Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday announced more than $1.2 million from the Federal Family Violence Prevention and Services Act grant program awarded to communities across Kansas.
“It takes great courage to leave an abuser. Oftentimes, victims need to leave a dangerous situation quickly,” Kelly said. “We must do all we can to encourage women and men to leave abusive relationships. Housing and other resources must be available to keep our survivors and children safe. This grant will help provide these critical resources where they are needed most.”
Hays-based Options: Domestic & Sexual Violence Services was among the organizations receiving grant funding.
The FVPSA grant program assists states in their efforts to support the establishment, maintenance and expansion of programs and projects to:
1) prevent incidents of family violence, domestic violence and dating violence;
2) provide immediate shelter, support services and access to community-based programs for victims of family violence, domestic violence or dating violence and their dependents; and
3) provide specialized services for children exposed to family violence, domestic violence or dating violence including victims who are members of underserved populations.
These programs provide outreach, shelter, support groups, crisis intervention and advocacy in obtaining protection from abuse orders, court accompaniment, transportation and prevention education in schools and communities.
2020 FVPSA Grant Awards
County
Organization Name
Grant Award
Allen
Hope Unlimited
$43,657
Barton
Family Crisis Center
$54,105
Butler
Family Life Center
$49,580
Crawford
Safehouse Crisis Center
$64,100
Douglas
The Willow Domestic Violence Center
$67,735
Ellis
Options: Domestic & Sexual Violence Services
$71,526
Finney
Family Crisis Services
$50,070
Ford
Crisis Center of Dodge City
$47,838
Harvey
Harvey Co. Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Task Force
$49,558
Johnson
SAFEHOME
$137,328
Leavenworth
Alliance Against Family Violence
$50,103
Lyon
SOS
$52,816
Reno
BrightHouse
$52,527
Riley
Crisis Center
$71,590
Saline
Domestic Violence Association of Central Kansas
$61,875
Sedgwick
Catholic Charities, Harbor House
$78,668
Sedgwick
Wichita Family Crisis Center
$90,505
Seward
Liberal Area Rape Crisis/Domestic Violence Services
When we talk about our right to speak freely, most of us know intuitively that isn’t just limited to the words that come out of our mouths. Because when we say that our “speech” is protected by the First Amendment, we’re also talking about books, movies, TV shows, video games, music, virtual reality simulations, art — every way that human beings express themselves. Last week someone posed the following question: What if the expression isn’t from a human being at all? Does the First Amendment protect speech made by artificial intelligence?
Personally, I love questions like this. Some of the most exciting and unsettled First Amendment issues center on whether or not the amendment covers new forms of technology, like computer code, algorithms or blockchain. It might seem odd to consider these things to be in the same category as a fiery political speech or work of art, but they all share an important commonality in that they’re all vehicles people can use to communicate with one another and express ideas.
The history of technology and the First Amendment essentially involves our legal system slowly and reluctantly expanding the definition of speech to include new forms of communication. My favorite example is the Supreme Court’s initial take on movies. In 1915, the court decided movies weren’t protected by the First Amendment because they were a business rather than a legitimate form of expression and noted that movies were “vivid, useful and entertaining, no doubt, but … capable of evil, having power for it, the greater because of their attractiveness and manner of exhibition.”
This language seems to reflect a fear that the technology behind movies was a little too entertaining and immersive and therefore needed to be controlled. But by 1952, the Supreme Court had changed its mind completely, stating that, “It cannot be doubted that motion pictures are a significant medium for the communication of ideas. … The importance of motion pictures as an organ of public opinion is not lessened by the fact that they are designed to entertain as well as to inform.” By then, the once alarming technology had become engrained in daily life and so the court could recognize its value in facilitating expression. Many believe the same will eventually be true for things like computer code (while some lower courts have recognized code as speech, the Supreme Court has never weighed in on this).
Of course, just deciding that something “counts” as speech doesn’t mean that it’s protected by the First Amendment. Not every type of speech is. For example, if you threaten someone’s life, or hire a hitman, you are certainly engaging in the act of speech, but the First Amendment won’t protect it. There are times when speech becomes conduct — when it’s more than just an expression of an idea, but constitutes an action — and that’s usually when the government can regulate it. For example, using code to create a video game could be considered an act of expression protected by the First Amendment, but using code to launch denial of service attacks probably wouldn’t be. There are very few bright-line rules for determining whether or not something is protected by the First Amendment. Courts have to examine the context surrounding an expression and, sometimes, the intent of the speaker when making these decisions.
Artificial intelligence (AI) adds a whole other dimension to this debate, because it’s not always clear who the speaker is. Right now, most code can be considered to be the expression of the programmers behind it. But as AI grows more sophisticated and more able to think for itself, there will come a point where the things it says and does can’t be attributed to any human being. (Maybe that point has already arrived. In 2016, Microsoft created an AI system named “Tay,” which they had operate a Twitter account to tweet out as a teenage girl and learn from the Twitter accounts that interacted with it. Within 24 hours, Tay became racist and anti-semitic and Microsoft was forced to shut it down.)
When the day comes that Siri and Alexa are able to think for themselves, will the First Amendment protect their right to express those thoughts? As crazy as that might seem, there’s nothing in the text of the First Amendment that requires the speaker to be human. Furthermore, the First Amendment doesn’t just exist so that speakers can express themselves, but to protect listeners and viewers and their right to receive information. As John Frank Weaver wrote in his article, “Why Robots Deserve Free Speech Rights,” “The First Amendment protects the speaker, but more importantly it protects the rest of us, who are guaranteed the right to determine whether the speaker is right, wrong or badly programmed. We are owed that right regardless of who is doing the speaking.”
Of course, there are plenty of reasons why we wouldn’t want the First Amendment to apply to AI. It would make it just as difficult for the government to regulate computer speech as it is for the government to regulate our speech — which might be a problem considering that computers are much, much better at speaking than we are. As the wonderfully named law review article, “Siri-ously? Free Speech Rights and Artificial Intelligence,” points out, ” a number of thoughtful commentators have already extensively documented the harms caused by the speech products of existing technologies due to computers’ phenomenal speed and often global interconnectivity, harms that include deception, manipulation, coercion, inaccuracy and discrimination. We can expect such harms only to mount with the growing communicative capacities of increasingly sophisticated computers.”
But the article goes on to point out that failing to protect AI speech risks the government suppressing a valuable source of information for human beings and that we don’t need to take an all-or-nothing approach here. These are still the early days of the so-called AI revolution, so we have time to think things through before Siri takes over.
Lata Nott is executive director of the First Amendment Center of the Freedom Forum Institute.Contact her via email at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @LataNott.
WICHITA – A Kansas woman has been found guilty of an unlawful act relating to the use of an identification card in Sedgwick County, according to Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
Photo Sumner Co.
Delia Sanchez-Tolentino, 20, pleaded no contest Thursday in Sedgwick County District Court to one felony count of an unlawful act relating to the use of an identification card.
The case stemmed from an investigation by the Office of Special Investigations of the Kansas Department of Revenue, which revealed that on or about October 3, 2018, Sanchez-Tolentino provided a fraudulent permanent resident card as part of her application to renew her Kansas ID card at the Sedgwick County Driver’s License Office in Wichita.
This is the 17th conviction resulting from an agreement announced in March 2018 between the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Revenue. Under the agreement, the attorney general’s office, in cooperation with local prosecutors, assumed responsibility for the prosecution of cases of tax fraud and related crimes investigated by the Department of Revenue in efforts to strengthen the state’s enforcement efforts for these types of crimes.
District Court Judge James Fleetwood took the plea. Sentencing is scheduled for October 29 at 9 a.m.
FINNEY COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 11a.m. Sunday in Finney County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Dodge Durango driven by Tracy M. Romo, 50, Garden City, was backing out of a parking area at Bosselman’s Travel Plaza,1415 Solar Drive, Unit 7 at U.S. 83 and U.S. 50 North junction.
The SUV struck and ran over 1-year-old Annatile Holguin of Garden City. The child was transported to St. Catherine’s hospital where she died.
Romo and a passenger in the SUV were not injured. Authorities released no additional details.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Nelson Cruz hit his 400th career home run, Miguel Sanó connected twice and the Minnesota Twins powered past the Kansas City Royals 12-8 Sunday.
Minnesota piled up six runs in the first inning and rolled from there after starting the day with a four-game lead over Cleveland for first place in the AL Central.
Cruz became the 57th player with 400 homers. His fourth-inning solo shot was also his 40th homer of the season.
Kansas City joined Baltimore, Detroit and Miami with 100 losses, only the second time in major league history there have been four 100-loss teams in one season. In 2002, Detroit, Milwaukee and Tampa Bay each lost 106 and Kansas City was defeated for the 100th time on the season’s final day.
Sanó homered in the first and third innings. Sanó hit a three-run drive during the big first inning against starter Jorge López, who lasted just 2 1/3 innings
Minnesota’s Martin Perez had his shortest start of the year. The lefty allowed five runs and eight hits in 2 1/3 innings. Zack Littell (6-0) earned the win.
Kansas City left fielder Whit Merrifield became the eighth Royal to reach 200 hits in a season.
TWINS ATTENDANCE UP IN 2019
An announced crowd of 31,628 fans attended Minnesota’s final regular season home game. That brings the Twins’ total attendance to 2,294,152 for the season, their highest total since 2013.
That’s up 334,955 from last year, when Minnesota had a total attendance of 1,959,197.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: SS Adalberto Mondesi exited in the first inning with a left shoulder injury. Mondesi injured the shoulder while diving to make a play on a ground ball by Cruz. … C Nick Dini left Sunday’s game in the sixth inning with a right shoulder contusion.
Twins: C Mitch Garver was removed as a precaution from Sunday’s game with right hip tightness. He’e considered day-to-day. … RF Max Kepler (shoulder) will ramp up hitting activities in the coming days to prepare him to return to the lineup, including hitting off a high-velocity machine early in the week. … INF Ehire Adrianza (oblique) went through an infield workout, and manager Rocco Baldelli said Adrianza “came out great” from it. However, Baldelli wasn’t sure if Adrianza would return before the end of the regular season.
UP NEXT
Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (6-6, 4.30 ERA) starts the first game of Kansas City’s series with the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday. Duffy threw seven scoreless innings his last time out in a no-decision against Oakland.
Twins: RHP Jake Odorizzi (114-7, 3.59 ERA) opens Minnesota’s series Tuesday at Detroit in search of his first win in the month of September.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 24-year-old man was sentenced to 15.5 years for a fatal shooting in Wichita last year.
Douglas Pete photo Sedgwick Co.
Douglas Pete, of Wichita, was sentenced Friday in the death of 25-year-old Deonte Mitchell.
Mitchell was found dead in February 2018 outside a Wichita home. He was shot in the back.
District Attorney Marc Bennett said in a news release that Pete pleaded guilty Aug. 9 to second-degree murder, armed criminal action, criminal discharge of a firearm and interference with law enforcement.
Pete initially claimed the shooting was an accident.
Before sentencing, Pete apologized to Mitchell’s family but did not provide a motive for the killing.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man is blaming CVS Pharmacy for his stroke, and he says in a lawsuit that the pharmacy filled his prescription for a blood thinning medication with the wrong drug.
Ben Huie said in his lawsuit he suffered a stroke in July 2017 after taking the wrong medicine. Kansas CVS Pharmacy said in a formal response it didn’t provide the incorrect medicine or cause the stroke.
Huie says taking the incorrect medicine lowered the level of warfarin sodium in his system, which contributed to the stroke. That medicine is an anticoagulant used to treat and prevent blood clots.
Huie had filled his warfarin prescription at its store for several years without problems. Kansas CVS says Huie’s existing medical conditions contributed to the stroke.
KEARNEY, Neb. – Fort Hays State women’s soccer team improved to 3-2 on the year with a 2-0 win over Nebraska-Kearney in non-conference play. The Lopers dropped to 1-3-2 overall. All three wins for FHSU this year have been shutouts.
The Tigers controlled the game from the opening kick. They attempted six shots in the first half (all by different players), while locking-down the Lopers to zero shots. Senior Darby Hirsch picked up her second goal of the year in the 20th minute after intercepting a pass from UNK’s goalkeeper Emily Thuss (0-1). Less than 15 minutes later, Olympia Katsouridis netted her first goal of 2019 off a pass from Chloe Montano. The defense and goalkeeper Megan Kneefel (2-1) shut down UNK the rest of the way.
The defense was astounding, allowing the Lopers just one shot the entire match. It allowed Kneefel to pick up her second clean sheet of the season. The Tigers managed four shots on goal with one each from Perkins, Hirsch, Katsouridis, and Woods.
The Tigers return home on Friday (Sept. 27) to wrap-up the non-conference part of their schedule. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m. at FHSU Soccer Stadium against Washburn. MIAA play then begins on Sunday when Emporia State comes to town for a 1 pm start.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs won a showdown between two of the NFL’s top offenses.
The Ravens made them work for it until the very end.
Mahomes threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns in another dazzling performance, Kansas City held quarterback Lamar Jackson in check most of the rain-soaked afternoon, and the Chiefs held on for a 33-28 victory over Baltimore on Sunday.
LeSean McCoy and Darrel Williams combined for 116 yards rushing and a score in place of the injured Damien Williams, while the Chiefs (3-0) stopped the Ravens three times on 2-point attempts.
The last came after Jackson scrambled for a touchdown with 2:01 to go. The conversion would have gotten the Ravens (2-1) within a field goal, but Jackson was shoved out of bounds short of the pylon.
Baltimore tried to get the ball back with a rare dropkick, but the Chiefs calmly called for a fair catch. Then they converted on third down moments later to run out the clock.
Mark Ingram was the Ravens’ biggest bright spot, running for 103 yards and a trio of touchdowns while catching four passes for 32 yards. Jackson finished with 267 yards passing and 46 rushing, most of that when he was trying to rally the Ravens from a big halftime hole.
The Chiefs scored four times in the second quarter for the second consecutive week, this time getting three touchdowns and Harrison Butker’s 42-yard field goal to take a 23-6 lead. They scored four TDs in the second quarter last week in Oakland .
The Ravens actually scored first on Ingram’s touchdown plunge, then they took points off the board when a penalty gave them a shorter try at the conversion. Jackson was stuffed at the goal line in what would become a recurring theme for Baltimore all afternoon.
McCoy, hobbled by a sore ankle all week, gave Kansas City the lead with a touchdown run early in the second quarter. Then, after the Ravens’ turnover on downs, Mahomes lofted a pass to the corner of the end zone that Robinson caught with an incredible one-handed stab .
That highlight was joined by another on the Chiefs’ next possession, when the Ravens blew the coverage and Mecole Hardman was open downfield. The rookie hauled in the heave from Mahomes, then used his 4.3-second 40-yard-dash speed to sprint 83 yards to the end zone.
Ingram sandwiched two more touchdown runs around Mahomes’ third touchdown toss in the second half, and the second one got Baltimore within 30-19 with 12:22 to go. But the Ravens again tried for the 2-point conversion and again came up empty, leaving them in an 11-point hole.
That could have loomed large when Justin Tucker added a field goal. Instead, Williams ripped off a 41-yard run, the Chiefs picked up a couple more first downs, and Butker hit a 36-yard field goal that ultimately put the game out of reach.
INJURIES
Ravens: CB Jimmy Smith (knee) and S Brynden Trawick (elbow) were inactive.
Chiefs: McCoy aggravated his sore ankle on his touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. WR Tyreek Hill (collarbone), RB Damien Williams (knee) and LT Eric Fisher (groin) were inactive.
UP NEXT
Baltimore: returns home to face Cleveland next Sunday.
Kansas City: on the road for the third time in four weeks Sunday at Detroit.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers threw for 235 yards and a touchdown, Aaron Jones tied a career high by running for two scores, and the Green Bay Packers beat the Denver Broncos 27-16 on Sunday.
Preston Smith matched a career high with three sacks as Green Bay got to Joe Flacco six times and forced three turnovers to lead the Packers (3-0) to the win despite being dominated in time of possession 35:34-24:26.
Rodgers found Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a 40-yard strike on the opening drive and finished 17 of 29. Jones’ touchdown runs both came from 1 yard out.
Flacco was 20 of 29 for 213 yards with an interception and no touchdowns. For the third straight game, Von Miller, Bradley Chubb and Denver’s defense failed to record a sack or force a turnover. The Broncos (0-3) fell to 0-6-1 all-time on the road against the Packers.
Following Valdes-Scantling’s first score of the season, Flacco and the Broncos’ offense spoiled a 60-yard kickoff return by Diontae Spencer, going three-and-out on their first possession.
But Denver tied it at 7 on a 1-yard run by Phillip Lindsay at the start of the second quarter. The score capped a 15-play, 75-yard drive that ate up more than eight minutes.
Mason Crosby put the Packers ahead on a 42-yard field goal with 11:19 to go in the first half. The Broncos answered about 8 minutes later with a field goal of their own.
Green Bay’s new-look defense continued its impressive start to the season. After a sack by Za’Darius Smith, his second of the year, fellow newcomer Smith followed with one of his three sacks. Flacco coughed up the ball and Rashan Gary recovered it at the Broncos 5. Jones ran it in and Green Bay took a 17-10 lead into the locker room. Jones has recorded a rushing touchdown in five straight home games.
Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander opened the third quarter by recording his first career forced fumble and fumble recovery after stripping Noah Fant on a 4-yard completion. Green Bay took advantage as Rodgers hit fullback Danny Vitale for a 27-yard gain that put the ball on the 1 before Jones ran it in for his second touchdown to make it 24-10. It was Jones’ second career multi-touchdown game. The third-year running back also had two rushing touchdowns last season against the Dolphins.
Lindsay cut it to 24-16 on a 1-yard run with about 6 minutes left in the third. Brandon McManus missed the extra point.
Crosby added a 41-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to make it a two-possession game.
CHASING HISTORY
Rodgers needs one passing touchdown to pass Fran Tarkanton for the ninth most in NFL history. Rodgers and Tarkanton are tied with 342 career touchdowns. Eli Manning is eighth with 362 career scores.
INJURIES
Broncos: DE Derek Wolfe was carted off the field in the second quarter with a right ankle injury. He did not return.
TOPEKA, KAN. – A Kansas man with prior felony conviction was charged Wednesday with unlawfully possessing firearms, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
DECLERK-photo Shawnee Co.
Gwyndell B. Declerck, Jr., 32, Topeka, is charged with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. The indictment alleges that on Aug.17, 2019, Declerck unlawfully possessed a .40 caliber handgun. He was prohibited from having a gun because of prior convictions, including a 2010 conviction in Shawnee County District Court for criminal possession of a firearm.
Declerck was arrested Aug. 17, 2019, after Topeka police reported responding to callers complaining their house was hit by bullets.
If convicted Declerck faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Topeka Police Department and the FBI investigated.
————–
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas felon on new charges after a weekend arrest.
Just after 8a.m. Saturday, police responded to the 4200 block of SW 34th Street where a resident reported their house had been struck by two bullets, according to Lt. Jerry Monasmith.
In looking officers began to back track from the direction of where the gunshots had been fired. In doing so an apartment near 34th and Gage was discovered to have several holes which clearly showed shots had been fired from inside the residence.
An occupant of the apartment came out and was detained by officers.
After the execution of a search warrant, police arrested 32-year-old Gwyndell Declerk and transported him to the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges that include Criminal Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Criminal Discharge of Firearm; Recklessly at an Occupied Dwelling, Felony Criminal Damage to Property and Possession of Marijuana
There were no injuries reported from the gun fire.
Office of the Governor
