The Kansas City Star has intervened in abortionists&#8217; lawsuit against the state, demanding the abortion providers reveal hidden court records.
The abortion providers are suing over new state abortion requirements that are currently suspended as the lawsuit makes its way through the courts, including that a woman must wait 24 hours before getting an abortion and that doctors must tell women the abortion pill is reversible.
The Star objected to an agreement between the abortion providers and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach to allow certain exhibits to be filed under seal.
&#8220;The public has a right to know what is happening in judicial proceedings,&#8221; the Kansas City Star&#8217;s executive editor Greg Farmer <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-kc-star-moves-to-intervene-in-kansas-abortion-lawsuit-over-hidden-court-records/ar-AA1CLQTW?ocid=BingNewsSerp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;The efforts in this case to hide records from public view are an attack on long-established democratic principles.&#8221;
&#8220;Our goal with this motion is to fight for our readers and all Kansans and to ensure and advocate for transparency on their behalf,&#8221; Farmer said.
In a court filing, the newspaper asked a Johnson County District Court judge to unseal the exhibits filed under seal, with redactions for patients&#8217; names and personal information.
The abortion providers had filed certain court records as &#8220;confidential&#8221; or &#8220;attorneys&#8217; eyes only.&#8221;
The suit was <a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article276149576.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed</a> back in 2023 against several state officials by three Kansas abortion providers, Planned Parenthood Great Plains, Hodes and Nauser Women’s Health, and the Center for Reproductive Rights.
The abortion providers are suing over a group of new state restrictions around abortions.
The new rules <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-kc-star-moves-to-intervene-in-kansas-abortion-lawsuit-over-hidden-court-records/ar-AA1CLQTW?ocid=BingNewsSerp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">require</a> doctors to meet with a woman 24 hours before her abortion and provide her with detailed information about her pregnancy. The rules also require that abortion providers survey women and ask their most important reason for choosing abortion with options like financial stress, rape, fetal disability, or health of the mother.
The doctor <a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article276149576.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">must</a> also listen to the baby&#8217;s heartbeat 30 minutes before performing an abortion and post information in the abortion clinic and on its website that abortion could increase the risk of breast cancer and premature birth in future pregnancies. The rules also require that women be told the abortion pill is &#8220;reversible&#8221; if they have only taken the first pill of the two-dose regimen.
“This legislation ensures that women in this situation are provided with all medical information and it’s appalling that Planned Parenthood would attempt to block this information to satisfy their donor base,” Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Republican, <a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article276149576.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
Kansas currently <a href="https://states.guttmacher.org/policies/kansas/abortion-policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allows</a> abortions up to 22 weeks.

Midsection of Pregnant Woman Holding Her Belly

Media Outlet Steps In To Demand Planned Parenthood Reveal Hidden Court Records

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Kansas Governor Laura Kelly asked the federal government to let her state prohibit food stamps from being spent on soda and candy — then reversed course and vetoed a bill passed by the legislature to cut back on taxpayer-subsidized junk food.
The Democrat&#8217;s abrupt flip-flop is the latest example of strange behavior following a lobbying campaign by the soda and candy industries aimed at countering bipartisan support for reforming food stamps to reduce obesity-related health issues among the poor.
In March, the Kansas <a href="https://kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/vote_view/je_20250219114953_198904/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legislature</a> <a href="https://kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/vote_view/je_20250319154637_587964/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> a bill <a href="https://kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/documents/sb79_enrolled.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">instructing</a> “The secretary for children and families&#8221; to &#8220;request a waiver from the United States Department of Agriculture to exclude candy and soft drinks from the definition of eligible foods &#8230;&#8221;
On April 2 — before the bill had been signed, and, therefore, before she was required to — Kelly requested such a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25893168-snap-waiver/#document/p1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">waiver</a>, a copy of which was obtained by The Daily Wire. The waiver asked the federal government for permission to “exclude all candy and soda beverages (also known as soft drinks) from the definition of eligible foods under 7 CFR 271.2 for purchase with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.” 
The waiver argued that Kansas has an epidemic of ailments associated with obesity, like diabetes and heart disease.
“Current estimates rank Kansas 12th in the nation for obesity prevalence, with 34.4% of adults,” it said. “The primary goals of the SNAP program are to alleviate hunger and improve the nutrition and health of low-income individuals… Allowing the purchase of sugar sweetened soda beverages and candy with minimal nutritional value with federal dollars is harmful for low-income families, and it enables unhealthy nutritional habits. It also creates irresponsible spending of federal tax dollars and increased healthcare costs.”
The waiver, signed by Economic and Employment Services Director Carla Whiteside-Hicks, said that an Agriculture Department report found that in 2011, nearly $360 million in food stamp dollars were spent on soda, making it the second-most popular item, as well as $138 million on candy. 
But a day later, Kelly vetoed the bill, contradicting her own waiver’s arguments while echoing arguments from industry lobbyists that businesses would lose money if they can’t accept welfare dollars for soda and candy.
“This bill is simply wrong,&#8221; she <a href="https://www.governor.ks.gov/Home/Components/News/News/598/56#:~:text=The%20following%20veto%20message%20is%20from%20Governor%20Kelly%20regarding%20her%20veto%20of%20Senate%20Bill%2079%3A%C2%A0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. &#8220;Not only would it make it more difficult for Kansans to access the food they need to feed their families, it would also harm Kansas businesses.&#8221;
“The waiver required by this bill is confusing and will cause problems for our grocers and small businesses. Under the definition in that waiver, Kansas businesses would be mandated to stop accepting food assistance benefits for protein bars, trail mix, and other food products many would consider ‘healthy.’ Meanwhile, items like Twix, Kit Kat, and Twizzlers would still be eligible for purchase using food assistance benefits. It’s nonsensical,” the veto justification said.
The bill defined candy and soda using their existing definitions in Kansas state code, saying “candy is defined as a preparation of sugar, honey or other natural or artificial sweeteners in combination with chocolate, fruits, nuts or other ingredients or flavorings in the form of bars, drops or pieces. Candy does not include any preparation containing flour and shall require no refrigeration. Soft drink beverages are defined as nonalcoholic beverages that contain natural or artificial sweeteners. Soft drinks do not include beverages that contain milk or milk products, soy, rice or similar milk substitutes or beverages that are greater than 50% vegetable or fruit juice.”
Kelly left the door open to supporting policy changes that would go further, such as banning soda and candy across the entire nation.
“I support the idea that Kansans should eat healthier. However, changes to the SNAP food assistance program should be made at the federal level, not on a patchwork, state-by-state basis,” she said.
The vagaries and loopholes in defining what counts as soda and candy could also be alleviated with a stricter approach that lays out what can be bought with food stamps, rather than what can&#8217;t. SNAP could be limited to specifically-approved staples by mirroring or merging with another federal poverty program called Women, Infant, and Children (WIC). Or it could return to its roots and distribute <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-can-food-stamps-buy-junk-food-how-doge-could-save-billions-and-maha" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bulk commodities directly to families</a>, instead of giving them coupons to spend at corner stores. 
The Foundation for Government Accountability, a watchdog group, has suggested that donations and lobbying from interests that profit off of creating and treating obesity may have played a role in a series of reversals and uncharacteristic positions taken in the debate about soda and food stamps.
The American Heart Association (AHA) shocked Texas legislators last month by testifying against a similar bill there, even though its research shows that soda and candy are bad for the heart, and even though the Texas Medical Association testified in support of the bill. The AHA has taken money from PepsiCo and more than a million dollars each from Walmart, Pfizer, and Novo Nordisk, the maker of the obesity drug Ozempic. The AHA later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/american-heart-association-retracts-food-stamp-soda-opposition?row=0&amp;elementPosition=6&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;author=Luke+Rosiak&amp;title=American+Heart+Association+Retracts+Opposition+To+Barring+Soda%2C+Candy+From+Food+Stamps&amp;category=News" target="_blank" rel="noopener">retracted</a> its testimony and said it does not oppose such bills.
“First, the American Heart Association flip-flopped and backed away from Big Soda in Texas; now it seems like Kansas’s Democratic Governor Laura Kelly is flip-flopping the other direction to support junk food on food stamps,&#8221; Foundation for Government Accountability spokesman Adam Gibbs told The Daily Wire. &#8220;There’s something about this taxpayer-funded soda ban that has certain people spinning in circles.&#8221;
&#8220;The Governor can’t decide who to back — her constituents or Big Soda,&#8221; he added.
Some conservative influencers said they were offered money to make social media posts spinning welfare for soda as conservative. The soda lobby is also <a href="https://yourcartyourchoice.com/oppose-restrictions-on-snap-benefits/?utm_source=x&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=social_x_social_20250312_E_no_1_" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promoting unusual op-eds in conservative media</a> that try to convince free-market conservatives to rally around taxpayer-funded junk food. Newsmax published one such piece, “Keep Bureaucrats’ Hands Out of American’s [sic] Grocery Carts – Please.” It was authored by Tom Giovanetti of the Institute for Policy Innovation, which, according to <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?page=3&amp;q=%22Institute+for+Policy+Innovation%22" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tax records</a>, is funded by PhRMA, whose members profit from treating the unhealthy.
“Lawmakers must override the governor’s veto to ensure that the will of Kansans is delivered,&#8221; Gibbs said. &#8220;They can either stand with the MAHA moms who voted for President Trump in November—or they can fall in line with whatever political game Governor Kelly is playing this week.”
Kansas requires a two-thirds vote to override a veto. The Senate already has the votes, but the House would need about 18 members to switch positions.
Colorado and Arizona, two other states with Democrat governors, have received similar bills passed by their legislatures.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/food-stamps-accepted-at-thousands-of-liquor-and-tobacco-stores-contributing-to-healthcare-fiasco">Food Stamps Accepted At Thousands Of Liquor And Tobacco Stores, Contributing To Healthcare Fiasco</a>

spilled soda Stock photo

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly Flip-Flops On SNAP Soda Ban, Vetoes Bill

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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A Catholic priest who had served the Catholic Archdiocese in Kansas City for more than 20 years was shot and killed on Thursday afternoon.
Officers with the Seneca Police Department and Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to 911 calls of shots fired at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church rectory in Seneca, Kansas, where they found Fr. Arul Carasala, 57, outside the residence suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, KWCH 12 News <a href="https://www.kwch.com/2025/04/03/arrest-made-connection-catholic-priests-death/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Carasala was transported to a local hospital, where he later died.
Police arrested 66-year-old Gary L. Hermesch of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in connection with the shooting. Hermesch has yet to be formally charged, according to KWCH 12 News. The circumstances and motive behind the shooting remain unclear as authorities continue their investigation.
Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann <a href="https://www.facebook.com/archbishopnaumann/posts/1220557656742684?ref=embed_post" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on social media, &#8220;This senseless act of violence has left us grieving the loss of a beloved priest, leader, and friend,&#8221; adding, &#8220;There is no ongoing threat to the community, but I recognize the pain and shock that such an event brings.&#8221;
&#8220;Fr. Carasala was a devoted and zealous pastor who faithfully served our Archdiocese for over twenty years, including as dean of the Nemaha-Marshall region,&#8221; Naumann continued. &#8220;His love for Christ and His Church was evident in how he ministered to his people with great generosity and care. His parishioners, friends, and brother priests will deeply miss him.&#8221;
Carasala was ordained a priest in India in March 1994, according to Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church&#8217;s <a href="https://www.saintspeterandpaul-seneca.com/meet-our-pastor/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>. He had served as pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Parish since July of 2011, being made pastor shortly after becoming an American citizen.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) <a href="https://x.com/RogerMarshallMD/status/1907958033877184680" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he is &#8220;heartbroken by the tragic loss of Father Arul Carasala due to a senseless act of violence.&#8221;
&#8220;I am praying for Father Carasala’s family, friends, and parishioners as they grieve,&#8221; Marshall added. &#8220;We must find who did this, and justice must be served.&#8221;

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Catholic Priest Shot And Killed Outside Kansas Church

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The leader of the Satanic Grotto was led away in handcuffs at the Kansas Statehouse Friday morning after he scuffled with a protester who objected to his &#8220;black mass&#8221; ceremony there.
Michael Stewart, president of the Satanic Grotto, was tackled to the ground by police officers in the rotunda of the Kansas State Capitol in Topeka as he attempted to hold the &#8220;black mass&#8221; ceremony.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨BREAKING: The leader of the Satanic Grotto gets arrested at Kansas State Capitol for assaulting a Catholic during a &quot;Black Mass&quot; attempt. <a href="https://t.co/oo55sxO0SN">pic.twitter.com/oo55sxO0SN</a>
&mdash; CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) <a href="https://twitter.com/CatholicVote/status/1905673783416934437?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Just before his arrest, Stewart appeared to repeatedly punch a protester who came up to him and tried to grab something out of his hand that he was holding above his head as he called out to Satan.
He told officers he was not resisting arrest as he was handcuffed.
“Hail Satan! I dedicate this building to Satan!” Stewart could be heard shouting as he was led away.
Onlookers could be heard praying a &#8220;Hail Mary&#8221; as Stewart was led away.
The Satanic Grotto previously said Friday&#8217;s “black mass” event would “dedicate the grounds and our legislature to the glory of Satan.”
“God will fall and Kansas will be embraced by the black flame of Lucifer,” the group <a href="https://www.kwch.com/2025/03/12/gov-kelly-responds-plans-black-mass-event-kansas-statehouse/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
“I will be performing that black mass in our State Capitol,” Satanic Grotto President Michael Stewart previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kansas-gov-not-doing-enough-to-stop-satanists-from-performing-black-mass-at-capitol-critics-say">told</a> The Daily Wire. “If they have to arrest me, then they have to arrest me.”
A “black mass” is an explicit parody of the Catholic Mass that may use consecrated hosts, which Catholics believe to be the physical body, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ.
“We have wafers,” Stewart said previously. “I don’t want to comment on whether they’re consecrated or not because that would ruin the mystery.”
Alarmed critics warned the controversial event is wildly offensive to Catholics and could be disruptive.
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly had warned the Satanic Grotto president to move his event outside, saying “no protests will be allowed inside the Statehouse” on that day.
As Stewart entered the statehouse building, an officer <a href="https://www.ksnt.com/capitol-bureau/satanic-grotto-leader-take-away-in-handcuffs-at-the-kansas-statehouse/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> him he was welcome to be inside, but that he would be arrested if he tried to hold an event or cause a disruption.
Earlier in the morning, police also apprehended a man who <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/government/2025/03/28/christians-and-satanists-hold-competing-rallies-at-kansas-statehouse/82704649007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tackled</a> Stewart and grabbed a communion wafer from him as he held the &#8220;black mass&#8221; on the steps of the Capitol building. Later, Stewart ventured inside.
The hundreds of Catholic and Christian protesters who showed up Friday morning to rally outside the Kansas Statehouse far <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/government/2025/03/28/christians-and-satanists-hold-competing-rallies-at-kansas-statehouse/82704649007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outnumbered</a> the few dozen Satanists who held their own rally. Many officers with the Kansas Highway Patrol and Capitol Police were present as well.
Catholics also held masses at two nearby churches, one across the street and another a few blocks away.
It is not yet clear what, if any, charges Stewart will face.
The Satanic Grotto president has previously shown up outside Planned Parenthood and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thesatanicgrotto/reel/ChNz3tYJNSL/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">performed</a> lewd gestures to pro-life protesters outside.

US-NEWS-SATANIST-LEADER-ARRESTED-AFTER-PHYSICAL-1-KC

Satanist Arrested After Punching Protester At Black Mass In Kansas Statehouse

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At roughly 10:30 p.m. Monday, a babysitter in a home near Great Bend, Kansas, was putting children to bed when one of them told her a monster was under the bed. Hoping to reassure the child, the babysitter looked under the bed and came face-to-face with someone.
Martin Villalobos, Jr., 27, who had previously lived at the home but had been <a href="https://www.kake.com/home/kansas-child-says-theres-a-monster-under-the-bed-babysitter-comes-face-to-face-with/article_9bf5bbde-1c83-4c44-a77b-1cb91fd05ea8.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued a protection from abuse order</a> banning him from the property, was hiding underneath. When he was discovered, he <a href="https://www.qcnews.com/nexstar-media-wire/babysitter-checking-for-monsters-finds-man-hiding-under-childs-bed-in-kansas-sheriff/">reportedly</a> had an altercation with the babysitter and knocked over a child before fleeing the house, according to the Barton County Sheriff&#8217;s Office.
The Barton County Sheriff’s Office released this <a href="https://www.facebook.com/btsokansas/posts/1073733091459106?rdid=ftUj3lShw9V3AE1u" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>:
<blockquote>
On March 24, 2025 at about 10:30 PM Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 2000 block of Patton Road, just outside the city of Great Bend. The deputies were responding to a reported disturbance call. Upon arrival the deputies contacted the victim who stated she was babysitting children at the residence. When putting the children to bed, one child complained there was a “monster” under their bed. When the victim attempted to show the child there was nothing under the bed, she came face-to-face with a male suspect who was hiding there. An altercation ensued with the babysitter and one child was knocked over in the struggle. The suspect then fled the scene before deputies arrived.
</blockquote>
Villalobos was found the next morning by law enforcement and attempted to flee, but was captured, arrested, and taken to jail, where he was booked for aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, aggravated battery, child endangerment, felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer, and violation of a protection from abuse order.
“I’m glad everyone’s safe but that poor babysitter will probably never babysit again and those children will never believe there’s not a monster under the bed. A literal living nightmare,” one online commenter wrote.
Villalobos, who has pending charges of criminal threat and domestic battery as well as violating a protection order, is being held on a $500,000 bond.

I wanna sleep!

Child Tells Babysitter There’s A Monster Under The Bed. Babysitter Looks, Gets Shock Of Her Life

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Kansas Senator Roger Marshall will introduce a bill on Wednesday that would codify President Donald Trump’s executive order defining “male” and “female” in biological terms.
Marshall’s bill would “establish clear and consistent biological definitions of male and female,” according to a copy of the bill shared with The Daily Wire. The bill is in line with Trump’s day one executive order that made it official government policy to only recognize two sexes grounded in biological reality.  
“The Democrats’ radical transgender agenda is dangerous and wrong. We shouldn’t need legislation to tell us the basic reality that there are only two sexes, but here we are,” Marshall told The Daily Wire. “I’m thankful President Trump has made this a top priority and signed an Executive Order on his first day in office recognizing that there are only two sexes. Congress must ensure this historic action is written into law by passing the Defining Male and Female Act.”
The bill defines “male” as a “person belonging, at conception, to the biological sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing sperm” and female as a “person belonging, at conception, to  the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs (ova).”
A man is then defined as an “adult human male” and a woman as an “adult human female.” 
Marshall’s legislation would also make clear that the term &#8220;gender identity&#8221; is not a proper replacement for sex. 
“‘Gender identity’ means an identity that reflects an internal and subjective sense of self, disconnected from biological reality and sex and existing on an indeterminate continuum, and, because such an identity does not provide a meaningful basis for identification for purposes of Federal law, the term shall not be recognized by the Federal Government as a replacement for sex,” the legislation says. 
Illinois GOP Rep. Mary Miller is also expected to introduce a companion measure in the House.
&#8220;Now more than ever, we must unite to uphold the truth and biological reality established by God that there are only two sexes,” she told The Daily Wire. “I am proud to stand alongside Senator Marshall in introducing the House companion to the Defining Male and Female Act to ensure our nation upholds common sense and puts an end to the Left’s dangerous and extreme sexual fantasies.”
Marshall <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-sen-marshall-pushes-to-define-male-and-female-in-biological-truth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> a similar bill in November, before Republicans had taken control of the Senate. 
In his January executive order, Trump rooted his definitions of male and females in biology. 
“It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.  These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” the executive order said. &#8220;When administering or enforcing sex-based distinctions, every agency and all Federal employees acting in an official capacity on behalf of their agency shall use the term “sex” and not “gender” in all applicable Federal policies and documents.&#8221;
Trump later took action to ban funding for entities that promote transgender procedures on kids. In December, Marshall <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-senator-introduces-bill-to-ban-transgender-procedures-on-kids-across-the-country" target="_blank" rel="noopener">put forth</a> a bill that would ban doctors from performing the procedures on kids nation-wide.

Senate Holds “Vote-a-Rama” On Republican Budget Bill

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Marshall Pushes To Codify Trump’s Male-Female Definitions Into Law

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At least forty people were killed as fierce winds and tornadoes ripped across the country over the weekend, slamming the Midwest and the South. 
Twenty-four of the deaths were attributed to tornadoes, while wind-fueled dust storms and fires resulted in another 16 deaths. At least 12 people <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/tornado-outbreak-live-updates-18-dead-dozens-injured/?id=119832914" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were</a> killed in Missouri, three in Alabama, eight in Kansas, six in Mississippi, four in Texas, three in Arkansas, and four in Oklahoma. 
Tens of thousands of customers are still out of power after the storms raced across the country up into Pennsylvania and New York. More than 25,000 customers are without electricity in Missouri, 56,000 in Pennsylvania, and 23,000 in New York, <a href="https://poweroutage.us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to PowerOutage.us. 
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had activated the National Guard in response to the storms. 
“We are actively monitoring the severe tornadoes and storms that have impacted many States across the South and Midwest — 36 innocent lives have been lost, and many more devastated,” he <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114174243289152293">posted</a> on Truth Social on Sunday. “The National Guard have been deployed to Arkansas, and my Administration is ready to assist State and Local Officials, as they help their communities to try and recover from the damage. Please join Melania and me in praying for everyone impacted by these terrible storms!”
<div id="attachment_892677" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-892677" class="size-full wp-image-892677" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2205026292.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="1024" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2205026292.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2205026292-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2205026292-576x576.jpg 576w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2205026292-150x150.jpg 150w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2205026292-768x768.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Photo by Mehmet Yaren Bozgun/Anadolu via Getty Images.</div>
In Kansas, a wind-fueled dust storm <a href="https://www.ksn.com/news/state-regional/dust-settles-on-71-vehicle-pileup-8-fatalities-near-goodland/">caused</a> a 70-car pileup on Interstate 70 that killed eight people near Goodland on Friday. 
“I’ve seen it before, but this is probably the worst I’ve ever seen,” Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Tod Hileman told KSNW. 
Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama were all slammed by tornadoes, as at least 56 developed across 10 different states, <a href="https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/severe-weather-tornadoes-dust-storm-blizzard-midwest-plains-southeast-east-coast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Fox Forecast Center. Southeast Missouri was hit particularly hard after storms ripped through Wayne, Ozark, Butler, and Jefferson counties. 
Videos posted online also showed widespread tornado damage in Mississippi.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
FOX Weather exclusive video shows the extensive damages in Tylertown, Mississippi after a tornado ripped through the area this weekend. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mississippi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Mississippi</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tornado?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#tornado</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Farm?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Farm</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FoxWeather?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FoxWeather</a> <a href="https://t.co/bwwXZqbCM9">pic.twitter.com/bwwXZqbCM9</a>
— FOX Weather (@foxweather) <a href="https://twitter.com/foxweather/status/1901393041736228951?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Alabama Republican Governor Kay Ivey said on Sunday that most of her state had been impacted by the storms. 
“We have reports of damage in 52 of our 67 counties. Our damage assessment continues. The sun has risen in Alabama, though. We pray for those lives we lost, as well as those who were injured. And we pray for our first responders, emergency management officials and linemen who are doing incredible work on the ground right now,” she said.

Tornadoes Rip Through Missouri

At Least 40 Dead After Tornadoes, Dust Storms Ravage Several States

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Satanists who plan to perform a &#8220;black mass&#8221; in the Kansas Statehouse are undeterred by an attempt to move the event by Democrat Governor Laura Kelly, who critics say isn&#8217;t doing enough to make sure the event doesn&#8217;t happen.
The leader of the Kansas Satanic Grotto told The Daily Wire that he will defy Kelly&#8217;s attempt to move the event out of the government building. Michael Stewart, who calls himself “The Devil of Kansas,” said Kelly “caved” to pressure from Republicans and Catholics on Wednesday when she ordered the planned March 28 “black mass” moved to the steps outside the statehouse.
“I will be performing that black mass in our State Capitol,” Stewart said. “If they have to arrest me, then they have to arrest me. I will be putting the call out to every satanist within three hours of Kansas City or Topeka and saying, ‘Who wants to march into the Capitol with me?’ We&#8217;ll see how many show up.”
An explicit parody of the Catholic Mass, satanic black masses have <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262621/kansas-bishops-call-for-prayers-plan-legal-response-to-planned-black-mass" target="_blank" rel="noopener">historically involved</a> the desecration of consecrated Communion Hosts, which Catholics believe to be the body, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. In a statement, the Catholic Bishops of Kansas said that any planned desecration of the Eucharist would “be an insult to not only Catholics but all people of goodwill.”
During the event, the Satanic Grotto <a href="https://www.kwch.com/2025/03/12/gov-kelly-responds-plans-black-mass-event-kansas-statehouse/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> it will “dedicate the grounds and our legislature to the glory of Satan” by “indulging in sacrilegious blaspheme.”
“We have wafers,” Stewart told The Daily Wire. “I don&#8217;t want to comment on whether they&#8217;re consecrated or not because that would ruin the mystery.”
Stewart said he did “not believe anyone in our group has obtained a consecrated wafer through illegal or fraudulent means.” Pressed if those “illegal or fraudulent means” included a member of the Satanic Grotto receiving Communion in a Catholic Church, Stewart said, “The Catholics have informed me that that&#8217;s all their property, so as far as I know, there is no legal way to grab it.”
Chuck Weber, Executive Director of the Kansas Catholic Conference, says Kelly isn&#8217;t doing nearly enough to stop the black mass.
“Make no mistake, it’s going to be a vile and despicable satanic worship ritual,” Weber told The Daily Wire, adding that Kelly’s decision to move the event from inside to the statehouse steps is “a distinction without a difference,” akin to moving something from your living room to the front porch.
Weber expressed frustration with Kelly’s statement, noting that while she emphasized Kansans&#8217; rights to “free expression,” she failed to exercise her “duty to express her condemnation of this provocative hatred and anti-Catholic bigotry.”
“There are more constructive ways to protest and express disagreements without insulting or denigrating sacred religious symbols,” Kelly <a href="https://www.governor.ks.gov/Home/Components/News/News/573/56" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “However, as governor, I also have a duty to protect protesters’ constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression, regardless of how offensive or distasteful I might find the content to be.”
Kelly’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Former Kansas congressman Tim Huelskamp, a Republican, told The Daily Wire that this issue transcends politics.
“Every politician, whether they’re Catholic or not, should do everything within their power to make certain this event doesn’t happen,” he said. “There should be no black mass ever held on state property in Kansas, and I think it’s within the right and responsibility of the attorney general and the governor of Kansas to make sure this doesn’t happen.”
Ironically, the satanist Stewart is also disappointed in Kelly’s statement. He says he’s “supported the Democratic Party in the past” because he believes that “no human is illegal,” and tries “to be anti-racist.” But “in the wake of Biden” and “the way everything&#8217;s turned out” with the black mass, he says he’s “sick of” Democrats.
“Hell, I&#8217;ll run for governor in 2026,” Stewart said. “The Devil of Kansas for Governor.”
In 2014, the Archdiocese of Oklahoma <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/30380/successful-okla-lawsuit-could-stop-future-black-masses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> to stop an occult group that claimed to be in possession of a consecrated Host from holding a black mass. The Archdiocese successfully argued that the Host was stolen property, and the organizers were forced to turn it over to a Catholic priest. If the Kansas Satanic Grotto is found to be in possession of a consecrated Host, the Archdiocese of Kansas and its allies could rely on the Oklahoma case to launch a similar suit.
Stewart told The Daily Wire that the point of the black mass “is not to mock the Catholic Church,” but to engage in a kind of “therapeutic blasphemy” wherein satanists “express some of the anger, and the pain and the sorrow” they feel from their Catholic or other religious upbringings.
Weber echoed the Kansas bishops in calling for Catholics to pray for Stewart’s conversion “during this season of Lent,” when Catholics prepare for Easter with fasting and penitence. Weber observed that the story of Satan tempting Jesus in the desert — which Catholics hear each year on the first Sunday of Lent — offers a model for how to respond to the Kansas satanists.
“Jesus doesn’t ignore the devil,” Weber noted, “but He doesn’t give him that much more oxygen, either.”

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Kansas Gov Not Doing Enough To Stop Satanists From Performing ‘Black Mass’ At Capitol, Critics Say

Kansas Republicans on Tuesday passed a bill banning irreversible transgender medical procedures on minors, overriding a veto from Democratic Governor Laura Kelly. 
Republicans voted 31-9 in the state Senate and 85-34 in the state House to pass the “<a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/documents/sb63_enrolled.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Help Not Harm Act</a>,” which blocks doctors from performing transgender surgeries on minors or putting them on cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers. The move comes after Republicans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/governor-vetoes-bill-protecting-children-from-transgender-procedures-in-state-with-gop-supermajority-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failed</a> to override Kelly’s veto of a similar measure last year. 
&#8220;Today, we sign the Help Not Harm Act in honor of the children who Governor Kelly failed to protect with her repeated vetoes of this sensible legislation,” Senate President Ty Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins said in a joint statement. “With help from Kansas voters last fall, we were able to override her veto and protect Kansas children from these harmful, irreversible, and experimental gender-reassignment surgeries and medicines. We are so thankful to everyone who made this victory for common-sense possible.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Great news! Following our vote in the Senate, the House successfully overrode the governor&#8217;s veto of the Help Not Harm Act, and it is now law! Speaker <a href="https://twitter.com/DanHawkinsKS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DanHawkinsKS</a> and I made it official just moments ago by signing the bill. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ksleg?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ksleg</a> <a href="https://t.co/QOMM9F63fk">pic.twitter.com/QOMM9F63fk</a>
— Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson (@sentymasterson) <a href="https://twitter.com/sentymasterson/status/1891998635514094073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The legislation includes an avenue for both minors and parents who were harmed by transgender procedures to bring civil action against a doctor who violates the new law. The harmed individual could be eligible for punitive damages and injunctive relief. Doctors who violate the law could be subject to professional discipline and lose their medical license. 
The law will also take steps to block state officials and state money from going toward promoting the “social transition” of a minor. 
“A state employee whose official duties include the care of children shall not, while engaged in those official duties, promote the use of social transitioning or provide or promote medication or surgery,” the text of the legislation says. 
The legislation was opposed by every Democrat in the Senate and House, alongside Republican Rep. Mark Schreiber. 
During debate on the bill, Democratic Sen. Cindy Holscher <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/02/18/kansas-legislature-overrides-governors-veto-of-legislation-that-targets-trans-kids/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">compared</a> transgender procedures to getting glasses and contacts or dyeing one’s hair. 
Data compiled by Do No Harm, a nonprofit that advocates against transgender medical procedures, <a href="https://stoptheharmdatabase.com/state/kansas/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shows</a> that from 2019 to 2023, there were 22 transgender surgery patients and 71 hormone and puberty blocker patients in Kansas. 
U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), who has introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to ban the procedures nationwide on children, praised the Republican-led legislature. 
“Despite Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s best efforts, the mutilation and sterilization of minors will not happen in Kansas,” he said. “Praise God!”
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January banning the federal government from funding or supporting transgender procedures on children.

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Kansas Republicans Override Dem Governor’s Veto To Ban Trans Procedures On Kids

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A federal judge in North Dakota on Monday stopped the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> from implementing a new policy that would make certain illegal immigrants eligible for government-backed health care coverage.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor <a href="https://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/KansasStateofetalvUnitedStatesofAmericaetalDocketNo124cv00150DNDA/1?doc_id=X341THOR6K38NURUPN1CEL94VDR" target="_blank" rel="noopener">granted</a> a request to block a new policy from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that would allow individuals given Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) status to enroll in Obamacare. Traynor said that Kansas and the 18 Republican attorney generals who sued the Biden administration were likely to succeed and gave them a stay against the policy. 
Traynor said that CMS broke the law earlier this year when it <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/slap-in-the-face-biden-blasted-after-giving-certain-illegal-immigrants-access-to-gov-health-care" target="_blank" rel="noopener">changed</a> the definition of people “lawfully present” in the United States to include DACA recipients. Those with DACA status crossed illegally into America as minors with their parents and were shielded from deportation via an executive order from President Barack Obama. 
“The authority granted to CMS by the ACA [Affordable Care Act] is to ascertain whether an individual meets the requirements for lawful status. It by no means allows the agency to circumvent congressional authority and redefine the term ‘lawfully present,’” Traynor wrote. 
“As it currently stands, the ACA does not allow federal healthcare subsidies or coverage for aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States,” he added. 
Traynor also agreed with the Republican attorneys general that the policy would encourage illegal aliens to remain in their states with the draw of health care. 
The decision was praised by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who led the suit against the policy. 
&#8220;Big win for the rule of law. Congress never intended that illegal aliens should receive Obama care benefits,” he said. “Indeed, two laws prohibit them from receiving such benefits. The Biden administration tried to break those laws. But we fought back, and defeated the Justice Department.&#8221;
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The other states that were part of the suit included Ohio, Idaho,  Nebraska,  South  Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Arkansas. They argued that the rule from the Biden administration was arbitrary and capricious, and would incentivize illegal immigration. 
In response to the ruling, CMS <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5031527-federal-court-blocks-aca-coverage-for-dreamers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that it was reviewing the decision but could not comment further. 
The rule change was opposed by President-elect Donald Trump, with campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt decrying it in May as &#8220;unfair and unsustainable.&#8221; 
“Joe Biden‘s handouts for illegal immigrants are especially devastating to Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and union workers who are forced to watch their jobs and public resources stolen by people who illegally entered our country,” Leavitt, Trump&#8217;s incoming press secretary, said at the time.
Last month, another judge struck down a parole program from the Biden administration that would have granted legal status to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.

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Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced a bill Wednesday that would ban doctors from performing life-altering and irreversible <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/transgender" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transgender procedures</a> on kids across the country.
Marshall put forth the “<a href="https://www.marshall.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/KEN245791.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Safeguarding The Overall Protection of Minors Act</a>’’ to block doctors from giving kids puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, which can cause infertility, reduce bone density, and damage heart health. The legislation would also ban transgender surgeries for kids, including genital surgeries and removing the breasts of girls who identify as boys.
According to the text of the bill, doctors could be assessed a civil fine of up to $100,000 if they “knowingly perform, attempt to perform, conspire to perform, or provide a referral for any gender transition procedure on a minor.”
“Americans resoundingly rejected the Left’s dangerous transgender agenda. Let’s call it exactly what it is: child abuse,” Marshall, a doctor, said in a statement. “The days of demented doctors and activists getting rich off of mutilating, sterilizing, and castrating children are over.”
“Our legislation keeps children’s safety paramount by prohibiting anyone from performing, facilitating, or even conspiring to give these irreversible therapies and procedures to minors,” Marshall added. “This bill is just the beginning of what’s to come with President Trump at the helm and our unwavering commitment to protecting children from transgender activists’ twisted and criminal agenda.”
The proposed legislation would also allow anyone on whom a gender procedure was performed to sue in United States district court for proper relief. Additionally, the bill would authorize the attorney general to set up a grant program for individuals attempting to undo the impacts of transgender procedures.
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Marshall has been an opponent of transgender ideology, previously introducing bills to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-sen-marshall-pushes-to-define-male-and-female-in-biological-truth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">define male and female</a> in biology and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-republicans-demand-who-chief-disband-activist-panel-on-transgenderism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushing back</a> on the World Health Organization’s embrace of transgender activists. His bill was introduced the same day that Tennessee defended its ban on transgender procedures for minors before the Supreme Court.
While over two dozen states across the country have moved to protect kids from transgender medical procedures, Republicans in Kansas have so far failed. Earlier this year, they came just <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kansas-ban-on-child-transgender-medicalization-fails-to-beat-veto-after-two-gop-lawmakers-flip-votes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two votes short</a> in the state House of overriding Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of their legislation.
Stop the Harm, a <a href="https://stoptheharmdatabase.com/state/kansas/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">database</a> that tracks where transgender procedures have been done on children across the country, records that there have been 71 puberty and cross-sex hormone child patients in Kansas and 22 surgery patients since 2019.

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GOP Senator Introduces Bill To Ban Transgender Procedures On Kids Across The Country

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Kansas Senator Roger Marshall on Wednesday introduced a bill taking aim at the core tenants of transgender ideology by defining “male” and “female” in terms of “biological truth.”
The “Defining Male and Female Act of 2024” would <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/KIN2463023.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enshrine in law</a> the biological differences between men and women. The proposed legislation, which is backed by a handful of conservative organizations, says the definition is required to combat “increasing confusion about the definition of sex as a biological truth.”
Marshall reiterated that goal to The Daily Wire.
“As a physician who has delivered over 5,000 babies, I can confidently say that politicizing children&#8217;s gender to use them as pawns in their radical woke agenda is not only wrong, it is extremely dangerous. I didn’t think we would need legislation to tell us that there are only two sexes: male and female, but here we are,” Marshall said.
Marshall is the latest Republican to introduce legislation on this issue. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) this month <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/speaker-mike-johnson-makes-it-clear-a-man-cannot-become-a-woman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> a measure to keep men out of the women’s bathrooms in the U.S. Capitol. That bill would ensure that incoming Democrat Rep. Sarah McBride (DE), a man who identifies as a woman, could not use the same bathrooms as his female colleagues.
Marshall’s bill notes that “every individual is either male or female” and that “in no case is an individual’s sex determined by stipulation or self-identification.” It defines a female as “an individual who naturally has, had, will have, or would have, but for a congenital anomaly or intentional or unintentional disruption, the reproductive system that at some point produces, transports, and utilizes eggs for fertilization.”
It defines a male as: “an individual who naturally has, had, will have, or would have, but for a congenital anomaly or intentional or unintentional disruption, the reproductive system that at some point produces, transports, and utilizes sperm for fertilization.”
This makes a “man” an “adult human male” and a “woman” an “adult human female.” 
Marshall’s legislation is backed by Idaho Republican Sens. James Risch and Mike Crapo and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS). Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) is set to introduce a companion bill in the House. Conservative groups including Heritage Action, Family Research Council, Concerned Women of America, and Alliance Defending Freedom also support the proposal. 
“We must codify the legal definition of sex to be based on science rather than feelings,” Marshall told The Daily Wire. “With our legislation, we can fight back against the Biden-Harris Administration’s assault on our children.&#8221;

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EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Marshall Pushes To Define ‘Male’ And ‘Female’ In New Legislation

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