By:<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/jacob-fischler/">Jacob Fischler</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/ashley-murray/">Ashley Murray</a>

WASHINGTON — The record 43-day government shutdown that ended Wednesday night scrambled air travel, interrupted food assistance and forced federal workers to go without a paycheck for weeks.

It also cost the U.S. economy about $15 billion per week,&nbsp;White House Council of Economic Advisers Director Kevin Hassett told reporters Thursday.&nbsp;&nbsp;

As the government began to reopen Thursday, officials were working to untangle those issues and others.

But in some areas, the processes for getting things back to normal after such a lengthy shutdown will also take time.&nbsp;

President Donald Trump on Wednesday night&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/health-costs-spike-sour-and-divided-congress-escapes-one-shutdown-face-another" target="_blank">signed a package</a>&nbsp;passed by Congress reopening the government, which closed on Oct. 1 after lawmakers failed to pass a stopgap spending bill.

Flights back on schedule by Thanksgiving?

The Federal Aviation Administration’s shutdown plan, announced last week by Administrator Bryan Bedford and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, was to reduce flights to 40 major airports by 10%.&nbsp;

As of Thursday afternoon, the FAA had not lifted the order restricting flights. But the agency did stop ramping up the percentage of those affected.&nbsp;

The FAA started by asking airlines to cancel 4% of flights Nov. 7. A Wednesday&nbsp;<a href="https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/us-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-faa-administrator-bryan-bedford-freeze-flight" target="_blank">order</a>&nbsp;halted the rate at 6%.

That was enough to cause major disruptions to travel, and it remained unclear Thursday how long it would take to resume normal operations.&nbsp;

In a statement, Airlines for America, the trade group representing the nation’s commercial air carriers, welcomed the end of the shutdown but was vague about how much longer air travelers would see disruptions. The statement noted the upcoming holiday as a possible milestone.&nbsp;

“When the FAA gives airlines clearance to return to full capacity, our crews will work quickly to ramp up operations especially with Thanksgiving holiday travel beginning next week,” the group’s statement said.&nbsp;

The FAA and Transportation Department did not return messages seeking updates Thursday.The reduction in flights was meant to ease pressure on air traffic controllers, who worked through the shutdown without pay.&nbsp;

Many missed work as they pursued short-term jobs in other industries. Duffy said that left the controllers on the job overstressed and possibly prone to costly mistakes.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sought to reward other federal workers at airports, those employed by her department’s Transportation Security Administration, with $10,000 bonuses if they maintained high attendance records during the shutdown.

Noem handed out checks to TSA workers in Houston on Thursday and said more could come.&nbsp;

Federal workers return, with back pay on the way

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers who had been furloughed returned to the office Thursday and those who had been working without pay will continue their duties knowing their next paycheck should be on time.&nbsp;

All workers will receive back pay for the shutdown, in accordance with a 2019&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/24/text" target="_blank">law</a>&nbsp;that states employees “shall be paid for such work, at the employee’s standard rate of pay, at the earliest date possible after the lapse in appropriations, regardless of scheduled pay dates.”

A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget said the White House has urged agencies to get back pay to employees “expeditiously and accurately.”

Agencies will need to submit time and attendance files, and payroll processors can then issue checks. According to the spokesperson, agencies have different pay schedules and payroll processors, and “discrepancies in timing and pay periods are a result of that.”

The office estimates that workers will receive a “supercheck” for the pay period from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1 on the following dates:

Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said in a statement Wednesday that federal workers across all agencies “should not have to wait another minute longer for the paychecks they lost during the longest government shutdown in history.”&nbsp;

“The anxiety has been devastating as they cut back on spending, ran up credit card debt, took out emergency loans, filed for unemployment, found temporary side jobs, stood in line for food assistance, skipped filling prescriptions and worried about the future. Federal employees should receive the six weeks of back pay they are owed immediately upon the reopening of the federal government,” said Greenwald.&nbsp;

The union represents workers at 38 federal agencies and offices.

States Newsroom&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/shutdown-double-whammy-snap-food-benefits-ending-and-federal-workers-go-unpaid" target="_blank">spoke</a>&nbsp;to several furloughed federal workers who attended a special food distribution event during the shutdown.

The American Federation of Government Employees, one of multiple unions that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/judge-blocks-trump-shutdown-layoffs-citing-political-retribution" target="_blank">sued</a>&nbsp;the Trump administration over layoffs during the shutdown, said its members were used “as leverage to advance political priorities,” according to a statement issued Tuesday by the union’s national president, Everett Kelley.

The AFGE, which according to the union represents roughly 820,000 federal workers, did not immediately respond for comment Thursday.

The shutdown-ending deal reinstated jobs for fired federal employees and prohibits any reductions in force by the administration until Jan. 30.

A statement released Thursday by a group of federal workers across agencies struck a different tone on the shutdown and praised the 40 senators and 209 representatives who voted against the temporary spending bill deal.

“The fight mattered. It changed the conversation. More members of the American public now understand that Trump is shredding the Constitution,” according to the statement issued by the Civil Servants Coalition.

The coalition also noted, “Even though the government is reopening, none of us will be able to fully deliver our agency’s missions. Our work has been exploited and dismantled since January through harmful policies and illegal purges of critical staff.”

The group emailed the statement as a PDF document to an unknown number of government workers and urged them to “channel that frustration toward action” by contacting their representatives.

The government reopening ended&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/shutdown-tug-war-over-snap-benefits-timeline" target="_blank">a drawn-out saga</a>&nbsp;over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which helps 42 million people afford groceries.&nbsp;

The U.S.Department of Agriculture told states in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/benefit-issuance-nov13" target="_blank">Thursday memo</a>&nbsp;they “must take immediate steps to ensure households receive their full November allotments promptly.”

The guidance also noted that states should prepare for another shutdown as soon as next October by upgrading systems so that they could allow for partial payments.&nbsp;

A key point of dispute between the administration and those seeking SNAP benefits was the lengthy time the administration said it would take to fund partial benefits.&nbsp;

A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-administration-mostly-pay-full-snap-benefits-within-24-hours-shutdown-end" target="_blank">Wednesday evening statement</a>&nbsp;from a department spokesperson said full benefits would be disbursed in most states by Thursday night.&nbsp;

Lauren Kallins, a senior legislative director for the National Conference of State Legislatures, said Thursday&nbsp;“states are all working hard to resume full benefits.”

&nbsp;“But there will likely be logistical challenges, depending on a state’s system’s capabilities and whether the state had already issued partial benefits, that may impact how quickly a state is able to push out” benefits, she wrote.&nbsp;

The program, which is funded by the federal government and administered by states, sends monthly payments on a rolling basis.&nbsp;

That means that the day of the month each household receives its allotment varies. Households that usually receive benefits mid-month or later should see no interruption.&nbsp;

But many of the program’s beneficiaries receive their payments earlier in the month, meaning that, depending on their state, they may have missed their November payments.&nbsp;

Some states, including Democrat-run Wisconsin, Oregon and Michigan, began paying full benefits last week after a Rhode Island federal judge ordered the administration to release full November payments and the department issued guidance to states to do so.

The administration then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause enforcement of the Rhode Island judge’s order and reversed its guidance to states, telling them to “immediately undo” efforts to pay out full November benefits.

The Department of Justice dropped its Supreme Court case Thursday.&nbsp;

“Because the underlying dispute here is now moot, the government withdraws its November 7 stay application in this Court,” U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25/25A539/384355/20251113113250755_25A539%20Rhode%20Island%20-%20Letter.pdf" target="_blank">wrote</a>&nbsp;to the high court.

In the trial court, the administration cited the USDA guidance and said it would discuss the future of the litigation with the coalition of cities and nonprofit groups that brought the suit.&nbsp;

Tourists in the nation’s capital have been shut out of the Smithsonian Institution’s 17 free museums and zoo for most of the federal shutdown.

The institution on Friday will open the National Museum of American History, the National Air and Space Museum and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex of the Air and Space Museum located at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, according to a message posted on the Smithsonian’s website.

All other museums and the National Zoo will open on a “rolling basis” by Nov. 17.

Multiple public-facing agencies, including the National Park Service and Internal Revenue Service, did not respond to States Newsroom’s requests for reopening information.

National parks were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/national-parks-public-lands-feared-risk-long-term-harm-shutdown-drags" target="_blank">closed or partially closed&nbsp;</a>during the shutdown.

Several IRS services were reduced or altogether cut as the funding lapse dragged on. Those disruptions included limited IRS telephone customer service operations and the closure of in-person Taxpayer Assistance Centers.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1762445699793.png" alt="Photo Frontier Airlines" />
 <figcaption>Photo Frontier Airlines</figcaption>
 </figure>By:<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/jacob-fischler/">Jacob Fischler</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/ashley-murray/">Ashley Murray</a>WASHINGTON — The record 43-day government shutdown that ended Wednesday night scrambled air travel, interrupted food assistance and forced federal workers to go without a paycheck for weeks.It also cost the U.S. economy about $15 billion per week,&nbsp;White House Council of Economic Advisers Director Kevin Hassett told reporters Thursday.&nbsp;&nbsp;As the government began to reopen Thursday, officials were working to untangle those issues and others.But in some areas, the processes for getting things back to normal after such a lengthy shutdown will also take time.&nbsp;President Donald Trump on Wednesday night&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/health-costs-spike-sour-and-divided-congress-escapes-one-shutdown-face-another" target="_blank">signed a package</a>&nbsp;passed by Congress reopening the government, which closed on Oct. 1 after lawmakers failed to pass a stopgap spending bill.<h2>Flights back on schedule by Thanksgiving?</h2>The Federal Aviation Administration’s shutdown plan, announced last week by Administrator Bryan Bedford and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, was to reduce flights to 40 major airports by 10%.&nbsp;As of Thursday afternoon, the FAA had not lifted the order restricting flights. But the agency did stop ramping up the percentage of those affected.&nbsp;The FAA started by asking airlines to cancel 4% of flights Nov. 7. A Wednesday&nbsp;<a href="https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/us-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-faa-administrator-bryan-bedford-freeze-flight" target="_blank">order</a>&nbsp;halted the rate at 6%.That was enough to cause major disruptions to travel, and it remained unclear Thursday how long it would take to resume normal operations.&nbsp;In a statement, Airlines for America, the trade group representing the nation’s commercial air carriers, welcomed the end of the shutdown but was vague about how much longer air travelers would see disruptions. The statement noted the upcoming holiday as a possible milestone.&nbsp;“When the FAA gives airlines clearance to return to full capacity, our crews will work quickly to ramp up operations especially with Thanksgiving holiday travel beginning next week,” the group’s statement said.&nbsp;The FAA and Transportation Department did not return messages seeking updates Thursday.The reduction in flights was meant to ease pressure on air traffic controllers, who worked through the shutdown without pay.&nbsp;Many missed work as they pursued short-term jobs in other industries. Duffy said that left the controllers on the job overstressed and possibly prone to costly mistakes.Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sought to reward other federal workers at airports, those employed by her department’s Transportation Security Administration, with $10,000 bonuses if they maintained high attendance records during the shutdown.Noem handed out checks to TSA workers in Houston on Thursday and said more could come.&nbsp;<h2>Federal workers return, with back pay on the way</h2>Hundreds of thousands of federal workers who had been furloughed returned to the office Thursday and those who had been working without pay will continue their duties knowing their next paycheck should be on time.&nbsp;All workers will receive back pay for the shutdown, in accordance with a 2019&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/24/text" target="_blank">law</a>&nbsp;that states employees “shall be paid for such work, at the employee’s standard rate of pay, at the earliest date possible after the lapse in appropriations, regardless of scheduled pay dates.”A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget said the White House has urged agencies to get back pay to employees “expeditiously and accurately.”Agencies will need to submit time and attendance files, and payroll processors can then issue checks. According to the spokesperson, agencies have different pay schedules and payroll processors, and “discrepancies in timing and pay periods are a result of that.”The office estimates that workers will receive a “supercheck” for the pay period from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1 on the following dates:Nov. 15<ul>
 <li>General Services Administration</li><li>Office of Personnel Management</li>
 </ul>Nov. 16<ul>
 <li>Departments of Energy, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs and Defense</li>
 </ul>Nov. 17<ul>
 <li>Departments of Education, State, Interior and Transportation</li><li>Environmental Protection Agency</li><li>NASA</li><li>National Science Foundation</li><li>Nuclear Regulatory Commission</li><li>Social Security Administration</li>
 </ul>Nov. 19<ul>
 <li>Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor and Treasury</li><li>Small Business Administration</li>
 </ul>Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said in a statement Wednesday that federal workers across all agencies “should not have to wait another minute longer for the paychecks they lost during the longest government shutdown in history.”&nbsp;“The anxiety has been devastating as they cut back on spending, ran up credit card debt, took out emergency loans, filed for unemployment, found temporary side jobs, stood in line for food assistance, skipped filling prescriptions and worried about the future. Federal employees should receive the six weeks of back pay they are owed immediately upon the reopening of the federal government,” said Greenwald.&nbsp;The union represents workers at 38 federal agencies and offices.States Newsroom&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/shutdown-double-whammy-snap-food-benefits-ending-and-federal-workers-go-unpaid" target="_blank">spoke</a>&nbsp;to several furloughed federal workers who attended a special food distribution event during the shutdown.The American Federation of Government Employees, one of multiple unions that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/judge-blocks-trump-shutdown-layoffs-citing-political-retribution" target="_blank">sued</a>&nbsp;the Trump administration over layoffs during the shutdown, said its members were used “as leverage to advance political priorities,” according to a statement issued Tuesday by the union’s national president, Everett Kelley.The AFGE, which according to the union represents roughly 820,000 federal workers, did not immediately respond for comment Thursday.The shutdown-ending deal reinstated jobs for fired federal employees and prohibits any reductions in force by the administration until Jan. 30.<h2>Federal workers speak out</h2>A statement released Thursday by a group of federal workers across agencies struck a different tone on the shutdown and praised the 40 senators and 209 representatives who voted against the temporary spending bill deal.“The fight mattered. It changed the conversation. More members of the American public now understand that Trump is shredding the Constitution,” according to the statement issued by the Civil Servants Coalition.The coalition also noted, “Even though the government is reopening, none of us will be able to fully deliver our agency’s missions. Our work has been exploited and dismantled since January through harmful policies and illegal purges of critical staff.”The group emailed the statement as a PDF document to an unknown number of government workers and urged them to “channel that frustration toward action” by contacting their representatives.<h2>SNAP saga concludes</h2>The government reopening ended&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/shutdown-tug-war-over-snap-benefits-timeline" target="_blank">a drawn-out saga</a>&nbsp;over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which helps 42 million people afford groceries.&nbsp;The U.S.Department of Agriculture told states in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/benefit-issuance-nov13" target="_blank">Thursday memo</a>&nbsp;they “must take immediate steps to ensure households receive their full November allotments promptly.”The guidance also noted that states should prepare for another shutdown as soon as next October by upgrading systems so that they could allow for partial payments.&nbsp;A key point of dispute between the administration and those seeking SNAP benefits was the lengthy time the administration said it would take to fund partial benefits.&nbsp;A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-administration-mostly-pay-full-snap-benefits-within-24-hours-shutdown-end" target="_blank">Wednesday evening statement</a>&nbsp;from a department spokesperson said full benefits would be disbursed in most states by Thursday night.&nbsp;Lauren Kallins, a senior legislative director for the National Conference of State Legislatures, said Thursday&nbsp;“states are all working hard to resume full benefits.”&nbsp;“But there will likely be logistical challenges, depending on a state’s system’s capabilities and whether the state had already issued partial benefits, that may impact how quickly a state is able to push out” benefits, she wrote.&nbsp;The program, which is funded by the federal government and administered by states, sends monthly payments on a rolling basis.&nbsp;That means that the day of the month each household receives its allotment varies. Households that usually receive benefits mid-month or later should see no interruption.&nbsp;But many of the program’s beneficiaries receive their payments earlier in the month, meaning that, depending on their state, they may have missed their November payments.&nbsp;Some states, including Democrat-run Wisconsin, Oregon and Michigan, began paying full benefits last week after a Rhode Island federal judge ordered the administration to release full November payments and the department issued guidance to states to do so.The administration then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause enforcement of the Rhode Island judge’s order and reversed its guidance to states, telling them to “immediately undo” efforts to pay out full November benefits.The Department of Justice dropped its Supreme Court case Thursday.&nbsp;“Because the underlying dispute here is now moot, the government withdraws its November 7 stay application in this Court,” U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25/25A539/384355/20251113113250755_25A539%20Rhode%20Island%20-%20Letter.pdf" target="_blank">wrote</a>&nbsp;to the high court.In the trial court, the administration cited the USDA guidance and said it would discuss the future of the litigation with the coalition of cities and nonprofit groups that brought the suit.&nbsp;<h2>Capital area tourist attractions reopen</h2>Tourists in the nation’s capital have been shut out of the Smithsonian Institution’s 17 free museums and zoo for most of the federal shutdown.The institution on Friday will open the National Museum of American History, the National Air and Space Museum and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex of the Air and Space Museum located at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, according to a message posted on the Smithsonian’s website.All other museums and the National Zoo will open on a “rolling basis” by Nov. 17.Multiple public-facing agencies, including the National Park Service and Internal Revenue Service, did not respond to States Newsroom’s requests for reopening information.National parks were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/national-parks-public-lands-feared-risk-long-term-harm-shutdown-drags" target="_blank">closed or partially closed&nbsp;</a>during the shutdown.Several IRS services were reduced or altogether cut as the funding lapse dragged on. Those disruptions included limited IRS telephone customer service operations and the closure of in-person Taxpayer Assistance Centers.

Air travel, SNAP benefits, back pay at issue as federal government slowly reopens

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement are working to find the driver&nbsp; responsible for a fatal hit-and-run.

Just before 6p.m. Wednesday, police responded&nbsp;to the 1000 block of Fredericksburg Road where officers found the body later identified as 35-year-old Mary Levingston of Kansas City, Missouri, on the shoulder of the road, according to a media release from the Excelsior Springs Police Department. She was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Preliminary investigation indicates that she suffered blunt force trauma consistent with being struck by a vehicle. Police have not identified as suspect vehicle or driver.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact police at 816-639-2000 or the anonymous TIPS hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement are working to find the driver&nbsp; responsible for a fatal hit-and-run.Just before 6p.m. Wednesday, police responded&nbsp;to the 1000 block of Fredericksburg Road where officers found the body later identified as 35-year-old Mary Levingston of Kansas City, Missouri, on the shoulder of the road, according to a media release from the Excelsior Springs Police Department. She was pronounced deceased at the scene.Preliminary investigation indicates that she suffered blunt force trauma consistent with being struck by a vehicle. Police have not identified as suspect vehicle or driver.Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact police at 816-639-2000 or the anonymous TIPS hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

Police: Kansas City woman killed in hit-and-run

SALINE COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating a suspect in connection with a road rage incident.

Just after noon November 9, a 2015 Dodge Ram driven by Caden Deans, 22, Enterprise, was traveling in the construction zone on Interstate 135 at State Street, according to Salina Police Lt. Andrew Zeigler.&nbsp; The driver was angry with&nbsp;the 28-year-old driver of a 2020 Kia Telluride.

Both vehicles exited on Schilling Road and Deans' pickup intentionally struck the Kia. The impact caused the SUV to roll onto its top. The driver of the Kia was not transported for treatment of minor injuries.

Police arrested Deans on requested charges of aggravated battery, criminal damage to property and reckless driving. He met the requirement for bond and was released from the Saline County Jail just before 5p.m. Sunday, according to online booking records.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1763066211975.png" alt="Deans photo Saline County" />
 <figcaption>Deans photo Saline County</figcaption>
 </figure>SALINE COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating a suspect in connection with a road rage incident.Just after noon November 9, a 2015 Dodge Ram driven by Caden Deans, 22, Enterprise, was traveling in the construction zone on Interstate 135 at State Street, according to Salina Police Lt. Andrew Zeigler.&nbsp; The driver was angry with&nbsp;the 28-year-old driver of a 2020 Kia Telluride.Both vehicles exited on Schilling Road and Deans' pickup intentionally struck the Kia. The impact caused the SUV to roll onto its top. The driver of the Kia was not transported for treatment of minor injuries.Police arrested Deans on requested charges of aggravated battery, criminal damage to property and reckless driving. He met the requirement for bond and was released from the Saline County Jail just before 5p.m. Sunday, according to online booking records.

Road rage: Kansas man accused of using pickup as a weapon

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

A PAC funded by the national Republican Party won a postponement after making a last-minute intervention in a lawsuit over when signatures can be gathered seeking a statewide vote

A&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/national-republicans-gear-up-to-fight-referendum-on-missouri-congressional-map/">new political action committee</a>&nbsp;funded by the national Republican Party won a delay Thursday in a trial over the effort to force a statewide vote on Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional district map.

Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green’s decision to postpone the hearing and transfer the case to a new judge unleashed a storm of criticism of the new PAC, called Put Missouri First, and its attorney, Marc Ellinger.

“He’s trying to subvert justice and prejudice my client,” said Chuck Hatfield, the attorney representing a PAC called People Not Politicians that is leading the referendum campaign.&nbsp;

Ellinger said he can be ready quickly and because signatures are not due until Dec. 11, nothing crucial will happen before the case can get before a new judge.&nbsp;

“There’s no urgency in getting a resolution on this case,” Ellinger said.

The postponement is the second delay in the case. Green&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/11/03/judges-illness-delays-hearing-on-referendum-to-overturn-missouris-gerrymandered-map/">became ill</a>&nbsp;and was unable to convene a trial originally set for Nov. 3.&nbsp;

Without his illness, Put Missouri First would have been too late to intervene. It was organized on Oct. 31 and did not receive any funding until Nov. 4, when the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Republican National Committee each donated $50,000.

Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, said after Thursday’s hearing that the move to slow down the case shows the GOP knows how unpopular the gerrymandered map is.

“It’s pretty easy to tell desperation when you see it,” von Glahn said. “What Mr. Ellinger did today shows that committee is simply desperate to not have the illegal and unpopular action that they took placed before Missouri voters.”

People Not Politicians must gather at least 106,134 signatures, spread over six of the state’s eight congressional districts, to trigger a referendum on the new congressional map approved on a party-line vote during a&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/09/12/gerrymandered-congressional-map-initiative-petitions-limits-sent-to-missouri-governor/">September special legislative session</a>. The signatures must be turned in by Dec. 11.

The case postponed on Thursday is one of six — five in state courts, one in federal court — focused on the September special session. One case, challenging the authority for the special session, has been decided at the trial court level and is under appeal.

Another, questioning whether lawmakers had the power to revise districts without new census data, was&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/11/12/judge-hears-arguments-over-legality-of-gerrymandered-missouri-congressional-map/">heard on Wednesday</a>. A hearing in the federal case, which attempts to win a decision that congressional redistricting maps are protected from citizen referendum petitions by the federal Constitution, is scheduled for Nov. 25 in St. Louis.

In the case postponed Thursday, People Not Politicians is arguing that the right to seek a referendum on any law is triggered when lawmakers take a final vote on a bill. The committee is suing Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, who rejected petition forms because Gov. Mike Kehoe had not signed the redistricting legislation.

Kehoe called lawmakers into special session in September at the&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/07/25/trump-white-house-pressing-missouri-republicans-to-redraw-congressional-map/">insistence of President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;in a bid to give Republicans seven instead of six of Missouri’s eight congressional seats.

Under the bill scheduled to take effect Dec. 12, Missourians would vote next year in revised districts. The new Missouri map targets the Kansas City-based 5th District, held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, to flip to the Republican Party.

Trump wants to preserve and expand the GOP’s slim majority in the U.S. House, where they currently have a 219-213 edge.

The efforts to delay the petition drive will not succeed, von Glahn said. The campaign has collected more than 200,000 signatures, he said.

The case will preserve the rights of the 90,000 people who signed the petition between Sept. 15, when the first version was filed with Hoskins, and Oct. 14, he said.&nbsp;

That is when Hoskins issued a news release warning that no signatures gathered before he certified the petition for circulation were valid and anyone who had signed it could be prosecuted for an election offense. Von Glahn said he wants a declaration from the court that those people have not done anything wrong.

“There is not a question that every single signature that has been gathered is on a form that the Secretary of State has himself said is the appropriate form,” he said.

The late intervention and delays are “ridiculous and they’re undemocratic,” Hatfield said. “If the Republican Party and the proponents think that redrawing Missouri’s congressional districts to go to a seven to one Republican is a great idea, then let’s vote on it and see whether it’s a good idea or not.”

In the petition seeking to intervene, Ellinger wrote that Put Missouri First will incur heavy expenses and time-consuming organizing efforts if the map is put to a vote.&nbsp;

“The judge found it convincing and allowed us in the case,” Ellinger said “We have a vested interest in the expense of campaign funds and in the advocacy for or against a measure.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1763087670413.png" alt=" Richard von Glahn, left, director of People Not Politicians, answers questions from reporters after a trial over referendum petitions was postponed Thursday in Cole County Circuit Court (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> Richard von Glahn, left, director of People Not Politicians, answers questions from reporters after a trial over referendum petitions was postponed Thursday in Cole County Circuit Court (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rudi-keller/">RUDI KELLER</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a><h2>A PAC funded by the national Republican Party won a postponement after making a last-minute intervention in a lawsuit over when signatures can be gathered seeking a statewide vote</h2>A&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/national-republicans-gear-up-to-fight-referendum-on-missouri-congressional-map/">new political action committee</a>&nbsp;funded by the national Republican Party won a delay Thursday in a trial over the effort to force a statewide vote on Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional district map.Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green’s decision to postpone the hearing and transfer the case to a new judge unleashed a storm of criticism of the new PAC, called Put Missouri First, and its attorney, Marc Ellinger.“He’s trying to subvert justice and prejudice my client,” said Chuck Hatfield, the attorney representing a PAC called People Not Politicians that is leading the referendum campaign.&nbsp;Ellinger said he can be ready quickly and because signatures are not due until Dec. 11, nothing crucial will happen before the case can get before a new judge.&nbsp;“There’s no urgency in getting a resolution on this case,” Ellinger said.The postponement is the second delay in the case. Green&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/11/03/judges-illness-delays-hearing-on-referendum-to-overturn-missouris-gerrymandered-map/">became ill</a>&nbsp;and was unable to convene a trial originally set for Nov. 3.&nbsp;Without his illness, Put Missouri First would have been too late to intervene. It was organized on Oct. 31 and did not receive any funding until Nov. 4, when the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Republican National Committee each donated $50,000.Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, said after Thursday’s hearing that the move to slow down the case shows the GOP knows how unpopular the gerrymandered map is.“It’s pretty easy to tell desperation when you see it,” von Glahn said. “What Mr. Ellinger did today shows that committee is simply desperate to not have the illegal and unpopular action that they took placed before Missouri voters.”People Not Politicians must gather at least 106,134 signatures, spread over six of the state’s eight congressional districts, to trigger a referendum on the new congressional map approved on a party-line vote during a&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/09/12/gerrymandered-congressional-map-initiative-petitions-limits-sent-to-missouri-governor/">September special legislative session</a>. The signatures must be turned in by Dec. 11.The case postponed on Thursday is one of six — five in state courts, one in federal court — focused on the September special session. One case, challenging the authority for the special session, has been decided at the trial court level and is under appeal.Another, questioning whether lawmakers had the power to revise districts without new census data, was&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/11/12/judge-hears-arguments-over-legality-of-gerrymandered-missouri-congressional-map/">heard on Wednesday</a>. A hearing in the federal case, which attempts to win a decision that congressional redistricting maps are protected from citizen referendum petitions by the federal Constitution, is scheduled for Nov. 25 in St. Louis.In the case postponed Thursday, People Not Politicians is arguing that the right to seek a referendum on any law is triggered when lawmakers take a final vote on a bill. The committee is suing Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, who rejected petition forms because Gov. Mike Kehoe had not signed the redistricting legislation.Kehoe called lawmakers into special session in September at the&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/07/25/trump-white-house-pressing-missouri-republicans-to-redraw-congressional-map/">insistence of President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;in a bid to give Republicans seven instead of six of Missouri’s eight congressional seats.Under the bill scheduled to take effect Dec. 12, Missourians would vote next year in revised districts. The new Missouri map targets the Kansas City-based 5th District, held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, to flip to the Republican Party.Trump wants to preserve and expand the GOP’s slim majority in the U.S. House, where they currently have a 219-213 edge.The efforts to delay the petition drive will not succeed, von Glahn said. The campaign has collected more than 200,000 signatures, he said.The case will preserve the rights of the 90,000 people who signed the petition between Sept. 15, when the first version was filed with Hoskins, and Oct. 14, he said.&nbsp;That is when Hoskins issued a news release warning that no signatures gathered before he certified the petition for circulation were valid and anyone who had signed it could be prosecuted for an election offense. Von Glahn said he wants a declaration from the court that those people have not done anything wrong.“There is not a question that every single signature that has been gathered is on a form that the Secretary of State has himself said is the appropriate form,” he said.The late intervention and delays are “ridiculous and they’re undemocratic,” Hatfield said. “If the Republican Party and the proponents think that redrawing Missouri’s congressional districts to go to a seven to one Republican is a great idea, then let’s vote on it and see whether it’s a good idea or not.”In the petition seeking to intervene, Ellinger wrote that Put Missouri First will incur heavy expenses and time-consuming organizing efforts if the map is put to a vote.&nbsp;“The judge found it convincing and allowed us in the case,” Ellinger said “We have a vested interest in the expense of campaign funds and in the advocacy for or against a measure.”

Trial over referendum on Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional map delayed again

HARVEY COUNTY —On Wednesday, Harvey County Chief Judge Wilder sentenced 54-year-old Shyla McFrederic of Sedgwick, Kansa for Distribution of Methamphetamine, a severity level 1 drug felony, according to the Harvey County Attorney's office.

The case originated from McFrederick’s arrest in Sedgwick, Kansas, on April 19, 2024, when she was found in possession of 111 grams of methamphetamine, 22 grams of psilocybin, 94 grams of marijuana, and four fentanyl tablets.

Under the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines, McFrederick faced a presumptive prison term of 138 to 154 months in the custody of the Kansas Department of Corrections. Harvey County Attorney Heather Figger requested that the Court impose a 146-month prison sentence, emphasizing that the State had already exercised leniency by dismissing seven felony and five misdemeanor charges across three separate criminal cases as part of the plea agreement.

County Attorney Figger also urged the Court to consider the devastating impact that the distribution of these substances has on the Harvey County community. Counsel for McFrederick requested a downward departure to probation.

In ruling on the matter, Chief Judge Wilder noted that the case involved “the highest level drug felony that exists and that is only for the methamphetamine you possessed and not the other drugs.”

During sentencing, the Court cited a substance use evaluation completed by McFrederick in September 2025, which indicated that she still was not accepting responsibility for her crimes. The Court also noted that McFrederick’s no contest plea was not an acceptance of responsibility.

After consideration, Chief Judge Wilder granted a durational departure, sentencing McFrederick to 60 months in the Kansas Department of Corrections. The Court based this reduced sentence on McFrederick’s decision to waive her preliminary hearing and enter a plea—thereby saving the State the expense of further proceedings—and some limited acceptance of responsibility demonstrated by the actions she had taken to improve herself.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1762979753270.png" alt="McFrederick from a December 2024 arrest in Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>McFrederick from a December 2024 arrest in Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>HARVEY COUNTY —On Wednesday, Harvey County Chief Judge Wilder sentenced 54-year-old Shyla McFrederic of Sedgwick, Kansa for Distribution of Methamphetamine, a severity level 1 drug felony, according to the Harvey County Attorney's office.The case originated from McFrederick’s arrest in Sedgwick, Kansas, on April 19, 2024, when she was found in possession of 111 grams of methamphetamine, 22 grams of psilocybin, 94 grams of marijuana, and four fentanyl tablets.Under the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines, McFrederick faced a presumptive prison term of 138 to 154 months in the custody of the Kansas Department of Corrections. Harvey County Attorney Heather Figger requested that the Court impose a 146-month prison sentence, emphasizing that the State had already exercised leniency by dismissing seven felony and five misdemeanor charges across three separate criminal cases as part of the plea agreement.County Attorney Figger also urged the Court to consider the devastating impact that the distribution of these substances has on the Harvey County community. Counsel for McFrederick requested a downward departure to probation.In ruling on the matter, Chief Judge Wilder noted that the case involved “the highest level drug felony that exists and that is only for the methamphetamine you possessed and not the other drugs.”During sentencing, the Court cited a substance use evaluation completed by McFrederick in September 2025, which indicated that she still was not accepting responsibility for her crimes. The Court also noted that McFrederick’s no contest plea was not an acceptance of responsibility.After consideration, Chief Judge Wilder granted a durational departure, sentencing McFrederick to 60 months in the Kansas Department of Corrections. The Court based this reduced sentence on McFrederick’s decision to waive her preliminary hearing and enter a plea—thereby saving the State the expense of further proceedings—and some limited acceptance of responsibility demonstrated by the actions she had taken to improve herself.

Kansas drug dealer gets plea deal after caught with meth, fentanyl pills

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

LAWRENCE — Government, university and community leaders commemorated the opening Wednesday of a state-of-the-art convention center at the University of Kansas, which is equipped with amenities meant to draw thousands of annual visitors and generate revenue to pay off the university’s large-scale development project.

More than 100 people milled about the center’s grand entrance hall and conference rooms to hear Gov. Laura Kelly, university chancellor Douglas Girod and three others praise the teamwork and vision behind the University of Kansas Conference Center. They predicted a future of economic and community prosperity before cutting a ceremonious red ribbon held by the university’s mascots, Big Jay and Baby Jay.

The center is part of the project to revamp the school’s football stadium and northern campus entrance to create the Gateway District. The project could cost up to $808 million, and it relies heavily on state and local incentives, along with funding from the Republican-led Kansas Legislature and private donors to subsidize development.

The conference center is expected to be among the first steps in producing a return on those public and private investments.

“Not only will this facility benefit the greater Lawrence community, but it will also attract out-of-state visitors, spurring significant economic activity,” said Kelly, a Democrat. “Today marks a major step towards completion of the first phase of the university’s Gateway District project.”

The 55,000-square-foot center is the first of its kind in Douglas County. Kelly said the conference center has “required an intense collaborative effort.”

It is adjoined to the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, and the center’s visitors can access a patio that puts them at eye-level with players and coaches. Conference center users can also access stadium amenities, including the digital scoreboard, meeting rooms and various offices, said Girod.

The university envisions galas, weddings, conventions, trade shows and other large social events as potential uses for the center, said Girod. Event bookings already stretch into 2027, he said.

“As a result of this design, it really positions us to host all kinds of events, bringing out-of-town visitors into our community,” Girod said, “and that’s really what it’s all about at the end of the day, to generate additional economic activity to the city, county, state and beyond.”

Girod said he hopes the new center will attract events from around the world. An estimated 400,000 people visit Lawrence annually. KU’s Rock Chalk Park soccer complex on the western edge of the city is currently under consideration for hosting a team base camp for the 2026 World Cup.

The conference center isn’t a typical one, in large part because of its location, Girod said.

“Right in the heart of Lawrence, right at the foot of the hill, right at the base of campus, right at the gateway of our campus, and, of course, as part of our stadium,” he said.

The Legislature allocated $35 million to the project in 2022 from American Rescue Plan Act funds. It received $50 million in grant funding in 2023 from the Kansas Department of Commerce, which required a three-to-one match of private funds. The city of Lawrence approved in August a $95 million package of incentives, including the city’s first Sales Tax and Revenue, or STAR, bonds, which allow the city to finance the project with nearly $86 million in bonds. Once built, the development’s revenues and sales taxes will pay off the bonds.

Now that phase 1 is complete, the roughly $300 million phase 2 is expected to begin once KU’s football season ends, said Girod.

The second phase is expected to begin with renovations to the east side of the football stadium and construction of a parking garage and a 150-room hotel. A roughly 440-bed student housing complex, outdoor event plaza and retail, restaurant and office space are expected to follow, extending use of the area beyond football season.

Nearly 1 million people are predicted to visit the Gateway District annually once the project is complete in 2030, according to a feasibility study submitted to the city of Lawrence. Developers expect the district to produce a net economic output of $84.9 million and more than 1,600 full-time jobs.

“Today marks a shift in what is possible in Lawrence,” said Kim Anspach, the executive director of Explore Lawrence, the city’s tourism arm.

Capacity often restricted the city’s ability to host and grow events, she said. The center helps create a “steady rhythm of activity,” which helps support the year-round stability of the local economy.

The center is not a one-time boost, Anspach said; it’s a foundation.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1763042529180.png" alt="The University of Kansas Conference Center, which is adjoined to the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, opens in Lawrence, Kansas on Nov. 12, 2025. It is part of the Gateway District project’s renovations of the northern entrance to campus, which are expected to finish in 2030. (Photo by Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>The University of Kansas Conference Center, which is adjoined to the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, opens in Lawrence, Kansas on Nov. 12, 2025. It is part of the Gateway District project’s renovations of the northern entrance to campus, which are expected to finish in 2030. (Photo by Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/akaminski/">ANNA KAMINSKI</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/01/03/kansas-state-garden-city-cc-striving-to-shrink-bachelors-degree-educational-desert/?emci=8e6f56cf-3bca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;emdi=a9416bb1-82ca-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&amp;ceid=115039">Kansas Reflector</a>LAWRENCE — Government, university and community leaders commemorated the opening Wednesday of a state-of-the-art convention center at the University of Kansas, which is equipped with amenities meant to draw thousands of annual visitors and generate revenue to pay off the university’s large-scale development project.More than 100 people milled about the center’s grand entrance hall and conference rooms to hear Gov. Laura Kelly, university chancellor Douglas Girod and three others praise the teamwork and vision behind the University of Kansas Conference Center. They predicted a future of economic and community prosperity before cutting a ceremonious red ribbon held by the university’s mascots, Big Jay and Baby Jay.The center is part of the project to revamp the school’s football stadium and northern campus entrance to create the Gateway District. The project could cost up to $808 million, and it relies heavily on state and local incentives, along with funding from the Republican-led Kansas Legislature and private donors to subsidize development.The conference center is expected to be among the first steps in producing a return on those public and private investments.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1763042491946.png" alt="People gather in the University of Kansas Conference Center, which opened in Lawrence, Kansas on Nov. 12, 2025. It will host galas, parties, graduations, conventions and trade shows, said KU Chancellor Doug Girod. (Photo by Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>People gather in the University of Kansas Conference Center, which opened in Lawrence, Kansas on Nov. 12, 2025. It will host galas, parties, graduations, conventions and trade shows, said KU Chancellor Doug Girod. (Photo by Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>“Not only will this facility benefit the greater Lawrence community, but it will also attract out-of-state visitors, spurring significant economic activity,” said Kelly, a Democrat. “Today marks a major step towards completion of the first phase of the university’s Gateway District project.”The 55,000-square-foot center is the first of its kind in Douglas County. Kelly said the conference center has “required an intense collaborative effort.”It is adjoined to the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, and the center’s visitors can access a patio that puts them at eye-level with players and coaches. Conference center users can also access stadium amenities, including the digital scoreboard, meeting rooms and various offices, said Girod.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1763042452129.png" alt="Field-level access in the University of Kansas’ David Booth Memorial Stadium is attached to the university’s 55,000-square-foot. conference center, which opened in Lawrence, Kansas, on Nov. 12, 2025. (Photo by Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Field-level access in the University of Kansas’ David Booth Memorial Stadium is attached to the university’s 55,000-square-foot. conference center, which opened in Lawrence, Kansas, on Nov. 12, 2025. (Photo by Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>The university envisions galas, weddings, conventions, trade shows and other large social events as potential uses for the center, said Girod. Event bookings already stretch into 2027, he said.“As a result of this design, it really positions us to host all kinds of events, bringing out-of-town visitors into our community,” Girod said, “and that’s really what it’s all about at the end of the day, to generate additional economic activity to the city, county, state and beyond.”Girod said he hopes the new center will attract events from around the world. An estimated 400,000 people visit Lawrence annually. KU’s Rock Chalk Park soccer complex on the western edge of the city is currently under consideration for hosting a team base camp for the 2026 World Cup.The conference center isn’t a typical one, in large part because of its location, Girod said.“Right in the heart of Lawrence, right at the foot of the hill, right at the base of campus, right at the gateway of our campus, and, of course, as part of our stadium,” he said.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1763042361413.png" alt="Gov. Laura Kelly at the University of Kansas Conference Center opening in Lawrence, Kansas, on Nov. 12, 2025. (Photo by Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Gov. Laura Kelly at the University of Kansas Conference Center opening in Lawrence, Kansas, on Nov. 12, 2025. (Photo by Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>The Legislature allocated $35 million to the project in 2022 from American Rescue Plan Act funds. It received $50 million in grant funding in 2023 from the Kansas Department of Commerce, which required a three-to-one match of private funds. The city of Lawrence approved in August a $95 million package of incentives, including the city’s first Sales Tax and Revenue, or STAR, bonds, which allow the city to finance the project with nearly $86 million in bonds. Once built, the development’s revenues and sales taxes will pay off the bonds.Now that phase 1 is complete, the roughly $300 million phase 2 is expected to begin once KU’s football season ends, said Girod.The second phase is expected to begin with renovations to the east side of the football stadium and construction of a parking garage and a 150-room hotel. A roughly 440-bed student housing complex, outdoor event plaza and retail, restaurant and office space are expected to follow, extending use of the area beyond football season.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1763042326830.png" alt="A banner hangs on the untouched portion of the University of Kansas football stadium in Lawrence, Kansas, on Nov. 12, 2025. It depicts a rendering of upcoming plans to complete stadium renovations and construct a hotel and parking garage, creating what will be known as the Gateway District. (Photo by Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>A banner hangs on the untouched portion of the University of Kansas football stadium in Lawrence, Kansas, on Nov. 12, 2025. It depicts a rendering of upcoming plans to complete stadium renovations and construct a hotel and parking garage, creating what will be known as the Gateway District. (Photo by Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>Nearly 1 million people are predicted to visit the Gateway District annually once the project is complete in 2030, according to a feasibility study submitted to the city of Lawrence. Developers expect the district to produce a net economic output of $84.9 million and more than 1,600 full-time jobs.“Today marks a shift in what is possible in Lawrence,” said Kim Anspach, the executive director of Explore Lawrence, the city’s tourism arm.Capacity often restricted the city’s ability to host and grow events, she said. The center helps create a “steady rhythm of activity,” which helps support the year-round stability of the local economy.The center is not a one-time boost, Anspach said; it’s a foundation.

KU convention center opens, capping phase 1 of $800M stadium expansion, redevelopment

MITCHELL COUNTY —Two people were injured in a home explosion on Wednesday in Mitchell County.

Just before 6:30pm, the Mitchell County Communication Center received calls of a house explosion had occurred at the corner of Elkhorn Street and Wisconsin Street in Simpson, Kansas, according to a media release from the Mitchell County Sheriff.

Emergency personnel responded to the scene and located two adult victims with severe injuries. Both victims were transported to the Mitchell County Health Hospital Systems ER initially. The victims were then flown to higher level of care hospitals. 

The Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office was contacted and responded to the scene.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1763033183062.png" alt="Photo Mitchell Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Photo Mitchell Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>MITCHELL COUNTY —Two people were injured in a home explosion on Wednesday in Mitchell County.Just before 6:30pm, the Mitchell County Communication Center received calls of a house explosion had occurred at the corner of Elkhorn Street and Wisconsin Street in Simpson, Kansas, according to a media release from the Mitchell County Sheriff.Emergency personnel responded to the scene and located two adult victims with severe injuries. Both victims were transported to the Mitchell County Health Hospital Systems ER initially. The victims were then flown to higher level of care hospitals. The Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office was contacted and responded to the scene.&nbsp;

Sheriff: 2 critically injured in Kansas home explosion

RAY COUNTY—Law enforcement investigating a homicide in rural Ray County have a suspect in custody.&nbsp;

Just after noon Wednesday,&nbsp;deputies responded to the 500 block of Arapahoe Drive and found a 43-year-old man unresponsive with apparent gunshot wounds., according to a media release. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities located the suspect in another residence and took 55-year-old Glen Stice into custody. He is being held on a 24-hour investigative hold as the Ray County Prosecutor’s Office reviews potential charges.

The sheriff's office did not release the name of the victim or additional details.

RAY COUNTY—Law enforcement investigating a homicide in rural Ray County have a suspect in custody.&nbsp;Just after noon Wednesday,&nbsp;deputies responded to the 500 block of Arapahoe Drive and found a 43-year-old man unresponsive with apparent gunshot wounds., according to a media release. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.Authorities located the suspect in another residence and took 55-year-old Glen Stice into custody. He is being held on a 24-hour investigative hold as the Ray County Prosecutor’s Office reviews potential charges.The sheriff's office did not release the name of the victim or additional details.

Deputies arrest suspect in deadly rural Missouri shooting

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/starbucks-workers-united-union-lawsuit-israel-palestinian-f212a994fef67f122854a4df7e5d13f5">Starbucks Workers United</a>, the union organizing Starbucks baristas, announced stores in 45 cities will strike beginning Thursday. The cities included are in St. Louis, New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, San Diego,&nbsp; Dallas, Columbus, Ohio, and Seattle. More stores are prepared to join if Starbucks doesn't reach a contract agreement with the union, organizers said.

Starbucks confirmed that the vast majority of its U.S. stores would be open and operating as usual Thursday.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/starbucks-workers-united-union-lawsuit-israel-palestinian-f212a994fef67f122854a4df7e5d13f5">Starbucks Workers United</a>, the union organizing Starbucks baristas, announced stores in 45 cities will strike beginning Thursday. The cities included are in St. Louis, New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, San Diego,&nbsp; Dallas, Columbus, Ohio, and Seattle. More stores are prepared to join if Starbucks doesn't reach a contract agreement with the union, organizers said.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/gdbL0MxtjX">https://t.co/gdbL0MxtjX</a>&mdash; Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBWorkersUnited/status/1988727090007670974?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 12, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Starbucks confirmed that the vast majority of its U.S. stores would be open and operating as usual Thursday.

Starbucks workers union launches strike in 45 cities

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1763004356820.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;With my signature, the federal government will now resume normal operations and my administration, and our partners in Congress, will continue our work to lower the cost of living, restore public safety... and make America affordable again for all Americans.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/ybJjiM2lIL">pic.twitter.com/ybJjiM2lIL</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1988810732834812391?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;For the past 43 days, Democrats in Congress shut down the government of the United States in an attempt to extort American taxpayers for hundreds of billions of dollars for illegal aliens... Today, we’re sending a clear message that we will NEVER give in to extortion.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/kMKncQPsiL">pic.twitter.com/kMKncQPsiL</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1988809270163566995?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;The Democrats shutdown has inflicted massive harm. They caused 20,000 flights to be cancelled or delayed... they deprived more than 1M government workers from their paychecks and cut off food stamp benefits of millions and millions of Americans in need.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/KCdnltt95L">pic.twitter.com/KCdnltt95L</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1988810060576031185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥President Trump signs bill to end the 43 day government shutdown

By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">Jennifer Shutt</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ariana-figueroa/">Ariana Figueroa</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/shauneen-miranda/">Shauneen Miranda</a>

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House approved a spending package Wednesday evening that will reopen the government and end the longest shutdown in the nation’s history, once President Donald Trump signs the legislation into law.

The White House announced Trump will sign the bill in the Oval Office at 9:45 p.m. Eastern.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025285?Page=2" target="_blank">222-209 vote</a>&nbsp;marked the first time that chamber took up a bill since mid-September, when Republican leaders recessed after members approved a stopgap spending measure they knew couldn’t advance in the Senate.&nbsp;

That stalemate, centered around sharply rising health care costs, led to a 43-day shutdown that affected nearly every corner of the country through delayed funding for nutrition programs for millions of Americans, no pay for federal workers, flight delays tied to staffing shortages and much more.&nbsp;

But after nearly six weeks of failed procedural votes, seven centrist Senate Democrats and one independent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-advances-bill-end-record-breaking-government-shutdown" target="_blank">broke with party leaders</a>&nbsp;on Sunday to advance the reworked spending package and then voted to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-bipartisan-vote-passes-bill-end-record-breaking-shutdown-house-next" target="_blank">approve the legislation</a>&nbsp;Monday.&nbsp;

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who said throughout the shutdown he was interested in a bipartisan path forward on health insurance costs after the shutdown ended, committed to hold a floor vote on a Democratic bill “no later than the second week in December.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said repeatedly throughout the funding lapse GOP lawmakers have ideas to improve the health care system. However, he didn’t detail any of those publicly and hasn’t committed to a floor vote.&nbsp;

House debate on the spending package that will reopen government was largely along party lines, though Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Greg Steube of Florida voted against the bill.

Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Adam Gray of California, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington state and Tom Suozzi of New York voted for passage.&nbsp;

Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., urged support for the legislation, saying “history reminds us that shutdowns never change the outcome.”&nbsp;

“Over the last 43 days the facts did not shift, the votes required did not shift, the path forward did not change,” Cole said. “The only thing that did move was the level of pain Democrats inflicted on the nation.”

Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the spending panel, rejected the legislation and said it does nothing to address the rising cost of health care.&nbsp;

“More than 20 million Americans will have to pay double, even triple, their monthly insurance premium in just a matter of weeks,” DeLauro said. “And this bill leaves families without even a glimmer of hope that their costs might go down.”

The Senate significantly reworked the stopgap bill&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/chance-government-shutdown-rises-us-senate-fails-advance-spending-bill" target="_blank">the House originally passed</a>&nbsp;in mid-September into what is now a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5371/text?s=1&amp;r=1&amp;q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22HR+5371%22%7D" target="_blank">394-page package</a>, adding in three of the full-year government funding bills and changing the date of the stopgap measure to Jan. 30, among many other provisions. The original stopgap was set to last through Nov. 21.&nbsp;

The updated measure gives Congress a couple more months to work out agreement on the remaining nine appropriations bills that were supposed to become law before the start of the current fiscal year on Oct. 1.&nbsp;

Lawmakers could create a partial government shutdown if they’re unable to agree on approving the remaining appropriations bill before the new government funding deadline at the end of January.

Trump will turn his attention toward the rising cost of health care that Democrats highlighted during the shutdown, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a Wednesday briefing, though she didn’t put a firm timeline on when he’ll release any plans.

“Once the government reopens, the president, as he’s always maintained, is absolutely open to having conversations about health care,” Leavitt said. “And I think you’ll see the president putting forth some really good policy proposals that Democrats should take very seriously to fix, again, the system that they broke.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters following a closed-door meeting that Democrats will try to get the necessary signatures on a discharge petition to force a floor vote on legislation to extend tax credits for three years for people who buy their health insurance from the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

The New York Democrat said the extension mirrors how long the enhanced tax credits were set to last initially in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.&nbsp;

Temporary health care subsidies were originally passed as part of the COVID-19-era American Rescue Plan in 2021 for two years. The Inflation Reduction Act, the signature climate policy bill from the Biden administration, then extended those health care subsidies for three years, expiring at the end of December 2025.&nbsp;

“The legislation that we will introduce in the context of a discharge petition will provide that level of certainty to working-class Americans who are on the verge of seeing their premiums, co-pays and deductibles skyrocket,” Jeffries said.&nbsp;

Democrats will need the support of at least a handful of Republicans in order to get the 218 signatures needed to force a vote on the bill. The&nbsp;<a href="https://clerk.house.gov/DischargePetition/2025111210" target="_blank">discharge petition</a>&nbsp;was released mid-afternoon.

The spending package wraps in several different bills and provisions, such as the three full-year funding bills that cover the Agriculture Department, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Legislative Branch, military construction projects and Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Trump administration issued a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Senate-Amendment-to-H.R.-5371-SAP.pdf" target="_blank">Statement of Administration Policy</a>&nbsp;a few hours before the House voted, saying the administration strongly supports the bill, describing the measure as “a fiscally responsible package that provides the full-year funding necessary to support the Nation’s veterans, farmers, and rural communities.”

The package also “ends disruptions to programs the American people rely on and ensures the thousands of Federal employees who have been forced to work without a paycheck, such as air traffic controllers, will be promptly paid,” the administration added.&nbsp;

The Agriculture and Military Construction-VA spending bills include tens of billions of dollars in earmarks requested by lawmakers from both political parties, important to them as midterm elections loom in 2026.

‘Legislative self-dealing’ in Senate attacked

But not every Republican on Capitol Hill is happy with how the full-year bills turned out.&nbsp;

Speaker Johnson announced mid-afternoon that the House would take a separate vote later this month to remove language from the package that will allow senators to file suit against the federal government if their data is subpoenaed.

“We are putting this legislation on the fast track suspension calendar in the House for next week,” Johnson wrote in a social media post.&nbsp;

The provision, tucked into the full-year Legislative Branch spending bill, is retroactive to January 1, 2022, and would apply to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/combative-ag-pam-bondi-confronts-us-senate-judiciary-over-trump-crackdown" target="_blank">the eight senators who had their cell phone records subpoenaed</a>&nbsp;during a 2023 investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.&nbsp;

The FBI reportedly obtained data for cell phone use between Jan. 4 and Jan. 7, 2021, for Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, as well as Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.&nbsp;

Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin said during floor debate the bill “contains the single most corrupt provision for legislative self-dealing that anyone in this chamber today has ever voted on.”

“This provision is an affront to our taxpayers, to the rule of law, to everyone who believes that we in public office must be the servants of the people, not the masters of the people who get special legal rights and privileges and multi-million-dollar payoffs,” Raskin said.&nbsp;

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUsg77xQWFM&amp;t=224s" target="_blank">told reporters</a>&nbsp;earlier in the day that he will “definitely” be filing a lawsuit after the new provision becomes law.&nbsp;

“And if you think I’m going to settle this thing for a million dollars? No. I want to make it so painful no one ever does this again,” Graham said, later adding he wasn’t sure if he’d win such a case.

Dissatisfaction among GOP lawmakers with that provision was on full display on social media, where Florida’s Steube responded to Speaker Johnson’s post by writing that the “Senate will never take up your ‘standalone’ bill. This is precisely why you shouldn’t let the Senate jam the House.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1762997095564.png" alt="A view of the House floor as the the result of the vote was announced Wednesday just before 7:30p.m. CST." />
 <figcaption>A view of the House floor as the the result of the vote was announced Wednesday just before 7:30p.m. CST.</figcaption>
 </figure>By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">Jennifer Shutt</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ariana-figueroa/">Ariana Figueroa</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/shauneen-miranda/">Shauneen Miranda</a>WASHINGTON — The U.S. House approved a spending package Wednesday evening that will reopen the government and end the longest shutdown in the nation’s history, once President Donald Trump signs the legislation into law.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a>: U.S. House votes to end government shutdown, 222-209. Goes now to the president. <a href="https://t.co/LPySa48qUZ">pic.twitter.com/LPySa48qUZ</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1988780269688541282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The White House announced Trump will sign the bill in the Oval Office at 9:45 p.m. Eastern.The&nbsp;<a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025285?Page=2" target="_blank">222-209 vote</a>&nbsp;marked the first time that chamber took up a bill since mid-September, when Republican leaders recessed after members approved a stopgap spending measure they knew couldn’t advance in the Senate.&nbsp;That stalemate, centered around sharply rising health care costs, led to a 43-day shutdown that affected nearly every corner of the country through delayed funding for nutrition programs for millions of Americans, no pay for federal workers, flight delays tied to staffing shortages and much more.&nbsp;But after nearly six weeks of failed procedural votes, seven centrist Senate Democrats and one independent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-advances-bill-end-record-breaking-government-shutdown" target="_blank">broke with party leaders</a>&nbsp;on Sunday to advance the reworked spending package and then voted to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-bipartisan-vote-passes-bill-end-record-breaking-shutdown-house-next" target="_blank">approve the legislation</a>&nbsp;Monday.&nbsp;Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who said throughout the shutdown he was interested in a bipartisan path forward on health insurance costs after the shutdown ended, committed to hold a floor vote on a Democratic bill “no later than the second week in December.”House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said repeatedly throughout the funding lapse GOP lawmakers have ideas to improve the health care system. However, he didn’t detail any of those publicly and hasn’t committed to a floor vote.&nbsp;House debate on the spending package that will reopen government was largely along party lines, though Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Greg Steube of Florida voted against the bill.Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Adam Gray of California, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington state and Tom Suozzi of New York voted for passage.&nbsp;Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., urged support for the legislation, saying “history reminds us that shutdowns never change the outcome.”&nbsp;“Over the last 43 days the facts did not shift, the votes required did not shift, the path forward did not change,” Cole said. “The only thing that did move was the level of pain Democrats inflicted on the nation.”<h2>Much higher premiums predicted&nbsp;</h2>Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the spending panel, rejected the legislation and said it does nothing to address the rising cost of health care.&nbsp;“More than 20 million Americans will have to pay double, even triple, their monthly insurance premium in just a matter of weeks,” DeLauro said. “And this bill leaves families without even a glimmer of hope that their costs might go down.”The Senate significantly reworked the stopgap bill&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/chance-government-shutdown-rises-us-senate-fails-advance-spending-bill" target="_blank">the House originally passed</a>&nbsp;in mid-September into what is now a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5371/text?s=1&amp;r=1&amp;q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22HR+5371%22%7D" target="_blank">394-page package</a>, adding in three of the full-year government funding bills and changing the date of the stopgap measure to Jan. 30, among many other provisions. The original stopgap was set to last through Nov. 21.&nbsp;The updated measure gives Congress a couple more months to work out agreement on the remaining nine appropriations bills that were supposed to become law before the start of the current fiscal year on Oct. 1.&nbsp;Lawmakers could create a partial government shutdown if they’re unable to agree on approving the remaining appropriations bill before the new government funding deadline at the end of January.<h2>Democratic discharge petition</h2>Trump will turn his attention toward the rising cost of health care that Democrats highlighted during the shutdown, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a Wednesday briefing, though she didn’t put a firm timeline on when he’ll release any plans.“Once the government reopens, the president, as he’s always maintained, is absolutely open to having conversations about health care,” Leavitt said. “And I think you’ll see the president putting forth some really good policy proposals that Democrats should take very seriously to fix, again, the system that they broke.”House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters following a closed-door meeting that Democrats will try to get the necessary signatures on a discharge petition to force a floor vote on legislation to extend tax credits for three years for people who buy their health insurance from the Affordable Care Act marketplace.The New York Democrat said the extension mirrors how long the enhanced tax credits were set to last initially in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.&nbsp;Temporary health care subsidies were originally passed as part of the COVID-19-era American Rescue Plan in 2021 for two years. The Inflation Reduction Act, the signature climate policy bill from the Biden administration, then extended those health care subsidies for three years, expiring at the end of December 2025.&nbsp;“The legislation that we will introduce in the context of a discharge petition will provide that level of certainty to working-class Americans who are on the verge of seeing their premiums, co-pays and deductibles skyrocket,” Jeffries said.&nbsp;Democrats will need the support of at least a handful of Republicans in order to get the 218 signatures needed to force a vote on the bill. The&nbsp;<a href="https://clerk.house.gov/DischargePetition/2025111210" target="_blank">discharge petition</a>&nbsp;was released mid-afternoon.<h2>What’s in the new bill</h2>The spending package wraps in several different bills and provisions, such as the three full-year funding bills that cover the Agriculture Department, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Legislative Branch, military construction projects and Department of Veterans Affairs.Included are:<ul>
 <li>A stopgap spending bill that will keep the rest of the federal government running through Jan. 30;</li><li>$30 million for the U.S. Capitol Police to enhance protections for lawmakers, $30 million for the U.S. Marshals Service to bolster security for members of the judicial and executive branches, and $28 million for enhanced safety for Supreme Court justices;</li><li>Language requiring the Trump administration to reinstate the thousands of workers it sent layoff notices to during the shutdown and preventing officials from firing those workers through January;</li><li>Provisions mandating the Trump administration provide back pay to all federal workers, including those furloughed during the shutdown. Trump at one point during the shutdown had threatened to yank that back pay, though it is required by law.</li>
 </ul>The Trump administration issued a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Senate-Amendment-to-H.R.-5371-SAP.pdf" target="_blank">Statement of Administration Policy</a>&nbsp;a few hours before the House voted, saying the administration strongly supports the bill, describing the measure as “a fiscally responsible package that provides the full-year funding necessary to support the Nation’s veterans, farmers, and rural communities.”The package also “ends disruptions to programs the American people rely on and ensures the thousands of Federal employees who have been forced to work without a paycheck, such as air traffic controllers, will be promptly paid,” the administration added.&nbsp;The Agriculture and Military Construction-VA spending bills include tens of billions of dollars in earmarks requested by lawmakers from both political parties, important to them as midterm elections loom in 2026.<h2>‘Legislative self-dealing’ in Senate attacked</h2>But not every Republican on Capitol Hill is happy with how the full-year bills turned out.&nbsp;Speaker Johnson announced mid-afternoon that the House would take a separate vote later this month to remove language from the package that will allow senators to file suit against the federal government if their data is subpoenaed.“We are putting this legislation on the fast track suspension calendar in the House for next week,” Johnson wrote in a social media post.&nbsp;The provision, tucked into the full-year Legislative Branch spending bill, is retroactive to January 1, 2022, and would apply to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/combative-ag-pam-bondi-confronts-us-senate-judiciary-over-trump-crackdown" target="_blank">the eight senators who had their cell phone records subpoenaed</a>&nbsp;during a 2023 investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.&nbsp;The FBI reportedly obtained data for cell phone use between Jan. 4 and Jan. 7, 2021, for Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, as well as Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.&nbsp;Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin said during floor debate the bill “contains the single most corrupt provision for legislative self-dealing that anyone in this chamber today has ever voted on.”“This provision is an affront to our taxpayers, to the rule of law, to everyone who believes that we in public office must be the servants of the people, not the masters of the people who get special legal rights and privileges and multi-million-dollar payoffs,” Raskin said.&nbsp;South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUsg77xQWFM&amp;t=224s" target="_blank">told reporters</a>&nbsp;earlier in the day that he will “definitely” be filing a lawsuit after the new provision becomes law.&nbsp;“And if you think I’m going to settle this thing for a million dollars? No. I want to make it so painful no one ever does this again,” Graham said, later adding he wasn’t sure if he’d win such a case.Dissatisfaction among GOP lawmakers with that provision was on full display on social media, where Florida’s Steube responded to Speaker Johnson’s post by writing that the “Senate will never take up your ‘standalone’ bill. This is precisely why you shouldn’t let the Senate jam the House.”

Government to reopen after 43 days: House sends bill to Trump ending record shutdown

JOHNSON COUNTY, Missouri —Law enforcement are investigating a deadly domestic incident involving an Airman assigned to Whiteman Airforce base that left two dead and one injured.

Just before 7:30a.m. Wednesday, the Johnson County, Missouri central dispatch received two calls simultaneously about a domestic disturbance in progress in the 700 Block of Cedar Drive in Warrensburg, according to a media release from police.

Officers responded and located the suspect who was armed with a weapon and running south toward Hale Lake Road. The suspect fired their weapon multiple times in the area of the officers as they arrived on the scene. A courageous bystander identified as Tony Barron, attempted to intervene prior to officers arrival. He was shot and killed by the suspect.&nbsp;

Officers established a perimeter and advised local school and businesses to lockdown.&nbsp;

Just after 8:30a.m., officers found the suspect south of the residence. He was deceased with what is believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.&nbsp; A woman injured during the incident was treated for injuries from Western Missouri Medical Center.&nbsp;No officers or other first responders were injured.&nbsp; Whiteman Air Force Base confirmed that an “off-base, off-duty” Airman was involved in the incident.&nbsp; Police released no additional details.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1762994393092.png" alt="Photo courtesy KCTV" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy KCTV</figcaption>
 </figure>JOHNSON COUNTY, Missouri —Law enforcement are investigating a deadly domestic incident involving an Airman assigned to Whiteman Airforce base that left two dead and one injured.Just before 7:30a.m. Wednesday, the Johnson County, Missouri central dispatch received two calls simultaneously about a domestic disturbance in progress in the 700 Block of Cedar Drive in Warrensburg, according to a media release from police.Officers responded and located the suspect who was armed with a weapon and running south toward Hale Lake Road. The suspect fired their weapon multiple times in the area of the officers as they arrived on the scene. A courageous bystander identified as Tony Barron, attempted to intervene prior to officers arrival. He was shot and killed by the suspect.&nbsp;Officers established a perimeter and advised local school and businesses to lockdown.&nbsp;Just after 8:30a.m., officers found the suspect south of the residence. He was deceased with what is believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.&nbsp; A woman injured during the incident was treated for injuries from Western Missouri Medical Center.&nbsp;No officers or other first responders were injured.&nbsp; Whiteman Air Force Base confirmed that an “off-base, off-duty” Airman was involved in the incident.&nbsp; Police released no additional details.

Off duty Mo. Airman involved in deadly domestic incident

SHAWNEE COUNTY —A child is recovering from a injuries after an incident that occurred Monday in rural Shawnee County.

Just after 1p.m.,&nbsp;the Shawnee County Emergency Communications Center received a 911 call regarding a 10-year-old child that fell from a second story window, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.

American Medical Response transported the child to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.&nbsp; The sheriff's office reported no additional details.

SHAWNEE COUNTY —A child is recovering from a injuries after an incident that occurred Monday in rural Shawnee County.Just after 1p.m.,&nbsp;the Shawnee County Emergency Communications Center received a 911 call regarding a 10-year-old child that fell from a second story window, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.American Medical Response transported the child to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.&nbsp; The sheriff's office reported no additional details.

Sheriff: 10-year-old fell from 2nd story window of rural Kan. home

RILEY COUNTY — Authorities are investigating the cause of a house fire in Manhattan.

Just before 11a.m. on Wednesday, crews were dispatched to a house fire at 2409 Lookout Drive, according to a media release from the Manhattan FIre Department.

Crews found a single-story home with fire and smoke showing from the attached garage. The fire was contained within 15 minutes. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1762972834047.png" alt="-Photo Manhattan Fire Department" />
 <figcaption>-Photo Manhattan Fire Department</figcaption>
 </figure>RILEY COUNTY — Authorities are investigating the cause of a house fire in Manhattan.Just before 11a.m. on Wednesday, crews were dispatched to a house fire at 2409 Lookout Drive, according to a media release from the Manhattan FIre Department.Crews found a single-story home with fire and smoke showing from the attached garage. The fire was contained within 15 minutes. Family members removed an occupant with a physical disability before the fire companies arrived.&nbsp; No injuries were reported.The building is a single-family residence. Damage to the residence was significant. The owner is listed as Wanda Jepsen who lives there, according to the fire department.