DOUGLAS COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting and continue to search for a suspect.
The McDonalds on West 6th in Lawrence google image
Just before 6:30 p.m. Saturday, police were called to the McDonalds at 1309 W. 6th Street in Lawrance in response to a shooting that had just occurred, according to office Patrick Compton. Upon arriving, officers discovered a 50-year-old man who had been shot in his car.
This individual was treated at the scene and transported to an area hospital with significant injuries.
Police are currently looking for a suspect described as a black male wearing a red hoodie, red sweat pants and carrying a black bag or backpack in connection to this shooting.
BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the alleged death of Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a U.S.-led operation in northern Syria (all times local):
12:15 p.m.
President Trump is joined by VP Mike Pence, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, left; Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army General Mark A. Milley, and Brig. Gen. Marcus Evans, Deputy Director for Special Operations, .on the Joint Staff, at right, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, in the Situation Room of the White House monitoring developments as U.S. Special Operations forces close in on notorious ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s compound in Syria with a mission to kill or capture the terrorist.
Vice President Mike Pence is disclosing more details about the U.S. military raid that killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria.
Pence says that by Thursday afternoon, he and President Donald Trump learned that there was “a high probability” that al-Baghdadi would be at his compound in Syria’s Idlib province.
Pence tells CBS’ “Face the Nation” that Trump directed commanders to come up with military options and present them to him on Friday morning.
Pence says that by Saturday morning, “we received the actionable intelligence” that allowed the operation that Trump had approved to go ahead.
And it was on Sunday morning when Trump told the nation that the raid had resulted in al-Baghdadi’s death.
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12:05 p.m.
The head of the foreign affairs committee in Russia’s upper house of parliament says the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi would be welcome news, but he’s playing down its possible impact in the fight against terrorism.
Konstantin Kosachev is pointing out that President Donald Trump’s announcement Sunday in Washington that al-Baghdadi was killed in a U.S. military raid in Syria isn’t the first time the leader’s death has been reported.
Kosachev says “countering terrorism is a much more difficult task than the physical destruction of its leaders, even the most implacable.”
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10:30 a.m.
Some information is emerging about how the United States might have been able to track Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
President Trump during Sunday’s statement at the White House-image courtesy the White House-photo courtesy White House
A senior Iraqi intelligence official says that a few months ago, an Iraqi aide to al-Baghdadi was killed in western Iraq by a U.S. airstrike. The official says the aide’s wife was arrested in the operation and handed over by the Americans to Iraqi authorities.
The official says the wife ended up being a key source of information on al-Baghdadi’s whereabouts and that through her, the Iraqis ultimately were able to pass along to the United States coordinates on al-Baghdadi.
A second Iraqi security official says al-Baghdadi’s brother-in-law was recently arrested by the Iraqis and also helped with information about Abu Bakr’s whereabouts
The officials weren’t authorized to publicly discuss intelligence operations and spoke on condition of anonymity.
10a.m.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is criticizing the White House for failing to notify congressional leaders before the U.S. raid in Syria that President Donald Trump says killed the leader of the Islamic State group.
She notes that the U.S. let Russia know the raid was in the works.
Trump said U.S. military helicopters flew over territory controlled by Russian and Syrian forces before landing at Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s compound. He also said he kept lawmakers out of the loop because he was fearful of leaks.
Pelosi says the Trump administration must brief Congress on the operation and on the administration’s overall strategy for the Mideast.
Before the 2011 raid in Pakistan that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, the Obama administration did give advance word to the top two Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate as well as the four leaders of the congressional intelligence committees.
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9:25 a.m.
President Donald Trump says Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead after a U.S. military operation in Syria targeted the Islamic State group leader.
Trump says in a statement to the nation from the White House’s Diplomatic Room that “al-Baghdadi is dead” — fulfilling the top national security priority of his administration.
He says no U.S. personnel were lost in the mission.
Al-Baghdadi presided over IS’s global jihad and became arguably the world’s most wanted man.
Trump say Al-Baghdadi detonated suicide vest during US raid, killing himself and three of his children.
The announcement comes as Trump has been on the receiving end of bipartisan criticism in Washington following the recent pullback of U.S. troops from northeastern Syria. Critics fear that move will allow the militant group to regain strength after it had lost vast stretches of territory it had once controlled
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4p.m.
The commander of the Syrian Kurdish-led forces says five months of joint intelligence cooperation with the U.S.-led coalition led to the killing of the leader of the Islamic State group.
Mazloum Abdi said in a tweet Sunday that the reported killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi took place in a joint operation following “cooperation on the ground and accurate monitoring” for five months. He called it a “successful and historic” joint intelligence work with the U.S.
The U.S. raid with helicopters took place in the Barisha area north of Idlib city a few kilometers from the Turkish border.
The Kurdish-led forces cooperated with the U.S.-coalition for at least four years to fight IS in Syria until they declared military victory against the group in March.
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3:40 p.m.
A senior Turkish official says “to the best of my knowledge” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi arrived at a location in Syria 48 hours prior to the U.S. military raid that is believed to have targeted the Islamic State group leader.
The Turkish official said in a written statement Sunday that there has been “close coordination” among relevant parties and the Turkish military had advanced knowledge of the raid.
In a tweet earlier, the Turkish army said it had “information exchanged and coordination” with U.S. military authorities prior to the operation but did not elaborate.
The official added: “I can neither confirm nor deny that any intelligence was shared to facilitate last night’s operation.”
The U.S. raid with helicopters took place in the Barisha area north of Idlib city a few kilometers from the Turkish border.
— By Zeynep Bilginsoy
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7:45 a.m.
The leader of the Islamic State militant network is believed dead after being targeted by a U.S. military raid in Syria.
A U.S. official told The Associated Press late Saturday that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was targeted in Syria’s Idlib province. The official said confirmation that the IS chief was killed in an explosion is pending.
President Donald Trump teased a major announcement, tweeting Saturday night that “Something very big has just happened!”
A White House spokesman, Hogan Gidley, would say only that the president would be making a “major statement” at 9 a.m. EDT Sunday.
The U.S. population will grow older and more diverse over the next four decades, according to new Census Bureau projections presented Thursday at a meeting of demographers.
As the U.S. median age increases, there will be a smaller ratio of workers in the labor force able to pay the payroll tax that funds Social Security payments to people of retirement age. In 15 years, the number of people over age 65 will be larger than the number of children for the first time in U.S. history, according to the presentation at a Southern Demographic Association meeting in New Orleans.
A “demographic tidal wave” is one big reason for the nation’s expected aging and the eventual drop in natural population increase from births outpacing deaths. That wave is the Baby Boomers, born between the end of World War Two and around the time of the American invasion of The Beatles.
“The youngest Baby Boomers are 55 and older now, said Allison Plyer, a demographer attending the meeting. “In 10 years, they will be 65 and older, and as those folks pass away over the decades, that’s a very larger section of our population reaching an age where they will likely experience mortality,” Plyer said.
As the U.S. grows older, it will also become more diverse, with children leading the way. By next year, no single race group alone will make up more than half of U.S. children, the projections show.
Although non-Hispanic whites currently are a majority in the U.S., their numbers will dip below 50% of the population in 40 years, declining from 199 million next year to 179 million in 2060, the projections show.
“Immigrants do continue to fill in the ranks of working-age population and workforce as the Baby Boomers age,” Plyer said. “The most likely people to replace them will be people of color, particularly Latinos who are already here and have children.”
People who identify as two or more races will be the fastest-growing group in the next 40 years, with their population expanding as births outpace deaths.
Other fast-growing groups include Asians, whose growth will be driven by migration, and Hispanics, whose growth in the U.S. will be driven by natural increases, according to the projections.
The U.S. is expected to cross the 400 million-person threshold by 2058, as it adds 79 million more people in 40 years, but annual growth will slow down. The U.S. has about 326 million people today.
Population growth, currently 2.3 million people per year, is expected to slow to 1.6 million people a year by 2060.
Growth comes from immigration and from births outpacing deaths, but that natural increase will decline as the nation ages. The nation’s median age is expected to go from 38 today to 43 by 2060.
Young adults are getting married and having children at older ages than their parents and grandparents, and they won’t be having children in the numbers to replace the Baby Boomers, said Andrew Beveridge, a demographer at the City University of New York.
As the number of people over age 65 grows, the share of working-age adults — who pay, along with their employers, for Social Security through a payroll tax — will also decline. Next year, there are expected to be 3.5 working-age adults for every person of retirement age, but that ratio declines to 2.5 by 2060, according to the projections.
That ratio will put the U.S. more in line with Europe, though it won’t be as severe as in Japan, which for years has had an aging population without the help of migration to add to the population, the demographers said.
“It’s definitely a shift, but we’re not going to be like Japan,” Beveridge said.
A fresh University of Kansas study contends state educators put too much emphasis on data and too little on the savvy and experience of teachers.
Data-driven decision have been the go to buzzwords at Kansas schools for years. The concept presses schools to rely on test scores when plotting the interventions needed — think an extra 30 minutes in a student’s schedule to home in on a math lesson — for plotting a path to student success.
The researchers argue that test scores are the only thing all schools use, ignoring the instincts of teachers and unique situations of each student. Instead of being data-driven, they’re data-dependent.
CHRIS NEAL / FOR THE KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
The study suggests calls for a smarter balance between the first-hand insight of teachers and numbers drawn from test scores and other measures.
“We are losing teachers’ ability to use far more information about what they know makes for a good education for different types of kids because we’re just reducing the kids down to a number,” said Rebecca Jacobsen, an associate professor of education policy at Michigan State University.
Switch To Data
Using test scores to evaluate students has been a near constant in education. But what that testing looked like was often different from classroom to classroom. The 2001 federal No Child Left Behind Act began dramatically emphasized tests that are comparable across schools and the country.
That — combined with new technology — led to a rapid expansion of data on students.
“There’s a lot of power in that capacity,” said Jason Grissom, who studies education policy at Vanderbilt University.
In 2007, Kansas began piloting a data-heavy approach called Multi-Tiered System of Supports, or MTSS. It’s been used to devise improvement plans for struggling students.
Since that launch 12 years ago, it’s gradually expanded across the state. MTSS is more a framework than a program — educators continually test students and adjust plans accordingly.
In 2013, Garden City Public Schools was receiving state training on implementing MTSS. KU researchers documented the shift in a newly released study that found teachers’ knowhow was “continually marginalized.”
The Problem
Test scores were considered infallible while teacher observations were dismissed.
Some teachers disagreed with the interventions suggested by the test. State MTSS consultants told the teachers to stick to the recommendation. When teachers wanted to change the interventions, consultants said the only recourse was to retake the same test the teachers considered flawed.
Ideally, test scores would be used to inform decisions. State consultants told the teachers in Garden City that their input wasn’t needed. Only the test itself mattered.
“Good teachers are rightly saying those standardized tests are part of the story, but not all of the story,” said Don Stull, one of the study’s authors and a professor emeritus at KU. “And if we don’t try to bring all that we know … then we’re not doing the best we can for those children.”
Education experts says sidelining teacher observations could lead to interventions that are ultimately harmful. A student might score poorly on a math assessment because they’re not engaged with the work. An attentive teacher might decided the student needs more challenging assignments.
But the data alone would recommend giving the student more remedial work, boring them even more.
That takes the teacher out of teaching, the study said. It also hurts teacher morale, a danger in a profession struggling with recruitment and retainment.
“There’s really been a deprofessionalization of teaching,” said Jennifer Ng, the lead author of the study.
Experts say that schools across the country have too often dismissed teachers’ judgments in favor of test scores. And it’s a problem schools have begun recognizing.
“It’s absolutely something schools have been struggling with,” said Laura Hamilton, a senior behavioral scientist at the Rand Corporation. “We’re hearing a lot of growing awareness that this narrow focus is problematic.”
Finding Balance
Kansas’ MTSS team says those early attempts were about bringing Kansas teachers on board to a more uniform system. Instead of teachers having dozens of different approaches, MTSS would bring teachers around an effective, agreed-upon system.
But shortly after the rollout in Garden City, the state began to shift its approach. In 2015, the state’s board of education released a new set of goals for Kansas schools. Social and emotional growth for students received more emphasis. High school graduation rates were set as a new marker of success alongside test scores.
The 2015 federal Every Student Succeeds Act — the replacement to No Child Left Behind — also put less emphasis on test scores.
Now Kansas educators are trying to find a balance between test scores and teacher expertise.
“The assessment is just a tool to say do we need to look at a certain area,” said Linda Wilkerson, the co-director of MTSS for the Kansas Department of Education. “It isn’t the answer. It’s the question.”
Garden City Public Schools blames much of its initial problems outlined in the study on the growing pains that come with a new policy. The district says that since the MTSS rollout in 2013, the school district has included teachers’ voices.
But school districts are still doubling down on data-driven decision making. Education experts say schools should be doing that, so long as teachers are involved and trained in how to use all that information.
Wichita Public Schools says to do that it has added more “data dives” — days dedicated to teachers and staff working through the numbers. As the district has become more data-heavy, those long days are vital to avoiding information overload and defaulting to a program’s canned intervention.
Patricia Burch, an associate professor of education at the University of Southern California, said finding that balance between test scores teacher voices is still a challenge. But schools are realizing the need to get that balance right.
“We’re coming back to a kind of middle ground,” she said, “where we agree it’s important but it’s not as heavy handed.”
Stephan Bisaha reports on education and young adult life for the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter @SteveBisaha or email him at bisaha (at) kmuw (dot) org.
GRANT COUNTY — Two people died in an accident just before 12:30p.m. Saturday in Grant County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Kenworth truck was westbound on Grant County Road 10 three miles north of U.S. 160. The driver failed to yield right of way to a southbound 2012 Chevy Silverado driven by Kevin Jay Coyle, 57, Turpin, Oklahoma, at the uncontrolled intersection. The Kenworth entered the intersection directly into the path of the Silverado.
Coyle and a passenger Gerald Lee Coyle, 81, Turpin, Oklahoma, were pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Garnands Funeral Home. They were not wearing seat belts, according to the KHP. The KHP has not released the name of the Kenworth truck.
SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating an aggravated battery and have made an arrest.
Just after 3p.m. Thursday, police were alerted to a video on social media that included a male punching a female, according to according to officer Charley Davidson. Several citizens also contacted police about the video. Investigators were able to identify the individuals involved and arrested a 16-year-old boy at his home on South Patty in Wichita.
On Friday, police also arrested a 15 and a 16-year-old girl in connection with the attack.
Police also contacted the 15-year-old victim. She sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to Davidson. He said the boy and the victim are acquainted and the battery stems from an ongoing dispute.
Police booked the youths into juvenile detention on requested charges of aggravated battery.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has thrown out a retired Kansas Highway Patrol trooper’s conviction and probation sentence related to a charge that he lied to the FBI during an investigation into illegal gambling in Wichita.
U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren on Tuesday granted 54-year-old Michael Frederiksen’s request to vacate his conviction. Frederiksen had argued his attorney was ineffective.
The judge agreed, writing that Frederiksen’s trial attorney was inexperienced, unfamiliar with court rules regarding evidence and, while he was licensed to practice in New Mexico, he was not licensed in Kansas.
Frederiksen, of Derby, was convicted in May of lying to FBI investigators about participating in an illegal cash poker game while he was still a trooper. Prosecutors at his trial said video showed he had participated.
LYONS, Kan. (AP) — The girlfriend of a Kansas man who fatally shot his father and wounded two Kansas law enforcement officers before killing himself has pleaded no contest to aggravated child endangerment.
Erin Baker photo Barton Co.
27-year-old Erin Baker also pleaded no contest Friday to obstruction of law enforcement. A charge of interference with law enforcement was dropped. She’s expected to receive probation when she’s sentenced Dec. 18.
Investigators say Baker put her 7-year-old in danger by continuing a relationship with David Madden, despite knowing he was a convicted felon with a gun.
Police say the child was present in April when Madden wounded a Rice County undersheriff. Baker previously told KWCH-TV that she and her son got away after dropping Madden off at his father’s home, where the other shootings happened.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — A Kansas City police officer has been cleared in the May fatal shooting of a man suspected of having forced his way into a woman’s home.
The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed no charges will be filed against the officer in the May 26 shooting death of 30-year-old Terrance Bridges.
The shooting stemmed from a call to police about a domestic disturbance, in which a woman reported a man had broken into her home and stolen her car.
Police say three officers responded, with one staying at the home while the other two searched for the suspect. Minutes later, police say the suspect — later identified as Bridges — returned. A chase and struggle ensued, and the officer shot Bridges.
GARDEN CITY —A welding torch caused August’s fire at a Tyson meatpacking plant in western Kansas.
The Garden City Fire Department investigated the fire at the Holcomb plant and completed a report on Oct. 13, saying the fire was unintentional and likely started because a welding torch produced a “spark, ember or flame.”
Investigators could not determine whether the automatic extinguishing system turned on or how many sprinklers operated during the fire on Aug. 9.
Tyson spokeswoman Liz Croston said the company “will not be releasing an update on the cause of the fire.”
The Garden City Fire Department investigated the cause of the fire. Garden City Communications Manager Jamie Stewart said the city won’t release any further updates about the fire.
The Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office does not investigate fires unless requested by local fire departments, according to spokeswoman Jill Bronaugh. And because no injuries were reported, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration didn’t investigate.
The plant stopped production after the fire, though it returned to limited production a few weeks later. The Tyson plant processed around 5% of beef in the U.S., and beef prices spiked after the fire. It prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate pricing margins. The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for an update on that investigation.
Holcomb Fire Chief Bill Knight remembers seeing black smoke inside the Tyson building on the night of the fire, which he said kept firefighters at the plant from 8:30 p.m. Aug. 9 to about 10 p.m. the next day.
Knight said he could smell burning cattle carcasses, which had been slaughtered prior to the fire.
“Now, you’ve got a hundred and some head of livestock hanging there upside down, and when they catch fire they melt and all that fat, grease … turns to a flammable liquid,” Knight said.
Knight said Tyson’s safety crew helped the firefighters find the electrical switches and valves on the scene. He also noted that some tanks of anhydrous ammonia had minor leaks during the fire, but said it was “nothing big.”
“And, like I say, the Tyson people were on top of that,” Knight said.
Corinne Boyer covers western Kansas for High Plains Public Radio and the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter @corinne_boyer or or email cboyer@hppr.org. The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on the health and well-being of Kansans, their communities and civic life.
