be closed until Thursday.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767667863649.png" alt="Photo courtesy WIBW TV" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy WIBW TV</figcaption>
 </figure>DOUGLAS COUNTY— A man who broke into City Hall early Monday was fatally shot by a city employee who was authorized and trained to carry a firearm within the building, according to Lawrence City Manager Craig Owens and Police Chief Rich Lockhart.The 28-year-old man forced his way into the building about 8:00am through a back door, then broke through a door on the 4th floor, which is a secured area that is not open to the public.City employees attempted to remove the man and a struggle began. The man was fatally shot. The investigation will be led by the Lawrence&nbsp; Police Department in cooperation with the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office.No city employees were seriously injured. The deceased suspect is not known to police nor from the Lawrence area. Investigators are working to notify next of kin.The Lawrence City Commission meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:30pm on Tuesday and will proceed as usual.Other than that meeting, City Hall, including Municipal Court Offices, will be closed until Thursday.&nbsp;

New details: City employee killed intruder at Lawrence City Hall

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/david-bauder">DAVID BAUDER</a>

Leaders of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private agency that has steered federal funding to PBS, NPR and hundreds of public television and radio stations across the country, voted Monday to dissolve the organization that was created in 1967.

CPB had been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/public-broadcasting-defunding-pbs-npr-94708ffb8313d4811fa6ca199fe454ad">winding down</a>&nbsp;since Congress acted last summer to defund its operations at the encouragement of President Donald Trump. Its board of directors chose Monday to shutter CPB completely instead of keeping it in existence as a shell.

“CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks,” said Patricia Harrison, the organization’s president and CEO.

Many Republicans have long accused public broadcasting, particularly its news programming, of being biased toward liberals but it wasn’t until the second Trump administration —- with full GOP control of Congress — that those criticisms were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/npr-pbs-public-broadcasting-trump-cuts-73de8fadf32655aa74752690d22a3758">turned into action</a>.

Ruby Calvert, head of CPB’s board of directors, said the federal defunding of public media has been devastating.

“Even at this moment, I am convinced that public media will survive, and that a new Congress will address public media’s role in our country because it is critical to our children’s education, our history, culture and democracy to do so,” Calvert said.

CPB said it was financially supporting the American Archive of Public Broadcasting in its effort to preserve historic content, and is working with the University of Maryland to maintain its own records.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/5/1746181587274.png" alt="Google image" />
 <figcaption>Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/david-bauder">DAVID BAUDER</a>Leaders of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private agency that has steered federal funding to PBS, NPR and hundreds of public television and radio stations across the country, voted Monday to dissolve the organization that was created in 1967.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/7/1752606245570.png" alt="Google image" />
 <figcaption>Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>CPB had been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/public-broadcasting-defunding-pbs-npr-94708ffb8313d4811fa6ca199fe454ad">winding down</a>&nbsp;since Congress acted last summer to defund its operations at the encouragement of President Donald Trump. Its board of directors chose Monday to shutter CPB completely instead of keeping it in existence as a shell.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1754071475812.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>“CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks,” said Patricia Harrison, the organization’s president and CEO.Many Republicans have long accused public broadcasting, particularly its news programming, of being biased toward liberals but it wasn’t until the second Trump administration —- with full GOP control of Congress — that those criticisms were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/npr-pbs-public-broadcasting-trump-cuts-73de8fadf32655aa74752690d22a3758">turned into action</a>.Ruby Calvert, head of CPB’s board of directors, said the federal defunding of public media has been devastating.“Even at this moment, I am convinced that public media will survive, and that a new Congress will address public media’s role in our country because it is critical to our children’s education, our history, culture and democracy to do so,” Calvert said.CPB said it was financially supporting the American Archive of Public Broadcasting in its effort to preserve historic content, and is working with the University of Maryland to maintain its own records.

Corporation for Public Broadcasting votes itself out of existence

By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/meg-kinnard">MEG KINNARD</a>

In detailing the U.S. military action that led to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-trump-military-operation-85041a1ec03bafe839b785a95169d694">arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro</a>, President Donald Trump referenced the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/monroe-doctrine" target="_blank">Monroe Doctrine</a>, a maxim that has shaped American foreign policy for two centuries.

The doctrine formulated by President James Monroe was originally aimed at opposing European meddling in the Western Hemisphere. It has since been invoked repeatedly by subsequent presidents angling to justify U.S. intervention in the region.

On Saturday, the consequential doctrine of America’s fifth president was cited by the 47th president as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/legal-questions-maduro-trump-venezuela-capture-congress-7c686106ae7ffc759e5a1726e1b85576">partial justification</a>&nbsp;for the capture of a foreign leader to face criminal charges in the United States. Trump even quipped that some now called it “the Don-roe Doctrine.”

Political scientists are now looking back on the use of the Monroe Doctrine through history and drawing connections to how the Trump administration is seeking to apply it to current foreign policy, including the Republican president’s assertion that Washington would “run” Venezuela until a suitable replacement for Maduro was in place,

Here’s a look at the Monroe Doctrine, how it has been invoked over time and how it has informed Trump’s decision making:

Articulated in Monroe’s 1823 address to Congress, it was intended to ward off European colonization or other interference in independent nations of the Western Hemisphere. In return, the U.S. also agreed to stay out of European wars and internal affairs.

At the time, many Latin American countries had just gained independence from European empires. Monroe wanted both to prevent Europe from reclaiming control and to assert U.S. influence in the hemisphere.

Through the centuries, much of that has included Venezuela, according to Jay Sexton, a history professor at the University of Missouri.

“Historically, Venezuela has been the pretext or the trigger for a lot of corollaries to the Monroe Doctrine,” said Sexton, author of “The Monroe Doctrine: Empire and Nation in Nineteenth-Century America,” citing instances from the late 1800s, all the way through Trump’s first administration.

“And going back to the 19th century, this has been a divided, fractious country that’s had difficult relations with foreign powers and is also courted, relationships with rivals of the United States.”

The Roosevelt Corollary and ‘Big Stick’ diplomacy

European leaders initially paid little attention to the proclamation, but the Monroe Doctrine has been invoked in the two centuries since to justify U.S. military interventions in Latin America.

The first direct challenge came after France installed Emperor Maximilian in Mexico in the 1860s. After the end of the Civil War, France relented under U.S. pressure and withdrew.

In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt’s argument that the U.S. should be allowed to intervene in unstable Latin American countries became known as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/roosevelt-corollary" target="_blank">Roosevelt Corollary</a>, a justification invoked in a number of places, including supporting Panama’s secession from Colombia, which helped secure the Panama Canal Zone for the U.S.

The Cold War era saw the Monroe Doctrine invoked as a defense against communism, such as the U.S. demand in 1962 that Soviet missiles be withdrawn from Cuba, as well as the Reagan administration’s opposition of the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

Gretchen Murphy, a professor at the University of Texas, described Trump’s reference to the doctrine as in line with how it had been used by his predecessors, including Roosevelt, who she said “claimed that the Monroe Doctrine could be extended to justify interventions that instead of defending Latin American nations from European intervention, policed them to make sure their governments acted in U.S. commercial and strategic interests.”

“I think Trump is jumping on this familiar pattern -– citing the Monroe Doctrine to legitimate interventions that undermine real democracy, and ones where various kinds of interests are served, including commercial interests,” said Murphy, author of “Hemispheric Imaginings: The Monroe Doctrine and Narratives of U.S. Empire.”

What has Trump said about the Monroe Doctrine?

Trump said that Venezuela, under Maduro’s rule, had been “increasingly hosting foreign adversaries in our region and acquiring menacing offensive weapons that could threaten U.S. interests.” Trump called those actions “in gross violation of the core principles of American foreign policy dating back more than two centuries.”

But, Trump added, “under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”

“We want to surround ourselves with good neighbors, we want to surround ourselves with stability, and we want to surround ourselves with energy,” Trump said. “We have tremendous energy in that country. It’s very important that we protect it. We need that for ourselves. We need that for the world.”

Asked Saturday how the U.S. running a country represented his “America First” mentality, Trump defended the move as one that, similarly to the Monroe Doctrine’s origin story, was aimed at strengthening America itself.

The administration’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-security-strategy-europe-russia-america-first-068488ca7e6d1c92ccaddd1649958218">national security strategy</a>&nbsp;references “a ‘&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26341039-national-security-strategy/?q=corollary&amp;mode=search" target="_blank">Trump Corollary</a>&nbsp;’ to the Monroe Doctrine,” intended to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere.”

“Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again, won’t happen,” Trump said. “For decades, other administrations have neglected or even contributed to these growing security threats in the Western Hemisphere. Under the Trump administration, we are reasserting American power in a very powerful way in our home region.”

“What presidents used to do is they would cloak whatever their agenda was in the Monroe Doctrine by issuing corollaries,” Sexton said.

After World War II, Sexton said, rather than devising corollaries to the Monroe Doctrine, presidents started issuing their own, citing Harry S. Truman and Richard Nixon. He Sexton said he assumed Trump might take similar action.

“When you’re talking about a Trump Corollary, I just knew Trump wouldn’t want to be a corollary to another president’s doctrine, that somehow this would evolve into a Trump doctrine,” he said.

The national security strategy released by the White House in December portrayed European allies as weak and aimed to reassert America’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere.

Laying out a series of military strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean as “a ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine” to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere,” the document said it aimed to combat the flow of narcotics and control migration. The strategy marked a reimagining of the U.S. military footprint in the region even after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-carrier-venezuela-trump-ford-strikes-drugs-241ea9e039d717b9f80f793922cb7cc9">building up the largest military presence</a>&nbsp;there in generations.

Sexton said the military operation to capture Maduro — and a possible protracted U.S. involvement in Venezuela — could cause another split among supporters of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, similar to the one after the administration’s strikes last year on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“This is not just the sort of hit-and-run kind of job where, like in Iran a couple months ago, we dropped the missiles, and then you can then you can go on and carry on as normal,” Sexton said. “This is going to be potentially quite a mess and contradict the administration’s policies on withdrawing from forever wars — and there’s a lot of isolationists, within the MAGA coalition.”

Meg Kinnard can be reached at&nbsp;<a href="http://x.com/MegKinnardAP" target="_blank">http://x.com/MegKinnardAP</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767660943758.png" alt="President James Monroe image U.S. Department of State" />
 <figcaption>President James Monroe image U.S. Department of State</figcaption>
 </figure>By&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/author/meg-kinnard">MEG KINNARD</a>In detailing the U.S. military action that led to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-trump-military-operation-85041a1ec03bafe839b785a95169d694">arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro</a>, President Donald Trump referenced the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/monroe-doctrine" target="_blank">Monroe Doctrine</a>, a maxim that has shaped American foreign policy for two centuries.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;It&#39;s about PEACE on Earth. We gotta have peace. It&#39;s our hemisphere. The Monroe Doctrine was very important when it was done, and other Presidents — a lot of them — they lost sight of it. I didn&#39;t. I didn&#39;t lose sight.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/CzDyUdqvzO">pic.twitter.com/CzDyUdqvzO</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2008034410759602559?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The doctrine formulated by President James Monroe was originally aimed at opposing European meddling in the Western Hemisphere. It has since been invoked repeatedly by subsequent presidents angling to justify U.S. intervention in the region.On Saturday, the consequential doctrine of America’s fifth president was cited by the 47th president as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/legal-questions-maduro-trump-venezuela-capture-congress-7c686106ae7ffc759e5a1726e1b85576">partial justification</a>&nbsp;for the capture of a foreign leader to face criminal charges in the United States. Trump even quipped that some now called it “the Don-roe Doctrine.”Political scientists are now looking back on the use of the Monroe Doctrine through history and drawing connections to how the Trump administration is seeking to apply it to current foreign policy, including the Republican president’s assertion that Washington would “run” Venezuela until a suitable replacement for Maduro was in place,Here’s a look at the Monroe Doctrine, how it has been invoked over time and how it has informed Trump’s decision making:<h2>What is the Monroe Doctrine?</h2>Articulated in Monroe’s 1823 address to Congress, it was intended to ward off European colonization or other interference in independent nations of the Western Hemisphere. In return, the U.S. also agreed to stay out of European wars and internal affairs.At the time, many Latin American countries had just gained independence from European empires. Monroe wanted both to prevent Europe from reclaiming control and to assert U.S. influence in the hemisphere.Through the centuries, much of that has included Venezuela, according to Jay Sexton, a history professor at the University of Missouri.“Historically, Venezuela has been the pretext or the trigger for a lot of corollaries to the Monroe Doctrine,” said Sexton, author of “The Monroe Doctrine: Empire and Nation in Nineteenth-Century America,” citing instances from the late 1800s, all the way through Trump’s first administration.“And going back to the 19th century, this has been a divided, fractious country that’s had difficult relations with foreign powers and is also courted, relationships with rivals of the United States.”<h2>The Roosevelt Corollary and ‘Big Stick’ diplomacy</h2>European leaders initially paid little attention to the proclamation, but the Monroe Doctrine has been invoked in the two centuries since to justify U.S. military interventions in Latin America.The first direct challenge came after France installed Emperor Maximilian in Mexico in the 1860s. After the end of the Civil War, France relented under U.S. pressure and withdrew.In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt’s argument that the U.S. should be allowed to intervene in unstable Latin American countries became known as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/roosevelt-corollary" target="_blank">Roosevelt Corollary</a>, a justification invoked in a number of places, including supporting Panama’s secession from Colombia, which helped secure the Panama Canal Zone for the U.S.The Cold War era saw the Monroe Doctrine invoked as a defense against communism, such as the U.S. demand in 1962 that Soviet missiles be withdrawn from Cuba, as well as the Reagan administration’s opposition of the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua.Gretchen Murphy, a professor at the University of Texas, described Trump’s reference to the doctrine as in line with how it had been used by his predecessors, including Roosevelt, who she said “claimed that the Monroe Doctrine could be extended to justify interventions that instead of defending Latin American nations from European intervention, policed them to make sure their governments acted in U.S. commercial and strategic interests.”“I think Trump is jumping on this familiar pattern -– citing the Monroe Doctrine to legitimate interventions that undermine real democracy, and ones where various kinds of interests are served, including commercial interests,” said Murphy, author of “Hemispheric Imaginings: The Monroe Doctrine and Narratives of U.S. Empire.”<h2>What has Trump said about the Monroe Doctrine?</h2>Trump said that Venezuela, under Maduro’s rule, had been “increasingly hosting foreign adversaries in our region and acquiring menacing offensive weapons that could threaten U.S. interests.” Trump called those actions “in gross violation of the core principles of American foreign policy dating back more than two centuries.”But, Trump added, “under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”“We want to surround ourselves with good neighbors, we want to surround ourselves with stability, and we want to surround ourselves with energy,” Trump said. “We have tremendous energy in that country. It’s very important that we protect it. We need that for ourselves. We need that for the world.”<h2>The Trump Corollary?</h2>Asked Saturday how the U.S. running a country represented his “America First” mentality, Trump defended the move as one that, similarly to the Monroe Doctrine’s origin story, was aimed at strengthening America itself.The administration’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-security-strategy-europe-russia-america-first-068488ca7e6d1c92ccaddd1649958218">national security strategy</a>&nbsp;references “a ‘&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26341039-national-security-strategy/?q=corollary&amp;mode=search" target="_blank">Trump Corollary</a>&nbsp;’ to the Monroe Doctrine,” intended to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere.”“Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again, won’t happen,” Trump said. “For decades, other administrations have neglected or even contributed to these growing security threats in the Western Hemisphere. Under the Trump administration, we are reasserting American power in a very powerful way in our home region.”“What presidents used to do is they would cloak whatever their agenda was in the Monroe Doctrine by issuing corollaries,” Sexton said.After World War II, Sexton said, rather than devising corollaries to the Monroe Doctrine, presidents started issuing their own, citing Harry S. Truman and Richard Nixon. He Sexton said he assumed Trump might take similar action.“When you’re talking about a Trump Corollary, I just knew Trump wouldn’t want to be a corollary to another president’s doctrine, that somehow this would evolve into a Trump doctrine,” he said.The national security strategy released by the White House in December portrayed European allies as weak and aimed to reassert America’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere.Laying out a series of military strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean as “a ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine” to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere,” the document said it aimed to combat the flow of narcotics and control migration. The strategy marked a reimagining of the U.S. military footprint in the region even after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-carrier-venezuela-trump-ford-strikes-drugs-241ea9e039d717b9f80f793922cb7cc9">building up the largest military presence</a>&nbsp;there in generations.Sexton said the military operation to capture Maduro — and a possible protracted U.S. involvement in Venezuela — could cause another split among supporters of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, similar to the one after the administration’s strikes last year on Iran’s nuclear facilities.“This is not just the sort of hit-and-run kind of job where, like in Iran a couple months ago, we dropped the missiles, and then you can then you can go on and carry on as normal,” Sexton said. “This is going to be potentially quite a mess and contradict the administration’s policies on withdrawing from forever wars — and there’s a lot of isolationists, within the MAGA coalition.”___Meg Kinnard can be reached at&nbsp;<a href="http://x.com/MegKinnardAP" target="_blank">http://x.com/MegKinnardAP</a>

How the Monroe Doctrine factors into US arrest of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro

RENO COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating an alleged school threat have made an arrest.

On September 30th, the Hutchinson Police Department received a call from an unknown individual regarding a threat directed at Hutchinson High School.

 Given the seriousness of the situation, immediate action was taken to ensure the safety of students and staff. Hutchinson High School, Graber Elementary, located at 1600 North Cleveland Street, and Transitional Learning Center, 700 East 13th Ave, were placed under lockdown.

During the investigation, a suspect was identified and interviewed. On Monday, police reported 17-year-old Kayleb Lozoya of Hutchinson, was taken into custody and transported to Reno County Juvenile Detention Center on requested charges that included three counts of aggravated criminal threat, interference with law enforcement (making a false report), interference with law enforcement (concealing / destroying evidence), unlawful request for emergency services, and criminal false communication.

This was an extensive investigation that took time due to the complexity of gathering and analyzing evidence from multiple sources. This included applying for and executing search warrants on digital media.

If you have information regarding this incident, please contact the Hutchinson Police Department at 620-694-2816, your local law enforcement agency, or Crime Stoppers of Reno County at 800-222-TIPS. You can also use the P3Tips App on your smartphone, or text RENOKS to 738477 to receive a link to an anonymous tip form. (Msg frequency varies. Msg &amp; data rates may apply. Text HELP for help and STOP to cancel. P3 Terms and Privacy Policy.)

RENO COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating an alleged school threat have made an arrest.On September 30th, the Hutchinson Police Department received a call from an unknown individual regarding a threat directed at Hutchinson High School. Given the seriousness of the situation, immediate action was taken to ensure the safety of students and staff. Hutchinson High School, Graber Elementary, located at 1600 North Cleveland Street, and Transitional Learning Center, 700 East 13th Ave, were placed under lockdown.During the investigation, a suspect was identified and interviewed. On Monday, police reported 17-year-old Kayleb Lozoya of Hutchinson, was taken into custody and transported to Reno County Juvenile Detention Center on requested charges that included three counts of aggravated criminal threat, interference with law enforcement (making a false report), interference with law enforcement (concealing / destroying evidence), unlawful request for emergency services, and criminal false communication.This was an extensive investigation that took time due to the complexity of gathering and analyzing evidence from multiple sources. This included applying for and executing search warrants on digital media.If you have information regarding this incident, please contact the Hutchinson Police Department at 620-694-2816, your local law enforcement agency, or Crime Stoppers of Reno County at 800-222-TIPS. You can also use the P3Tips App on your smartphone, or text RENOKS to 738477 to receive a link to an anonymous tip form. (Msg frequency varies. Msg &amp; data rates may apply. Text HELP for help and STOP to cancel. P3 Terms and Privacy Policy.)

17-year-old arrested for alleged threat against Kan. high school

JOHNSON COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating a double fatality crash involving a single vehicle that occurred just after 10:30p.m. on Saturday have identified the victims.

The driver of the vehicle was 16-year-old Hayden C. Doherty of Overland Park and the passenger was 17-year-old Addison Askew of Olathe, according to Olathe Police Sergeant John Moncayo.

Officers were dispatched to the area of Northgate Street and East Harold Street in reference to an iPhone crash notification, according to Olathe Police Sergeant&nbsp;John Moncayo.

Upon arrival, officers observed a passenger vehicle that had struck a tree and was actively engulfed in flames. The Olathe Fire Department was also on scene and extinguished the fire. Once the fire was extinguished, the bodies of the victims were found inside.

There does not appear to be any signs of criminal activity, according to Moncayo.

JOHNSON COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating a double fatality crash involving a single vehicle that occurred just after 10:30p.m. on Saturday have identified the victims.The driver of the vehicle was 16-year-old Hayden C. Doherty of Overland Park and the passenger was 17-year-old Addison Askew of Olathe, according to Olathe Police Sergeant John Moncayo.Officers were dispatched to the area of Northgate Street and East Harold Street in reference to an iPhone crash notification, according to Olathe Police Sergeant&nbsp;John Moncayo.Upon arrival, officers observed a passenger vehicle that had struck a tree and was actively engulfed in flames. The Olathe Fire Department was also on scene and extinguished the fire. Once the fire was extinguished, the bodies of the victims were found inside.There does not appear to be any signs of criminal activity, according to Moncayo.

Police ID Kansas teens who died in vehicle crash, fire

KANSAS CITY —Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson announced charges against a Kansas City man in connection with two local business burglaries that occurred last week.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com/DocumentCenter/View/2788/Ozga-REDACT-COMP">Ryan V. Ozga</a>, 37,&nbsp;faces two counts of 2nd Degree Burglary. * Each count carries up to seven years in prison.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com/DocumentCenter/View/2789/Ozga-REDACT-PC">According to court records</a>, Kansas City police responded to a business break-in on Dec. 22 in Midtown. The door and window were broken and a black cash box and two tills in the cash register were taken.&nbsp;

An hour later, police responded to another break-in at a business in Westport. The window of the business was broken, and the cash register was stolen. &nbsp;

The estimated damages and stolen items total more than $1,400.&nbsp;

Ozga was captured on surveillance footage breaking into both businesses and later taken into custody. He admitted to breaking into both locations and stealing the cash registers from inside.

The defendant is currently on probation with a four-year back-up sentence. The state intends to revoke his probation.&nbsp;

A Jackson County judge set the defendant’s bond at $20,000/10%.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/12/1767131458547.png" alt="Ozga photo Jackson County" />
 <figcaption>Ozga photo Jackson County</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson announced charges against a Kansas City man in connection with two local business burglaries that occurred last week.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com/DocumentCenter/View/2788/Ozga-REDACT-COMP">Ryan V. Ozga</a>, 37,&nbsp;faces two counts of 2nd Degree Burglary. * Each count carries up to seven years in prison.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com/DocumentCenter/View/2789/Ozga-REDACT-PC">According to court records</a>, Kansas City police responded to a business break-in on Dec. 22 in Midtown. The door and window were broken and a black cash box and two tills in the cash register were taken.&nbsp;An hour later, police responded to another break-in at a business in Westport. The window of the business was broken, and the cash register was stolen. &nbsp;The estimated damages and stolen items total more than $1,400.&nbsp;Ozga was captured on surveillance footage breaking into both businesses and later taken into custody. He admitted to breaking into both locations and stealing the cash registers from inside.The defendant is currently on probation with a four-year back-up sentence. The state intends to revoke his probation.&nbsp;A Jackson County judge set the defendant’s bond at $20,000/10%.&nbsp;

KC man admits stealing cash registers from 2 businesses 

WYANDOTTE COUNTY —The Kansas Highway Patrol is seeking assistance from the public to identify witnesses involving an injury crash that occurred at approximately 5:40 pm on December 30, according to a media release from the agench.

 This crash occurred on northbound Interstate 635 near Swartz Road in Wyandotte County.

A motorcycle, occupied by a driver and passenger, was involved in a crash. An occupant was then struck by a dark-colored sedan. This vehicle did not stop at the scene. The occupant who was struck was transported to a local hospital in critical condition.

If anyone has information regarding witnesses or knowledge of this crash, please contact Kansas Highway Patrol Communications at&nbsp;<a href="tel: 7858273701">785-827-3701</a>.

The Kansas Highway Patrol is grateful to the public for their assistance to help with our cases. There have been numerous witnesses and vehicles which have been successfully located, thanks to help from our citizens. We thank you and truly appreciate any help you can provide.

WYANDOTTE COUNTY —The Kansas Highway Patrol is seeking assistance from the public to identify witnesses involving an injury crash that occurred at approximately 5:40 pm on December 30, according to a media release from the agench. This crash occurred on northbound Interstate 635 near Swartz Road in Wyandotte County.A motorcycle, occupied by a driver and passenger, was involved in a crash. An occupant was then struck by a dark-colored sedan. This vehicle did not stop at the scene. The occupant who was struck was transported to a local hospital in critical condition.If anyone has information regarding witnesses or knowledge of this crash, please contact Kansas Highway Patrol Communications at&nbsp;<a href="tel: 7858273701">785-827-3701</a>.The Kansas Highway Patrol is grateful to the public for their assistance to help with our cases. There have been numerous witnesses and vehicles which have been successfully located, thanks to help from our citizens. We thank you and truly appreciate any help you can provide.

KHP asks for help to locate sedan that fled injury accident

OSAGE COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating two suspects on multiple drug allegations.

Just before 2:30a.m. January 3, a Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop at 5th and Topeka Avenue in Lyndon for a traffic violation, according to Osage County Sheriff Chris Wells.

 During the stop, illegal narcotics were located. Two subjects were taken into custody and transported to the Osage County Jail Facility.

Antionette D. Latif, 60, Topeka is being held on requested charges of&nbsp;Distribution of cocaine, Driving while under the influence, Possession of controlled substance, Possession of a firearm while under the influence, Possession of marijuana, Possession of drug paraphernalia, Transporting an open container and No drug tax stamp.

Orman H. Jones, 49, Topeka, is being held on requested charges of , Distribution of cocaine, Possession of marijuana, Possession of drug paraphernalia, Transporting an open container and No drug tax stamp.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767572520507.png" alt="Jones photo Osage Co." />
 <figcaption>Jones photo Osage Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>OSAGE COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating two suspects on multiple drug allegations.Just before 2:30a.m. January 3, a Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop at 5th and Topeka Avenue in Lyndon for a traffic violation, according to Osage County Sheriff Chris Wells. During the stop, illegal narcotics were located. Two subjects were taken into custody and transported to the Osage County Jail Facility.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767572485976.png" alt="Latif photo Osage Co." />
 <figcaption>Latif photo Osage Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Antionette D. Latif, 60, Topeka is being held on requested charges of&nbsp;Distribution of cocaine, Driving while under the influence, Possession of controlled substance, Possession of a firearm while under the influence, Possession of marijuana, Possession of drug paraphernalia, Transporting an open container and No drug tax stamp.Orman H. Jones, 49, Topeka, is being held on requested charges of , Distribution of cocaine, Possession of marijuana, Possession of drug paraphernalia, Transporting an open container and No drug tax stamp.

Sheriff: Kansas couple accused of selling cocaine

ELLIS COUNTY —Police are investigating a fatal pedestrian accident in Hays.

Just before 6p.m. Saturday, police responded to the report of an injury accident in the 1400 block of Hall Street in Hays, according to a media release. Officers arrived to find citizens assisting a pedestrian that had been struck by a car while crossing Hall Street.

According to police, the preliminary investigation indicates that a vehicle traveling northbound on Hall Street struck the pedestrian, an 82-year-old Hays resident, while he was crossing Hall Street in the crosswalk near 15th Street.

The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle remained on scene and cooperated with law enforcement.

The pedestrian received emergency treatment at the scene and was transported to HaysMed, 2220 Canterbury Drive. He was later air-lifted to a Wichita trauma center. He died during the transport, according to police.

Anyone with information relating to this incident is encouraged to contact Hays Police Department Detective Dave Gillan at (785) 625-1030.

ELLIS COUNTY —Police are investigating a fatal pedestrian accident in Hays.Just before 6p.m. Saturday, police responded to the report of an injury accident in the 1400 block of Hall Street in Hays, according to a media release. Officers arrived to find citizens assisting a pedestrian that had been struck by a car while crossing Hall Street.According to police, the preliminary investigation indicates that a vehicle traveling northbound on Hall Street struck the pedestrian, an 82-year-old Hays resident, while he was crossing Hall Street in the crosswalk near 15th Street.The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle remained on scene and cooperated with law enforcement.The pedestrian received emergency treatment at the scene and was transported to HaysMed, 2220 Canterbury Drive. He was later air-lifted to a Wichita trauma center. He died during the transport, according to police.Anyone with information relating to this incident is encouraged to contact Hays Police Department Detective Dave Gillan at (785) 625-1030.

82-year-old Kan. man dies after struck by car in crosswalk

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. took the unprecedented step Monday of cutting the number of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-vaccine-trump-science-autism-9b99621b01f11b7f0bdc81e5a0b82d2b">vaccines</a>&nbsp;it recommends for every child — a move that leading medical groups said would undermine protections against a half-dozen diseases.

The change is effective immediately, meaning that the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cdc-vaccine-recommendations-data-b4eeba69e03a8d4ed50fb0a12fbcec6e">U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>&nbsp;will now recommend that all children get vaccinated against 11 diseases. What's no longer broadly recommended is protection against&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-flu-cases-cdc-subclade-k-29cc5a68eb100585c8e0dbd2ec47b3eb">flu</a>, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis or RSV. Instead, protections against those diseases are only recommended for certain groups deemed high risk, or when doctors recommend them in what's called “shared decision-making.”

Trump administration officials said the overhaul, a move long sought by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-vaccine-trump-science-autism-9b99621b01f11b7f0bdc81e5a0b82d2b">Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.</a>, won't result in families who want the vaccines losing access to them, and said insurance will continue to pay. But medical experts said the decision creates confusion for parents and could increase preventable diseases.

States, not the federal government, have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren. While CDC requirements often influence those state regulations, some states have begun&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cdc-west-coast-vaccines-trump-fd5ce557532a3c9f37b77ff9f14b07b9">creating their own alliances</a>&nbsp;to counter the Trump administration’s guidance on vaccines.

The change comes as U.S. vaccination rates&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vaccination-rates-cdc-kindergarten-0d261546a130dc256735d7b1ff8c6a5f?utm_source=copy&amp;utm_medium=share">have been slipping</a>&nbsp;and the share of children with exemptions has reached an all-time high, according to federal data. At the same time, rates of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vaccines-measles-polio-whooping-cough-rubella-af4cd1aef8f408a960601df6372f9c32">diseases</a>&nbsp;that can be protected against with vaccines, such as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vaccination-rates-cdc-kindergarten-0d261546a130dc256735d7b1ff8c6a5f?utm_source=copy&amp;utm_medium=share">measles</a>&nbsp;and whooping cough, are rising across the country.

Review came at the request of President Trump

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the overhaul was in response to a request from President Donald Trump in December. Trump asked the agency to review how peer nations approach vaccine recommendations and consider revising U.S. guidance accordingly.

HHS said its comparison to 20 peer nations found that the U.S. was an “outlier” in both the number of vaccinations and the number of doses it recommended to all children. Officials with the agency framed the change as a way to increase public trust by recommending only the most important vaccinations for children to receive.

“This decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health,” Kennedy said in a statement Monday.

Among those left on the recommended-for-everyone list are vaccines against measles, whooping cough, polio, tetanus, chickenpox and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cervical-cancer-hpv-virus-ae8d7f9d6b6a94dd468f4af665fd0600">human papillomavirus</a>, or HPV. The guidance reduces the number of recommended vaccine doses against HPV from two or three shots depending on age to one for most children.

Medical experts said Monday's changes without what they said was public discussion or a transparent review of the data would put children at risk.

“Abandoning recommendations for vaccines that prevent influenza, hepatitis and rotavirus, and changing the recommendation for HPV without a public process to weigh the risks and benefits, will lead to more hospitalizations and preventable deaths among American children,” said Michael Osterholm of the Vaccine Integrity Project, based at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Sean O’Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics said countries carefully consider vaccine recommendations based on levels of disease in their populations and their health systems.

“You can’t just copy and paste public health and that’s what they seem to be doing here,” said O’Leary. “Literally children's health and children's lives are at stake.”

Most high-income countries recommend vaccinations against a dozen to 15 serious pathogens, according to a recent review by the Vaccine Integrity Project, a group that works to safeguard vaccine use.

France today recommends all children get vaccinated against 14 diseases, compared to the 11 that the U.S. now will recommend for every child under the new schedule.

The changes were made by political appointees, without any evidence that the current recommendations were harming children, O'Leary said.

The pediatricians' group has issued its own childhood vaccine schedule that its members are following, and it continues to broadly recommend vaccines that the Trump administration demoted.

O'Leary singled out the flu vaccine, which the government and leading medical experts have long urged for nearly everyone starting at age 6 months. He said the government is “pretty tone deaf” for ending its recommendation while the country is at the beginning of a severe flu season, and after 280 children died from flu last winter, the most since 2009.

Even a disease that parents may not have heard of, rotavirus, could come roaring back if vaccination erodes, he added. That diarrheal disease once hospitalized thousands of children each winter, something that no longer happens.

The decision was made without input from an advisory committee that typically consults on the vaccine schedule, said senior officials at HHS. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the changes publicly.

The officials added that the new recommendations were a collaborative effort between federal health agencies but wouldn’t specify who was consulted.

Scientists at the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases were asked to present to the agency’s political leadership about vaccine schedules in other countries in December, but they were not allowed to give any recommendations and were not aware of any decisions about vaccine schedule changes, said Abby Tighe, executive director of the National Public Health Coalition, an advocacy organization of current and former CDC employees and their supporters.

“Changes of this magnitude require careful review, expert and public input, and clear scientific justification. That level of rigor and transparency was not part of this decision,” said Dr. Sandra Fryhofer, of the American Medical Association. “The scientific evidence remains unchanged, and the AMA supports continued access to childhood immunizations recommended by national medical specialty societies.”

The move comes as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-rfk-gold-standard-science-research-autism-6e4c6bc2534252ab1e7add0942043778">Kennedy</a>, a longtime activist against vaccines, has repeatedly used his authority in government to translate his skepticism about the shots into national guidance.

In May, Kennedy announced the CDC would no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women — a move immediately questioned by public health experts who saw no new data to justify the change.

In June, Kennedy fired an entire 17-member CDC vaccine advisory committee — later installing several of his own replacements, including multiple vaccine skeptics.

Kennedy in November also personally directed the CDC to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cdc-autism-vaccines-7b1890f626dd5921fafd00fdd1e6425a">abandon its position</a>&nbsp;that vaccines do not cause autism, without supplying any new evidence to support the change.

Swenson reported from New York. Associated Press writer Mike Stobbe contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767645053047.jpg" alt="Image Pixaby" />
 <figcaption>Image Pixaby</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. took the unprecedented step Monday of cutting the number of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-vaccine-trump-science-autism-9b99621b01f11b7f0bdc81e5a0b82d2b">vaccines</a>&nbsp;it recommends for every child — a move that leading medical groups said would undermine protections against a half-dozen diseases.The change is effective immediately, meaning that the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cdc-vaccine-recommendations-data-b4eeba69e03a8d4ed50fb0a12fbcec6e">U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>&nbsp;will now recommend that all children get vaccinated against 11 diseases. What's no longer broadly recommended is protection against&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-flu-cases-cdc-subclade-k-29cc5a68eb100585c8e0dbd2ec47b3eb">flu</a>, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis or RSV. Instead, protections against those diseases are only recommended for certain groups deemed high risk, or when doctors recommend them in what's called “shared decision-making.”Trump administration officials said the overhaul, a move long sought by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-vaccine-trump-science-autism-9b99621b01f11b7f0bdc81e5a0b82d2b">Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.</a>, won't result in families who want the vaccines losing access to them, and said insurance will continue to pay. But medical experts said the decision creates confusion for parents and could increase preventable diseases.States, not the federal government, have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren. While CDC requirements often influence those state regulations, some states have begun&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cdc-west-coast-vaccines-trump-fd5ce557532a3c9f37b77ff9f14b07b9">creating their own alliances</a>&nbsp;to counter the Trump administration’s guidance on vaccines.The change comes as U.S. vaccination rates&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vaccination-rates-cdc-kindergarten-0d261546a130dc256735d7b1ff8c6a5f?utm_source=copy&amp;utm_medium=share">have been slipping</a>&nbsp;and the share of children with exemptions has reached an all-time high, according to federal data. At the same time, rates of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vaccines-measles-polio-whooping-cough-rubella-af4cd1aef8f408a960601df6372f9c32">diseases</a>&nbsp;that can be protected against with vaccines, such as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vaccination-rates-cdc-kindergarten-0d261546a130dc256735d7b1ff8c6a5f?utm_source=copy&amp;utm_medium=share">measles</a>&nbsp;and whooping cough, are rising across the country.<h2>Review came at the request of President Trump</h2>The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the overhaul was in response to a request from President Donald Trump in December. Trump asked the agency to review how peer nations approach vaccine recommendations and consider revising U.S. guidance accordingly.HHS said its comparison to 20 peer nations found that the U.S. was an “outlier” in both the number of vaccinations and the number of doses it recommended to all children. Officials with the agency framed the change as a way to increase public trust by recommending only the most important vaccinations for children to receive.“This decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health,” Kennedy said in a statement Monday.Among those left on the recommended-for-everyone list are vaccines against measles, whooping cough, polio, tetanus, chickenpox and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cervical-cancer-hpv-virus-ae8d7f9d6b6a94dd468f4af665fd0600">human papillomavirus</a>, or HPV. The guidance reduces the number of recommended vaccine doses against HPV from two or three shots depending on age to one for most children.Medical experts said Monday's changes without what they said was public discussion or a transparent review of the data would put children at risk.“Abandoning recommendations for vaccines that prevent influenza, hepatitis and rotavirus, and changing the recommendation for HPV without a public process to weigh the risks and benefits, will lead to more hospitalizations and preventable deaths among American children,” said Michael Osterholm of the Vaccine Integrity Project, based at the University of Minnesota.Dr. Sean O’Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics said countries carefully consider vaccine recommendations based on levels of disease in their populations and their health systems.“You can’t just copy and paste public health and that’s what they seem to be doing here,” said O’Leary. “Literally children's health and children's lives are at stake.”Most high-income countries recommend vaccinations against a dozen to 15 serious pathogens, according to a recent review by the Vaccine Integrity Project, a group that works to safeguard vaccine use.France today recommends all children get vaccinated against 14 diseases, compared to the 11 that the U.S. now will recommend for every child under the new schedule.<h2>Doctors' groups criticize decision</h2>The changes were made by political appointees, without any evidence that the current recommendations were harming children, O'Leary said.The pediatricians' group has issued its own childhood vaccine schedule that its members are following, and it continues to broadly recommend vaccines that the Trump administration demoted.O'Leary singled out the flu vaccine, which the government and leading medical experts have long urged for nearly everyone starting at age 6 months. He said the government is “pretty tone deaf” for ending its recommendation while the country is at the beginning of a severe flu season, and after 280 children died from flu last winter, the most since 2009.Even a disease that parents may not have heard of, rotavirus, could come roaring back if vaccination erodes, he added. That diarrheal disease once hospitalized thousands of children each winter, something that no longer happens.The decision was made without input from an advisory committee that typically consults on the vaccine schedule, said senior officials at HHS. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the changes publicly.The officials added that the new recommendations were a collaborative effort between federal health agencies but wouldn’t specify who was consulted.Scientists at the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases were asked to present to the agency’s political leadership about vaccine schedules in other countries in December, but they were not allowed to give any recommendations and were not aware of any decisions about vaccine schedule changes, said Abby Tighe, executive director of the National Public Health Coalition, an advocacy organization of current and former CDC employees and their supporters.“Changes of this magnitude require careful review, expert and public input, and clear scientific justification. That level of rigor and transparency was not part of this decision,” said Dr. Sandra Fryhofer, of the American Medical Association. “The scientific evidence remains unchanged, and the AMA supports continued access to childhood immunizations recommended by national medical specialty societies.”<h2>Kennedy is a longtime vaccine skeptic</h2>The move comes as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-rfk-gold-standard-science-research-autism-6e4c6bc2534252ab1e7add0942043778">Kennedy</a>, a longtime activist against vaccines, has repeatedly used his authority in government to translate his skepticism about the shots into national guidance.In May, Kennedy announced the CDC would no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women — a move immediately questioned by public health experts who saw no new data to justify the change.In June, Kennedy fired an entire 17-member CDC vaccine advisory committee — later installing several of his own replacements, including multiple vaccine skeptics.Kennedy in November also personally directed the CDC to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/cdc-autism-vaccines-7b1890f626dd5921fafd00fdd1e6425a">abandon its position</a>&nbsp;that vaccines do not cause autism, without supplying any new evidence to support the change.___Swenson reported from New York. Associated Press writer Mike Stobbe contributed to this report.

Unprecedented move: CDC overhauls childhood vaccine schedule

NEW YORK (AP) — A defiant&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-trump-military-operation-85041a1ec03bafe839b785a95169d694">Nicolás Maduro</a>&nbsp;declared himself "the president of my country” as he protested his capture and pleaded not guilty Monday to federal drug trafficking charges that the Trump administration used to justify removing him from power in Venezuela.

“I was captured,” Maduro said in Spanish as translated by a courtroom reporter before being cut off by the judge. Asked later for his plea to the charges, he stated: "I’m innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country.”

<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1422326/dl">Click here to read the new indictment</a>&nbsp;against Maduro and his wife

The courtroom appearance, Maduro's first since he and his wife were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-maduro-venezuela-presidential-palace-blowtorches-7969152ae48510003fe9cbde92f3c102">seized from their home</a>&nbsp;in a stunning middle-of-the-night military operation, kicked off the U.S. government’s most consequential prosecution in decades of a foreign head of state. The criminal case in Manhattan is unfolding against a broader diplomatic backdrop of an audacious U.S.-engineered regime change that President Donald Trump has said will enable his administration&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-trump-military-operation-85041a1ec03bafe839b785a95169d694">to “run” the South American country.</a>Pro

Maduro was led into court along with his co-defendant wife just before noon for the brief legal proceeding. Both put on headsets to hear the English-language proceeding as it was translated into Spanish.

The couple was transported to the Manhattan courthouse under armed guard early Monday from the Brooklyn jail where they've been detained since arriving in the U.S. on Saturday.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767635791159.png" alt="Nicolas Maduro escorted into court -image courtesy CSPAN via WABC TV" />
 <figcaption>Nicolas Maduro escorted into court -image courtesy CSPAN via WABC TV</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — A defiant&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-trump-military-operation-85041a1ec03bafe839b785a95169d694">Nicolás Maduro</a>&nbsp;declared himself "the president of my country” as he protested his capture and pleaded not guilty Monday to federal drug trafficking charges that the Trump administration used to justify removing him from power in Venezuela.“I was captured,” Maduro said in Spanish as translated by a courtroom reporter before being cut off by the judge. Asked later for his plea to the charges, he stated: "I’m innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country.”<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1422326/dl">Click here to read the new indictment</a>&nbsp;against Maduro and his wifeThe courtroom appearance, Maduro's first since he and his wife were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-maduro-venezuela-presidential-palace-blowtorches-7969152ae48510003fe9cbde92f3c102">seized from their home</a>&nbsp;in a stunning middle-of-the-night military operation, kicked off the U.S. government’s most consequential prosecution in decades of a foreign head of state. The criminal case in Manhattan is unfolding against a broader diplomatic backdrop of an audacious U.S.-engineered regime change that President Donald Trump has said will enable his administration&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-trump-military-operation-85041a1ec03bafe839b785a95169d694">to “run” the South American country.</a>Pro<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/1/1767635764793.png" alt="Protestors outside the courtroom in New York -photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Protestors outside the courtroom in New York -photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>Maduro was led into court along with his co-defendant wife just before noon for the brief legal proceeding. Both put on headsets to hear the English-language proceeding as it was translated into Spanish.The couple was transported to the Manhattan courthouse under armed guard early Monday from the Brooklyn jail where they've been detained since arriving in the U.S. on Saturday.<h2>A legal fight begins</h2>As a criminal defendant in the U.S. legal system, Maduro will have the same rights as any other person accused of a crime — including the right to a trial by a jury of regular New Yorkers. But he’ll also be nearly — but not quite — unique.The stakes were made clear from the outset as Maduro, who took copious notes throughout the proceedings and wished a Happy New Year to reporters in court, repeatedly pressed his case that he had been unlawfully abducted.“I am here kidnapped," Maduro said. “I was captured at my home in Caracas.”U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a 92-year-old jurist who was appointed to the federal bench in 1998 by Bill Clinton, interrupted him, saying: “There will be time and place to go through all of this." Hellerstein added that Maduro’s attorney could do so later.“At this time, I just want to know if you are Nicolás Maduro Moros,” which Maduro confirmed that he was.Maduro’s lawyers are expected to contest the legality of his arrest, arguing that he is immune from prosecution as head of state. Barry Pollack, a prominent Washington lawyer whose clients have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/julian-assange">included WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange</a>, said Maduro is "head of a sovereign state and entitled to the privilege” that the status ensures. He also said the defense would raise “questions about the legality of his military abduction.”Panamanian strongman&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3fe8263a03504924b32f09b7fb0db0e6">Manuel Noriega</a>&nbsp;unsuccessfully&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/maduro-noriega-prosecution-legal-immunity-venezuela-panama-c0df9b1ecda36e9e1912729fa7ebf9e4">tried the same immunity defense</a>&nbsp;after the U.S. captured him in a similar military invasion in 1990. But the U.S. doesn’t recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state — particularly after a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-presidential-election-maduro-machado-edmundo-5ce255ae90614162590bfe1207d2e1d0">much-disputed 2024 reelection</a>.Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, also pleaded not guilty on Monday. She had bandages on her forehead and right temple, and her lawyer said had she suffered “significant injuries” during her capture.<a href="https://apnews.com/interactive/us-indicts-venezuela-maduro/">A 25-page indictment</a>&nbsp;accuses Maduro and others of working with drug cartels to facilitate the shipment of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/maduro-indictment-justice-department-trump-bondi-25a6fbd922472296c744eb5111cd914c">thousands of tons of cocaine</a>&nbsp;into the U.S. They could face life in prison if convicted.Among other things, the indictment accuses Maduro and his wife of ordering kidnappings, beatings and murders of those who owed them drug money or undermined their drug trafficking operation. That included a local drug boss’ killing in Caracas, the indictment said.Outside the courthouse, police separated protesters of the U.S. military action from pro-intervention demonstrators. Inside the courtroom, as Maduro stood to leave with federal officers, a man in the audience stood and began speaking forcefully at him in Spanish, calling him an “illegitimate” president.The man, 33-year-old Pedro Rojas, said later that he had been imprisoned by the Venezuelan regime. As deputy U.S. marshals led Maduro from the courtroom, the deposed leader looked directly at the man and shot back in Spanish: “I am a kidnapped president. I am a prisoner of war.”<h2>Demands for Maduro's return</h2>The U.S. seized Maduro and his wife in a military operation early Saturday, capturing them in their home on a military base. Trump said Saturday the U.S. would “run” Venezuela temporarily and reiterated Sunday night that “we're in charge,” telling reporters aboard Air Force One that “we're going to run it, fix it.”Secretary of State Marco Rubio had tried to strike a more cautious tone on Sunday morning talk shows, saying the U.S. would not govern the country day-to-day other than enforcing an existing ”&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-venezuela-maduro-oil-tankers-625a7c9a3106e316c97ceb68a42a1cb5">oil quarantine</a>.”Before his capture, Maduro and his allies claimed U.S. hostility was motivated by lust for Venezuela’s rich oil and mineral resources.Trump has suggested that removing Maduro would enable more oil to flow out of Venezuela, but&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/stocks-markets-oil-venezuela-trump-gas-67c87db7e47d15e3bf01df7fe4d560b2">oil prices</a>&nbsp;rose a bit more than 1% in Monday morning trading to roughly $58 a barrel. There are uncertainties about how fast oil production can be ramped up in Venezuela after years of neglect, as well as questions about governance and oversight of the sector.Venezuela’s new interim leader,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-interim-president-rodriguez-maduro-chavez-b352b5af17deb0ab78684b8398045179">Delcy Rodríguez</a>, has demanded that the U.S. return Maduro, who long denied any involvement in drug trafficking — although late Sunday she also struck a more conciliatory tone in a social media post, inviting collaboration with Trump and “respectful relations” with the U.S.Rodríguez was sworn in on Monday by her brother, National Assembly leader Jorge Rodríguez.“I come with sorrow for the suffering inflicted upon the Venezuelan people following an illegitimate military aggression against our homeland,” she said with her right hand up. “I come with sorrow for the kidnapping of two heroes."Maduro’s son and Venezuelan congressman Nicolás Maduro Guerra warned on Monday that his father's capture could set a dangerous precedent globally and demanded that his parents be returned.“If we normalize the kidnapping of a head of state, no country is safe. Today it’s Venezuela. Tomorrow it could be any nation that refuses to submit. This is not a regional problem. It is a direct threat to global political stability,” Maduro Guerra saidAlso Monday, the United Nations Security Council&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-united-nations-maduro-trump-waltz-1433e10bbb800fb41b21a70c7501ad88">held an emergency meeting</a>, with the top U.N. official warning that America may have violated international law with its unilateral action. The world body also spotlighted the profound humanitarian needs in Venezuela. Its people have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-black-friday-maduro-trump-drug-strikes-dcca2242e7326865419d45eb48a0ca1b">endured a yearslong, complex economic crisis</a>.___Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, Megan Janetsky in Mexico City, Farnoush Amiri and Jennifer Peltz at the United Nations, Josh Boak in Baltimore, Maryland, Darlene Superville aboard Air Force One and Joshua Goodman in Miami contributed to this report.