WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite pushback from U.S. business, Mexico and Capitol Hill, President Donald Trump is doubling down on his threat to slap a 5% tariff on Mexican imports unless America’s southern neighbor cracks down on Central American migrants trying to cross the U.S. border.

U.S. manufacturers said the tariff, set to take effect June 10, would have devastating consequences on them and American consumers. U.S. stocks tumbled on Wall Street in response to Trump’s planned action.

“Imposing tariffs on goods from Mexico is exactly the wrong move,” said Neil Bradley, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is exploring legal action in response to the tariffs. “These tariffs will be paid by American families and businesses without doing a thing to solve the very real problems at the border. Instead, Congress and the president need to work together to address the serious problems at the border.”

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obradordispatched his foreign secretary to Washington to try to negotiate a solution. He said social problems are not solved with coercive measures, but also seemed convinced that Trump just needed to be informed about all the steps Mexico has taken to slow illegal migration.

Mexico has stepped up raids on migrant caravans traveling through the southern states of Chiapas and Oaxaca this year. It has deported thousands of migrants and frustrated thousands more who wait endlessly for permits that would allow them to travel legally through Mexico.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with his Mexican counterpart via telephone Friday, said State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus, who’s traveling with Pompeo in Bern, Switzerland. Ortagus said the department doesn’t comment on details of diplomatic conversations.

“We maintain an ongoing dialogue and close cooperation with Mexico on a wide range of issues, including border security efforts,” she said. “The United States and Mexico recognize that managing our shared border is a challenge common to both countries.”

Administration officials told reporters in a briefing call Thursday evening that Mexico could prevent the tariffs from kicking in by securing its southern border with Guatemala, cracking down on criminal smuggling organizations, and entering into a “safe third country agreement” that would make it difficult for those who enter Mexico from other countries to claim asylum in the U.S.

“We fully believe they have the ability to stop people coming in from their southern border and if they’re able to do that, these tariffs will either not go into place or will be removed after they go into place,” said acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.

Trump said the percentage will gradually increase — up to 25% — until the migration problem is remedied.

“Mexico has taken advantage of the United States for decades,” Trump said in a tweet Friday. “Because of the Dems, our Immigration Laws are BAD. Mexico makes a FORTUNE from the U.S., have for decades, they can easily fix this problem. Time for them to finally do what must be done!”

Trump’s decision showed the administration going to new lengths, and looking for new levers, to pressure Mexico to take action — even if those risk upending other policy priorities, like the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a trade deal that is the cornerstone of Trump’s legislative agenda and seen as beneficial to his reelection effort.

Keeping the economy rolling also is critical to Trump’s reelection, and business was not happy with the president’s planned tariff on Mexican imports.

“These proposed tariffs would have devastating consequences on manufacturers in America and on American consumers,” said Jay Timmons, chief executive officer of the National Association of Manufacturers. “We have taken our concerns to the highest levels of the administration and strongly urge them to consider carefully the impact of this action on working families across this country.”

The stock market’s tumble on Friday all but guarantees that May will be the first monthly loss for the market in 2019. The news hit automakers particularly hard. Many of them import vehicles into the U.S. from Mexico.

“The auto sector — and the 10 million jobs it supports — relies upon the North American supply chain and cross border commerce to remain globally competitive,” said the Auto Alliance, which represents automakers that built 70% of all cars and light trucks sold in U.S. “Any barrier to the flow of commerce across the U.S.-Mexico border will have a cascading effect — harming U.S. consumers, threatening American jobs and investment and curtailing economic progress.”

Some of Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress opposed the tariff. Republican senators have made almost weekly treks to the White House to nudge the president off his trade wars, and this latest move sent them scrambling again to signal their displeasure in hopes of reversing Trump’s actions.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn supports the president’s commitment to securing the border, an aide said, but he opposes the across-the-board tariff, “which will disproportionately hurt Texas.”

Key trade senators also spoke up. Pennsylvania GOP Sen. Pat Toomey, who has questioned the administration’s ability to invoke national security threats for some other imports, called the tariffs a “blanket tax increase” on items Americans purchases from Mexico and “the wrong remedy.”

The tariff threat comes at a peculiar time, given how hard the administration has been pushing for passage of the USMCA, which would update the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a usual Trump ally and the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, slammed the president’s action, saying it was a “misuse of presidential tariff authority” that would burden American consumers and “seriously jeopardize passage of USMCA.”

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said the livelihoods of farmers and producers from her state are at risk and so is the USMCA.

“If the president goes through with this, I’m afraid progress to get this trade agreement across the finish line will be stifled,” she said.

___

WYANDOTTE COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after midnight Saturday in Wyandotte County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2014 Volvo semi driven by Christopher Engle, 33, Burlington, IA., was eastbound on Kansas 32 Highway at 59th Street in the right lane.

The semi struck a concrete bridge girder that was being pulled by a 2015 Freightliner semi driven by Errol Stevens, 59, Independence, Mo., that was making a left turn from 59th Street onto westbound Kansas 32.

Stevens was pronounced dead at the scene. Engle and a passenger were not injured. All three were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

MEKLENBURG COUNTY —An Ohio man was found guilty this week for his role in a $7 million telemarketing scheme that defrauded primarily elderly victims in the United States from call centers in Costa Rica, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Following a five-day jury trial, Donald Dodt, 76, originally of Cleveland, Ohio, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, two counts of mail fraud, eight counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit international money laundering and 10 counts of international money laundering.

According to evidence presented at trial, Dodt worked in a call center in Costa Rica in which co-conspirators, who posed as representatives of the District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and federal agencies, including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, and who also posed as federal judges, contacted victims in the United States — primarily senior citizens – to tell them that that they had supposedly won a substantial “sweepstakes” prize.  After convincing victims that they stood to receive a significant financial reward, the co-conspirators told victims that they needed to make a series of up-front cash payments before collecting, purportedly for items like insurance fees, taxes and import fees.  Co-conspirators used a variety of means to conceal their true identity, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services provided by Dodt that made it appear that they were calling from Washington, D.C., and other places in the United States.

As the evidence presented at trial illustrated, Dodt was an integral part of this scheme in that he knowingly provided services that were necessary for the scheme to operate and that facilitated the concealment and, ultimately, success of the scheme for many years.  Specifically, Dodt provided and maintained VoIP phone technology and assigned phone numbers associated with locations in the United States through which members of the conspiracy were able to make the fraudulent calls to victims in the United States and conceal their identities and location.  Dodt specifically assigned virtual phone numbers with area codes associated with Washington, D.C., to make it appear that the calls originated from within the United States and that also bolstered conspirators’ misrepresentations that they were representatives of government agencies located in Washington.  Dodt also warned the co-conspirators if certain numbers were “hot” – i.e., there were customer complaints or law enforcement inquiries – and replaced those phone numbers with new phone numbers that the co-conspirators then used in furtherance of the scheme, the evidence showed.

Dodt and his conspirators stole more than $7 million from victims, the evidence showed.

JACKSON COUNTY, MO—A levee in eastern Jackson County, Missouri breeched Saturday morning causing parts of the City of Levasy to flood., according to a media release from the sheriff’s office.

Central Jackson County Fire and Protection and Fort Osage Fire conducted water rescues. The Missouri State Highway Patrol is assisting.

No injuries have been injuries reported, according to the sheriff’s department.

Access to the City of Levasy is restricted to residents only who must show proof of residency to enter.

As of 3:30p.m., most of the residents had been evacuated as water levels continue to rise.

The water levels of Levisay,  have never been this high based on statements from residents and other emergency personnel on scene.

The Sheriff’s Office is committed to ensuring the residents of Levasy are safe during this incident. We have allocated resources to monitor this incident over the next 24 hours, according to Sheriff Darryl Forté. Levasyi is 36-miles east of Overland Park, Kansas.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s choice to be the next head of the state prison system was criticized by an Idaho judge earlier this year for giving “disingenuous” testimony as a top corrections official there in a lawsuit over access to execution records.

Kelly’s office has said Jefferey Zmuda has a “long record of success” during a 30-year career in the Idaho prison system, where he is now the deputy director. The Democratic governor announced his appointment as Kansas corrections secretary last week, and Zmuda is scheduled to take over July 1.

But over the past year, Zmuda has been entangled in a lawsuit in Idaho state court aimed at forcing the release of records relating to the execution of an inmate in 2011 and another in 2012. Idaho officials have kept finding more documents over the past year, despite previous assurances by Zmuda that all known records were collected.

While Zmuda can begin running the Kansas prison system this summer, his appointment must be confirmed by the Republican-controlled state Senate for him to stay on the job. The Legislature is out of session until January.

“These claims are deeply troublesome and if true, this administration has either learned nothing from their mistakes in thoroughly vetting nominees or are completely naïve,” said Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican.

Earlier this month, the Senate rejected a Kelly nominee for the Kansas Court of Appeals, the state’s second-highest court, over his political tweets in 2017.

Zmuda is replacing Interim Secretary Roger Werholtz, who agreed to run the department temporarily when Kelly took office in January. He will take over a prison system that saw multiple riots in 2017 and 2018 and is plagued by short staffing.

Kelly spokeswoman Ashley All defended Zmuda, saying that he recognizes that Idaho’s prison system “could have done some things better” in the course of the lawsuit.

“However, he has worked with staff to conduct multiple searches for records to meet the court’s order,” All said.

In Idaho, corrections Director Josh Tewalt called Zmuda “a person of high integrity and a great leader.”

“He’ll wear the blame when it’s undeserved but will be the first one to share credit,” Tewalt said.

A University of Idaho professor sought the state’s execution records in 2017, and her request was mostly denied. She sued, accusing prison officials of withholding documents that included records showing how the state had obtained execution drugs.

Zmuda said in an affidavit taken in July 2018 that state officials had collected “all known documents” related to the executions.

District Judge Lynn Norton, based in the Idaho’s state capital of Boise, ruled in March that the prison system acted frivolously and in bad faith in mostly denying the professor’s request for records.

The judge also concluded that officials had not conducted a diligent search for records before Zmuda filed his affidavit. Court records show that Zmuda emailed corrections employees the day after, directing them to search for documents.

“The emphasis on the word ‘known’ in a sworn affidavit filed with this Court is disingenuous,” Norton wrote.

In his affidavit, Zmuda acknowledged record-keeping problems, saying “we have previously failed to organize documents properly.”

___

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Transportation Security Administration has changed its cannabis policy to allow passengers to travel with some forms of CBD oil and a drug derived from marijuana that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

All forms of marijuana were previously prohibited in carry-on bags and checked luggage. This week, the TSA updated its “What Can I bring?” guidance under medical marijuana. The FDA in June legalized a drug called Epidiolex, which is used to treat epilepsy in children. The TSA said in a statement that it was recently made aware of the drug and updated the regulations to avoid confusion on whether families can bring it when traveling.

The new policy also includes some CBD oil, “as long as it is produced within the regulations defined by the law” under the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp and hemp derivatives. Hemp-derived CBD is low in or has no THC, the chemical that produces a high found in marijuana.

The TSA’s new rules still ban other forms of marijuana, including CBD oils that have THC, and cannabis-infused products that are still illegal under federal law.

It’s not clear how agents will determine the difference. But while agents screen for potential threats to planes and passengers, they do not search for marijuana or other illegal drugs. If they come across anything suspect, they refer it to law enforcement.

The change in TSA’s cannabis policy was first reported by Marijuana Moment.

By DAN MARGOLIES

Exactly 10 years ago, on May 31, 2009, an anti-abortion zealot gunned down ob/gyn and reproductive rights advocate George Tiller as he was distributing literature in the foyer of his Wichita church.

His murder marked the culmination of 18 years of militant anti-abortion protests that began with massive demonstrations in Wichita in June 1991. Protestors blockaded abortion clinics for weeks during the “Summer of Mercy,” police made more than 2,600 arrests and a judge ordered U.S. marshals to keep the gates of Tiller’s clinic open.

“That horrible event,” Woody added, referring to Tiller’s assassination, “there had definitely been a lot of violent talk leading up to it.”

Dr. George Tiller was killed by an anti-abortion activist on May 31, 2009.

CREDIT COURTESY OF TRUST WOMEN FOUNDATION

Because Tiller was one of the few doctors in the nation who performed third-trimester abortions, he drew patients from all over the country and even from abroad. That put him in the crosshairs of abortion opponents, who called him “Killer Tiller” and bombed his Wichita clinic. In 1993, an anti-abortion activist shot him in both arms, although Tiller went back to work the next day.

Because Kansas is now one of the most restrictive states in the country when it comes to abortion access, it’s often forgotten that it used to be one of the most liberal.

“We certainly saw an uptick in anti-choice legislation after the Summer of Mercy,” said Julie Burkhart, a protégé of Tiller and founder and CEO of Trust Women in Wichita, an abortion clinic and reproductive rights organization. “Before, Kansas virtually had no restrictions on the books. You started to see a more punitive state government afterward.”

In fact, in 1973 — the year the U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade — more abortions were performed in Kansas than in Missouri, Arkansas Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma combined.

“Kansas, historically, had been liberal on personal rights,” Woody said. “Didn’t want the government interfering in people’s personal business. I think Kansas has been that way for a long time and this (abortion) became an exception.”

But the pendulum may be swinging back. A landmark decision by the Kansas Supreme Court last month could spell the undoing of many of Kansas’ abortion requirements.

Current restrictions

The tide began to turn with the Summer of Mercy, which set the stage for the state’s political realignment.

Kansas has since banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, unless the life of the mother is endangered or her health is severely compromised. Public funding can only be used for abortion in cases of rape, incest, or where the woman’s life is at risk. 

The enactment of a host of further restrictions on doctors and clinics have left all but Johnson and Sedgwick counties without an abortion provider:

• Abortion providers must have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital and their facilities must meet some of the same physical standards as ambulatory surgery centers.
• Doctors are prohibited from administering drug-induced abortions remotely through telemedicine.

Abortion providers also must make specific disclosures to their patients, including:

• Informing patients that an abortion will “terminate the life of a whole, separate and unique human being” and that fetuses feel pain.
• Informing patients of their credentials, any disciplinary actions meted out against them and whether they have malpractice insurance. Those disclosures must be provided at least 24 hours before an abortion and printed on white paper in black 12-point, Times New Roman font.

Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat elected in November, vetoed another disclosure requirement Kansas lawmakers passed this year. That would have forced abortion providers to tell women that a drug-induced abortion can be reversed.  

Women, too, face requirements to get an abortion in Kansas:

• State-directed counseling
• A 24-hour waiting period
• Fetal ultrasound
• Dual parental consent for minors

The linchpin?

Notably, there’s one other restriction on Kansas’ books that may, in time, prove to be the undoing of the state’s stringent abortion regimen.

In 2015, Kansas became the first state to pass a law prohibiting the common second-trimester abortion procedure known as “dilation and evacuation” — or what abortion opponents describe as “dismemberment abortions.” Then-Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican and vehement abortion opponent, signed the bill, which was viewed as a triumph by abortion rights opponents.

The law was immediately challenged by two Overland Park physicians, Herbert Hodes and his daughter, Traci Nauser, who operate one of four abortion clinics in the state. A lower court blocked the law from taking effect and in January 2016, the Kansas Court of Appeals upheld that decision. The state then took the case up to the Kansas Supreme Court.

Kansas argued that federal case law allowed it “to voice its profound respect for life and human dignity” by regulating or even limiting some abortion methods “that society finds inhumane and objectionable when safe alternatives exist.”

Hodes and Nauser countered that the law intruded on the doctor-patient relationship and that alternatives to the dilation and evacuation (D&E) procedure were invasive and medically unnecessary.

That set the stage for the Kansas Supreme Court to hand down one of the most momentous decisions in its 150-plus-year history.

On April 26, the high court struck down the D&E restriction, ruling that a woman’s right to abortion is rooted in the Kansas Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

For that reason, the court said, abortion restrictions must withstand “strict scrutiny.” The court sent the D&E law back to the lower court to determine if it meets that test.

“At the heart of [Section 1 of the Kansas Bill of Rights] is the principle that individuals should be free to make choices about how to conduct their own lives, or, in other words, to exercise personal autonomy,” the court pronounced in its sweeping decision. “Few decisions impact our lives more than those about issues that affect one’s physical health, family formation, and family life.”

The decision was hugely consequential for two reasons. First, it meant that even if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the right to abortion in Kansas will remain intact. And second, because laws limiting abortion access will now be subject to strict scrutiny — meaning the state must show they’re “narrowly tailored to promote” a “compelling interest” — the state’s abortion laws are almost certain to face new court challenges.

In fact, a pending court challenge to the state’s ban on telemedicine abortions was bolstered by the Supreme Court’s ruling; the attorney general’s office last week had no choice but to withdraw its argument that women have no right to an abortion under the state constitution.  

“The court now has the opportunity to rule taking the Supreme Court opinion into consideration,” Burkhart, whose Trust Women clinic challenged the law. “So I think what we’re looking at is seeing how this case unfolds and developing our strategy in terms of the other punitive laws that are on the books.”

But Burkhart said she’s not resting easy.

Abortion rights opponents have vowed to push to amend the state constitution to undo the Kansas Supreme Court holding.

Dan Margolies is a senior reporter and editor in conjunction with the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.

OTTAWA COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 12:30p.m. Friday in Ottawa County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2003 International 450 pickup driven by Jamie L. Smith 32, Delphos, was westbound crossing U.S. 81 from Volunteer Road onto Kansas 41 Highway ten miles north of Minneapolis.

The driver failed to yield at the yield sign. A southbound semi struck the pickup on the front right corner.

EMS transported Smith to Ottawa County Health Center where he died. The semi driver Andy L. Cranfield, 43, and a passenger Olivia D. Cranfield, 17, both of Heavner, OK., were transported to the hospital in Salina.

None of the occupants were wearing seat belts, according to the KHP.