Eagle Communications will host a job fair TODAY at the Eagle Media Center, 2300 Hall.

Openings range from customer service to IT positions, from account executives to field service technicians.

The job fair will be 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Click HERE for a list of current job openings.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California and 15 other states filed a lawsuit Monday against President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration to fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra released a statement Monday saying the suit alleges the Trump administration’s action violates the Constitution.

“President Trump treats the rule of law with utter contempt,” Becerra said. “He knows there is no border crisis, he knows his emergency declaration is unwarranted, and he admits that he will likely lose this case in court.”

Joining California in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Virginia.

Trump declared a national emergency to fulfill his promise of completing the wall.

The move allows the president to bypass Congress to use money from the Pentagon and other budgets.

California has repeatedly challenged Trump in court.

“President Trump is manufacturing a crisis and declaring a made-up ‘national emergency’ in order to seize power and undermine the Constitution,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement. “This ’emergency’ is a national disgrace.”

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka police say a plaque honoring a civil rights icon has been stolen from a Topeka bridge.

Police say the plaque was taken from a bridge named for Ken Marshall, the first black person elected to the Kansas Legislature from Topeka. The report was received Saturday but it’s unclear when the plaque was stolen.

Topeka police spokeswoman Gretchen Koenen said the police report said the plaque was taken from the Ken Marshall bridge, where a similar plaque was stolen in August 2018.

However, civil rights activist Sonny Scroggins says he reported Saturday that the plaque was taken from a bridge named to honor former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall

And a plaque designating the former Sumner Elementary School as a National Historic Landmark was stolen in 2012.

WICHTA, Kan. (AP) — A former Newman University volleyball coach has become the fifth ex-employee to sue the school in recent months.

Destiny Clark claimed in a lawsuit filed Thursday that the private, Catholic college retaliated against her and paid her less than promised when she was hired. She also contends the school routinely made her volleyball team a lower priority than other teams.

All five of the former employees allege unfair termination or treatment. Three, including Clark, mention Title IX complaints and claimed the school retaliated during the investigations.

School spokesman Clark Schafer said in a statement that Clark’s claims were without merit. He said the school has complied with all applicable state and federal laws.

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY– The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred Sunday night at a residence near Peru, Kansas.

According to a KBI media release, the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office requested KBI assistance Sunday at approximately 6:30 p.m. Special agents responded to the scene to assist.

Preliminary information indicates that on Sunday, Feb. 17 at approximately 6:15 p.m., the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office received a call that a man had been shot. When they responded to the residence at 863 Road 26 in Sedan, Kan., deputies found a male gunshot victim inside the home. EMS rendered aid to the man and transported him to the Sedan City Hospital where he was pronounced dead. He has been identified as 46-year-old Joe Corman, of Peru, Kan.

Authorities quickly identified and located a shooting suspect. Sheriff’s deputies arrested Travis W. Dickson, 43, at approximately 7:10 p.m. Sunday at his home in Niotaze, Kan., and booked him into the Chautauqua County Jail for driving under the influence. On Monday, a first-degree murder charge was filed against Dickson.

By MADELINE FOX

Before Laura Kelly took over as governor, the Kansas Department for Children and Families overhauled which private companies would manage its child welfare system, and how the department would oversee their work.

Kelly put the brakes on that whole plan in December.

Last week she announced she’d be rolling back major parts of the changes. She canceled grants with two companies and said the state would renegotiate grants with three companies.

The main child welfare programs that DCF outsources fall into two categories: services to kids who have been removed from their homes, and programs aimed to help keep kids safely with their families.

The grants for that family preservation have been scrapped entirely. DCF Secretary Laura Howard said she had concerns about how they were awarded. One company received three regions despite not bidding on one of the regions, and receiving far lower scores in the other two regions than any other company reviewed by the agency.

The Kansas City Star reported Wednesday that that company was Eckerd Connects and that it received the grants because it had underbid its competitors.

Howard said DCF will change the family preservation grants — mostly to take advantage of federal funding from the Family First Preservation Services Act — and put out a new call for applicants.

She said many bidders “just didn’t come to the table” because the grant expectations were higher than was feasible with the amount of money DCF was looking to spend.

“We do need to align outcomes and money,” she said.

In the meantime, the two current family preservation contractors, KVC Kansas and St. Francis Community Services, will have their contracts extended by six months to the end of 2019.

Howard said she didn’t see the same mismatch of grants being awarded to low-scoring applicants on the foster care side. So those grants will just be renegotiated, not scrapped and rebid. DCF is still extending the current foster care contracts — also with KVC and St. Francis — but only by three months.

Bringing in oversight

When the new grant system was announced, then-DCF Secretary Gina Meier-Hummel promised it would improve accountability and oversight. She said it would also offer more transparency into who was tasked with taking care of kids, and how.

But many lawmakers and child welfare advocates don’t think she delivered.

Rather than going through a contract bid process with the Department of Administration — which has previously evaluated companies’ bids, scored them, and awarded contracts — DCF’s new grant process allowed them to pick the companies in-house without that oversight.

The idea was to let the department that knew child welfare best pick the best child welfare providers.

Instead, foster care watchers were flummoxed when grants were awarded to Eckerd Connects. It had many problems familiar to Kansas, including kids sleeping in offices and bouncing from home to home, in its Florida foster care operations. Child welfare advocates were even more perplexed when the Star revealed Eckerd got the grants despite low scores.

“There needs to be a full accounting,” said Benet Magnuson, head of the nonprofit advocacy organization Kansas Appleseed. “I’m encouraged to see the governor seems determined to shine a light on what happened, and why.”

Kelly and Howard are bringing the Department of Administration back into the mix. That department, not DCF, will put out the call for new family preservation providers. And representatives from that department will join DCF staff during renegotiations of the foster care grants.

Why does it matter?

The state is obligated to provide care and services to foster kids in its custody, even when it has outsourced those responsibilities to private companies. Those services aren’t supposed to disappear or get delayed because of who’s handling them.

But some of the high-profile problems at DCF show its struggles. Children have slept in offices, been bounced from home to home, struggled to access needed mental health services and even died from abuse despite calls into the state hotline warning that they were at risk.

The grant system proposed by the previous DCF administration was meant to give DCF more control over the companies it was paying to meet care for children. It was also intended to bring more companies to the table with the hope that more players would mean more resources, more ideas, and better outcomes.

The new system would also mean multiple changes at once — to which companies handled foster care and family preservation, as well as which providers would be responsible for various regions of Kansas. Transitions are chaotic, raising fears about what that upheaval would mean for children already in crisis.

Child welfare advocates are quick to add that that doesn’t mean changes should never be made. In a privatized system, DCF’s ability to reduce the role of or outright drop a private company is one of its tools to make sure that a company delivers on its obligations to kids.

And some were hoping for change, even if it did mean disruption.

Some foster parents are frustrated that they can’t get the services they need from current contractors. Though some were encouraged that Kelly’s administration was taking a hard look at who had been awarded grants, putting the grants on pause left them in limbo about whether changes would be made.

Many advocates, lawmakers and other child welfare observers questioned the necessity of so much transition at once — and whether the changes would actually make foster kids’ experiences in the system any better.

Joni Hiatt, director of Kansas programs for the foster care advocacy group FosterAdopt Connect, says she wasn’t surprised by reports that Eckerd had been chosen over groups that were deemed more qualified by the teams who reviewed family preservation proposals.

“To find out that this was how these contracts were chosen,” she said, “that’s so disappointing in so many ways.”

Putting the grants on hold left foster and birth parents in regions where new companies had been awarded grants in a holding pattern. They had to wait to see if they would have the same company handling their kids’ cases, or if it would change.

With the Kelly administration’s decision to extend out the current contracts for a little while longer, and renegotiate foster care and rebid family preservation, many are hopeful for better outcomes. But that process will take time.

“Children, their birth families, foster and adoptive parents,” Hiatt said, “they’re going to have to wait that much longer to access quality services and promised accountability.”

Madeline Fox is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. Follow her on Twitter @maddycfox.

DOUGLAS COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a scam.

According to a social media report from police in Lawrence, individuals have received packages via UPS that request that they serve as a “secret shopper”.

The package includes two letters and a check for $2,900.

The victims are instructed to cash the check, keep $500 as commission, purchase $2,400 in Walmart gift cards, and then send the gift cards to a Mr. Knower.

“This is a scam. The check will bounce and you will owe your bank $2,900.”

Police reminded, “if it is too good to be true, then it probably is.”

Kansas Representative of the 113th District Greg Lewis announced his resignation from the Legislature effective Friday. Lewis is a farmer and cattle rancher from St. John.

In a media release, Lewis wrote: To the people of the 113th District, I share with you below what I just shared on the House floor in Topeka:

What I’m about to share I do so only that it may in some way be an encouragement to you. Proverbs 19:21 says “Many are the plans of a man’s heart but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”  That certainly speaks of where my heart was Christmas Morning 2018 . . .

The afternoon of Christmas Eve, Susan, myself and our golden retriever, Zoee departed for Kansas City to spend Christmas with our son. 

 Zoee & I went for our morning walk on Christmas.  After returning upstairs I began having problems with my vision, became lightheaded and unstable on my feet. 

I told Susan what was going on and that I was headed downstairs while I could still get there on my own.  Susan came down and I told her I didn’t know what was happening but I thought we should go to a medical facility.  Susan called our son.  We went by and picked him up and he told us which hospital to go to due to a short wait time.  It was a God thing that we ended up at that medical facility which turned out to be a trauma center for strokes, which also means they have a good neurological team.  They thought I was having a stroke but after an MRI, it showed I had a mass on the right side of my brain.

Christmas Day as I sat in the middle of Kansas City at a major medical facility, and thanks to telemedicine that the legislature had just worked on, I found myself speaking to a doctor in Denver, CO.  From time to time we do get some things right in the Legislature.

This mass turned out to be a glioblastoma, high grade level IV, which is a cancerous brain tumor that grows exponentially . . . But that is OK.  I know this tumor cannot defeat my God or His plan of salvation for me and you.

At this point, I have had 3 craniotomies and am currently taking chemotherapy and radiation.

Philippians 4:7 talks about a peace that transcends all understanding.  I can testify to this truth.  God has granted me a great peace with all that has occurred and at times even a JOY which I know comes from my relationship with Him.

My parting advice to you is to enjoy each day, enjoy your family, your friends, your fellow legislators. . . but do not take yourself too seriously.

Serve your District with a servant’s heart.

• This is the House of Representatives.
• This is not the house of self Interest.
• This is not the house of special interest.
• This is the People’s House; long may it serve the People and this Great State of Kansas.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a wanted suspect on charges following a weekend shooting.

Just after 8:30 p.m. Saturday, police responded to a disturbance in the 2300 block of SE Bellview in Topeka, according to Lt. John Trimble.

Gunshots were reported fired by one of the involved parties.

During the investigation, it was determined that after a family dispute, 24-year-old, Gleand Lee Brock III, fired shots at several people. No one was hit by any of the shots.

Police located Brock a short distance away from the scene and arrested him without incident.

The gun used was also recovered. Brock is a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing a firearm.

Police booked him into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Aggravated Assault X2, Felony Warrant (Arkansas), Criminal Damage, Theft and Interference

This is the 17th case in 2019 with a charge involving a felon in possession of a firearm reported by the Topeka Police Department.

Sattler served as editor-publisher of The Garden City Telegram from 2004 to 2018, and in 2018 was named southwest Kansas group publisher for GateHouse Media, serving as publisher of The Telegram, the Dodge City Daily Globe, The Pratt Tribune, Kiowa County Signal and St. John News.

“Dena brings decades of experience and serious talent to this agency,” said Acting Secretary of Commerce David Toland. “She will be instrumental in our push to communicate our mission for Kansas, as well as in exposing the opportunities of the state to potential business partners around the world.”

Sattler began her journalism career at her hometown newspaper in 1985 in Burlington, Iowa. She went on to fill a variety of reporting and editing roles before moving to Kansas in 1998 for a management training program with Hutchinson-based Harris Enterprises. Her training included work in all phases of newspaper operations at The Telegram, The Hutchinson News and The Ottawa Herald before she returned to Garden City for a position as advertising-marketing director, followed by her promotion to editor-publisher.

“I’m excited to be part of the dynamic team at the Department of Commerce,” Sattler said. “Throughout my career I’ve been in position to help raise awareness of the important work of economic development in southwest Kansas. I’ve seen the positive impact of economic development initiatives in so many Kansas communities, and look forward to contributing to impressive efforts to help people and businesses throughout Kansas grow and prosper.”

Sattler is a past president of the Kansas Press Association board of directors. She’s a trustee for the Kansas Newspaper Foundation and the William Allen White Foundation at the University of Kansas. In Garden City, Sattler served as a board member for the Garden City Area Chamber of Commerce, Garden City Downtown Vision, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Finney and Kearny Counties and the Finney County Humane Society.

A graduate of the University of Iowa, she is a veteran of the U.S. Army Reserve, with service during the First Gulf War.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will decide whether the 2020 census can include a question about citizenship that could affect the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives and the distribution of billions of dollars in federal money.

The justices have agreed to a speedy review of a lower court ruling that has so far blocked the Trump administration from adding the citizenship question to the census for the first time since 1950.

Both the administration and opponents of the question agreed the court should settle the matter quickly because census forms need to be printed soon.

Arguments will take place in late April. A decision should come by late June.

The case pits the administration against immigrant advocacy organizations and Democratic-led states, cities and counties that argue the citizenship question is intended to discourage the participation of minorities, primarily Hispanics, who tend to support Democrats from filling out census forms.

The challengers say they would get less federal money and fewer seats in Congress if the census asks about citizenship because people with noncitizens in their households would be less likely to fill out their census forms.

The Constitution requires a census count every 10 years. A question about citizenship had once been common, but it has not been asked of every household since 1950. At the moment, the question is part of a detailed annual sample of a small chunk of the population, the American Community Survey.

The case stems from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’ decision in 2018 to add a citizenship question to the next census, over the advice of career officials at the Census Bureau, which is part of the Commerce Department. At the time, Ross said he was responding to a Justice Department request to ask about citizenship in order to improve enforcement of the federal Voting Rights Act.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in New York ruled in January that the question could not be included, saying that fewer people would respond to the census and that the process Ross used was faulty.

Pressed for time, the administration bypassed the federal appeals court in New York and appealed directly to the justices. The challengers defended the lower court ruling, but acknowledged the need for a quick answer to the legal issue.

It’s rare for the high court to weigh in without the benefit of appellate rulings. Such interventions usually are reserved for national political crises, including the Pentagon Papers case.

The administration has defended the addition of the citizenship question by arguing that courts have no business second-guessing the commerce secretary in performing a basic function of his job.

But Furman largely agreed with the local and state governments and rights groups that sued over the issue. He pointed out that Ross had ignored his own experts’ views that a census with a citizenship question would produce less accurate results and add to the costs.

Documents and testimony produced as part of the trial in New York showed that Ross had begun pressing for a citizenship question soon after he became secretary in 2017, and that he had consulted Steve Bannon, who had been President Donald Trump’s top political adviser, and then-Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Emails showed that Ross himself had invited the Justice Department request to add the citizenship question.

The judge’s ruling held that Ross’ decision about what to ask on the census was “arbitrary and capricious” under the federal Administrative Procedures Act.

There are at least four other ongoing lawsuits over the question, including a trial in San Francisco that was wrapping up Friday. The Supreme Court, though, is expected to settle the matter with the case it has agreed to hear.

LABETTE COUNTY  —  Authorities with a Kansas non-profit animal shelter were busy over the weekend.

On Friday night a rescue team with Unleashed Pet Rescue and Adoption returned safely to their shelter with  43 dogs from the hoarding situation in Chetopa, Kansas, according to the organization’s social media page.

“No longer will these dogs have to live in their own feces without drinkable water, medical attention or shelter in below freezing temperatures. A lot of these dogs are now in the warmth of foster homes but some of these pups are still in need of foster placement.”

The organization also needs help covering the cost of the vaccinations and spay/neuter surgeries they dogs will need, and medical treatment as some of the dogs have tested positive for heartworms.