Four people have been arrested in connection to the disappearance of two Kansas moms who haven’t been seen in two weeks.
Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Cole Earl Twombly, 50; Cora Twombly, 44; and Tifany Machel Adams, 54, were taken into custody and identified as suspects in the disappearance of Jilian Kelley, 39, and Veronica Butler, 27, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/4-people-arrested-connection-2-missing-kansas-women-osbi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, citing the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI). The OSBI reportedly told the outlet that one suspect was arrested in Texas County in Oklahoma – where the women were traveling to pick up Butler’s children – while the other three were arrested in Cimarron County.
The suspects were booked into the Texas County Jail on two counts each of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and one count each of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree.
Adams is reportedly the paternal grandmother of Butler’s children, and they lived with her.
Less than 24 hours after the arrests, two bodies were found in Texas County, the OSBI announced on Facebook.
“Both individuals will be transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office to determine identification, as well as cause and manner of death,” the OSBI said. “This is still an ongoing investigation.”
The OSBI has not said officially that the two deceased bodies are connected to Kelley and Butler’s disappearance, though they offered condolences to the families during <a href="https://fox59.com/news/national-world/2-bodies-found-in-rural-oklahoma-amid-search-for-2-kansas-women/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a press conference</a> on Monday. The two bodies were found in the area where law enforcement was searching for Kelley and Butler.
Kelley was traveling with Butler to pick up Butler’s young children in Eva, Oklahoma, but they <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/two-kansas-moms-disappeared-while-picking-up-kids-in-oklahoma-foul-play-is-suspected" target="_blank" rel="noopener">never arrived</a>. Their vehicle was found abandoned in Elkhart, Kansas, just a few miles from their destination, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OSBI.OK/posts/pfbid02RL17Ct1xfw5HmM9mHaEDLNch4Ah8JJZBt7xP1vvVE2zgpxHGzTDGKyk775K79axnl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Facebook post</a> on March 31.
What investigators discovered in the vehicle has led them to suspect foul play is involved, the OSBI said in an update. The bureau has not released what was found.
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The two women were traveling to pick up Butler’s 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son. Butler was reportedly involved in a custody dispute with the father of her children, Wrangler Cole Rickman, Inside Edition <a href="https://www.insideedition.com/evidence-in-car-veronica-butler-was-driving-when-she-and-jillian-kelley-vanished-points-to-foul" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Rickman had been released from prison, where he was serving a sentence for possession of a firearm, just a week before the women went missing. But Lauren Conlin, an independent journalist, spoke to Rickman’s grandmother, who said Rickman had been released from prison and ordered to go to rehab on the same day. She said Rickman was in rehab when the women disappeared.
“He [Rickman] was checked into rehab on the 22nd- 30 days no contact and cannot leave any outings from the facility for 30 days, and has to be there for six months. OSBI confirmed he was there,” the grandmother said, Conlin <a href="https://twitter.com/conlin_lauren/status/1775368832963502376" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X on April 2.
Rickman has not been arrested or charged in the disappearance of Butler or Kelley, but his mother was one of the four arrested in connection to the disappearance.

Tad Bert Cullum, Cole Earl Twombly, Cora Twombly, And Tifany Machel Adams Mugshots

4 People Arrested In Connection To 2 Missing Kansas Moms, 2 Unidentified Bodies Found

Crime

Kansas

Missing Person

Murder

Oklahoma

U.S.

Democratic Kansas Governor Laura Kelly vetoed a bill on Friday that would have protected children from life-altering transgender surgeries, claiming that it trampled on parental rights. 
The Republican-backed <a href="https://legiscan.com/KS/text/SB233/id/2972770/Kansas-2023-SB233-Enrolled.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> would have banned surgical procedures like removing the breasts of girls who identify as boys and other genital-related surgeries. It also would have banned placing children on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, which have been linked to poor bone development, future fertility issues, and heart problems. 
“This divisive legislation targets a small group of Kansans by placing government mandates on them and dictating to parents how to best raise and care for their children. I do not believe that is a conservative value, and it’s certainly not a Kansas value,” Kelly <a href="https://governor.kansas.gov/governor-kelly-vetoes-bills-allows-one-to-become-law-without-signature/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a veto message. “To be clear, this legislation tramples parental rights.”
Republicans have supermajorities in both the state House and Senate, meaning that they could move to override Kelly&#8217;s veto. The legislation, Senate Bill 233, passed the House 80 to 40 and the Senate 26 to11. 
The legislation also would have authorized a civil cause of action against healthcare providers for providing such treatments, restricted the use of state money to back “gender transitioning,” and require professional discipline for doctors who did transgender procedures on kids. 
Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins <a href="https://twitter.com/DanHawkinsKS/status/1778897440323612732" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Republicans stood by ready to override the veto. 
“As we watch other states, nations, and organizations reverse course on these experimental procedures on children, Laura Kelly will most surely find herself on the wrong side of history with her reckless veto of this common-sense protection for Kansas minors,” he said. 
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Last year, the Senate <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/04/26/senate-attempts-to-override-slew-of-vetoed-transgender-bills-but-care-ban-fails/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fell short</a> of overriding Kelly’s veto of a similar bill that would have banned transgender procedures on children. The legislature was able to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kansas-will-no-longer-allow-residents-to-change-gender-on-birth-certificates" target="_blank" rel="noopener">override her veto</a> on a bill that defined men and women on the basis of their “biological reproductive system.” 
According to the <a href="https://kslegislature.org/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/summary_sb_180_2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a>, a “female” is “an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova” and a “mother” is” a parent of the female sex.” The law also stipulates that “woman” and “girl” refer to biological females. 
In recent years, over 20 states have enacted laws shielding children from transgender surgeries, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormone regimes. The groups have been opposed by leftist activists who claim the laws are discriminatory and violate the 14th Amendment.

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Governor Vetoes Bill Protecting Children From Transgender Procedures In State With GOP Supermajority

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transgender surgery

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Two Kansas moms who were traveling together to pick up children in Oklahoma’s panhandle have not been seen in more than a week, and police suspect foul play.
Jilian Kelley, 39, was traveling with Veronica Butler, 27, to pick up Butler’s young children in Eva, Oklahoma, but they never arrived. Their vehicle was found abandoned in Elkhart, Kansas, just a few miles from their destination, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OSBI.OK/posts/pfbid02RL17Ct1xfw5HmM9mHaEDLNch4Ah8JJZBt7xP1vvVE2zgpxHGzTDGKyk775K79axnl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Facebook post</a> on March 31.
What investigators discovered in the vehicle has led them to suspect foul play is involved, the OSBI said in an update. The bureau has not released what was found.
Kelley is the wife of Pastor Heath Kelley of the Hugoton First Christian Church in Kansas, The Christian Post <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/pastors-wife-another-woman-missing-after-car-is-abandoned.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. A <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xd46F-vWAs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> posted to YouTube last week shows church officials praying for the Kelley family. Willow Christian Church also <a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02wgnzgcVU4Bn8DZt19L8VrFYZHDKUQUZxHiHL2PTpMKbk2Xdxth2jYMaRcLVhiP69l&amp;id=100070087011279" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> prayers for the missing women on Facebook.
&#8220;Please, please be in prayer for these women. Jillian is the wife of our new minister, Heath Kelley, and the sister-in-law of church member Hillary Kennedy,&#8221; the church said. &#8220;Please pray that Jillian and her friend Veronica are safe and that they are found quickly. God please bring these women home to their families that are so worried about them.&#8221;
Butler was a member of the Hugoton Assembly of God, and her pastor <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=395956500038685" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> ABC News that the two women were acquaintances rather than friends.
&#8220;It appears that this was not a willing incident on their own to have taken off. It looks to me that there&#8217;s something more involved,&#8221; he told the outlet.
The two women were traveling to pick up Butler’s 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son. The children were living with their biological father’s mother. Butler was reportedly involved in a custody dispute with the father of her children, Wrangler Cole Rickman, Inside Edition <a href="https://www.insideedition.com/evidence-in-car-veronica-butler-was-driving-when-she-and-jillian-kelley-vanished-points-to-foul" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Rickman had been released from prison, where he was serving a sentence for possession of a firearm, just a week before the women went missing. But Lauren Conlin, an independent journalist, spoke to Rickman’s grandmother who said Rickman had been released from prison and ordered to go to rehab on the same day. She said Rickman was in rehab when the women disappeared.
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&#8220;He [Rickman] was checked into rehab on the 22nd- 30 days no contact and cannot leave any outings from the facility for 30 days, and has to be there for six months. OSBI confirmed he was there,” the grandmother said, Conlin <a href="https://twitter.com/conlin_lauren/status/1775368832963502376">posted</a> on X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
UPDATE: Regarding <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MISSING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MISSING</a> Kansas women, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VeronicaButler?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VeronicaButler</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JillianKelley?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JillianKelley</a>. I spoke with the grandmother of Wrangler Cole Rickman [Rickman is Veronica&#8217;s ex and father of her children]. Grandmother confirmed the below:
&#8220;He [Rickman] was checked into rehab on the 22nd- 30 days… <a href="https://t.co/eHuJkcZN3q">pic.twitter.com/eHuJkcZN3q</a>
— Lauren Conlin (@conlin_lauren) <a href="https://twitter.com/conlin_lauren/status/1775368832963502376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The grandmother also told Conlin that Butler’s children were safe.
Butler and Kelley remain missing.

Jilian Kelley and Veronica Butler

Two Kansas Moms Disappeared While Picking Up Kids In Oklahoma. Foul Play Is Suspected.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced a measure on Wednesday that would prohibit the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/health-and-human-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Health and Human Services</a> from implementing a federal rule that could force foster parents to accept gender ideology and restrict the work of faith-based foster care organizations.
The bill, first shared with The Daily Wire, is called the ‘<a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/ERN24164.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘Protecting Religious Freedom for Foster Families Act,&#8221;</a> and would block HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra from implementing a proposed <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/09/28/2023-21274/safe-and-appropriate-foster-care-placement-requirements-for-titles-iv-e-and-iv-b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">placement rule</a> that would dictate that minors who identify as LGBT are placed with providers who agree to affirm a child’s gender identity, pronouns, and provide them “services that are necessary to support their health and wellbeing.” The measure, which was co-sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), is sponsored in the House by Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK).
“All children in foster care, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, deserve safe and proper placement,” Marshall told The Daily Wire. “This extreme proposal by the HHS instead discriminates against faith-based homes and loving foster parents in pursuit of pushing their radical gender ideology and pronoun politics on religious families.”
Marshall’s bill would stop HHS from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing the proposed rule, or a similar measure.
“This rule would have an especially devastating impact in rural areas across the country, where there are fewer foster care providers than children in need of safe homes,” Marshall said. “This administration needs to leave the politics out of it and help as many kids that need their love, care, and support as possible.”
Marshall previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-sen-marshall-challenges-proposed-hhs-rule-that-would-force-foster-parents-to-accept-extreme-gender-ideology" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote a letter</a> to Becerra outlining his concerns with the rule, but has not heard back yet. The Kansas Republican noted that the rule could have the effect of forcing Christian foster services from being able to work with states to provide homes for children.
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He also noted that the rule could cause conflict in states where transgender procedures on children have been banned.
“These procedures can cause irreparable harm to children, many of whom have inconsistent parental guidance and lack the physiological development that is necessary to make an informed decision of such consequence. States should not be penalized for acting to protect the children of their state,” the letter said.
The proposal also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/states-press-hhs-over-illegal-rule-that-could-force-foster-care-providers-to-facilitate-trans-procedures" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drew criticism</a> from over a dozen Republican attorneys general who warned that the rule could compel foster care providers to facilitate transgender procedures on minors.

Senate Republicans Hold News Conference On Democrats’ Tax Policies

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Marshall Takes New Step To Fight ‘Extreme’ HHS Rule That Would Force Foster Parents To Accept Gender Ideology

Department of Health and Human Services

gender ideology

LGBT

Senate

Xavier Becerra

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced a lawsuit against <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/planned-parenthood" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Planned Parenthood</a> on Thursday, accusing the organization of trafficking young girls for out-of-state abortions. 
The announcement of the suit against Planned Parenthood Great Plains comes after Project Veritas released a <a href="https://www.projectveritas.com/news/planned-parenthood-part-one" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> of Planned Parenthood workers appearing to say that they would help a young girl get an abortion in Kansas without her parent’s knowledge. 
“This is the beginning of the end for Planned Parenthood in the State of Missouri. What they conceal and conspire to do in the dark of night has now been uncovered. I am filing suit to ensure it never happens again,” Bailey said in a statement. “As a father who held my daughter in my arms for the single hour of her life before she died, I know firsthand how important it is to protect life. Our children are the future. It is time to eradicate Planned Parenthood once and for all to end this pattern of abhorrent, unethical, and illegal behavior.”
The suit references a November 2023 undercover video from Project Veritas where a man posing as the uncle of a 13-year-old girl asks several Planned Parenthood employees how to get an abortion for his niece. The Planned Parenthood workers appeared willing to help, saying that Planned Parenthood in Kansas could pick up a girl and take her for an abortion. 
The workers told the Project Veritas investigator that he would need a “bypass” if he was trying get the girl to have an abortion without the parents&#8217; knowledge. One said that a bypass meant “just not letting the parents know.” 
The Planned Parenthood employees also said they could create doctor&#8217;s notes to get the girl out of class even if the school didn’t agree and they could cut off their Planned Parenthood letterhead so it doesn’t “say where she was.” 
“The surreptitiously recorded video revealed that Planned Parenthood removes minors from school using altered doctors’ notes, transports them into Kansas for abortions, and then quickly returns them — all to avoid parents finding out,” the lawsuit says. “Violating the &#8216;deeply rooted&#8217; right of parents and the laws of Missouri, Planned Parenthood is inducing minors into making life-changing — and life-ending — decisions without parental consent.”
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Planned Parenthood <a href="https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/politics/missouri-planned-parenthood-project-veritas-children-abortions/63-5ff28d22-1653-41c5-941a-8ffb2f528eb1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> to the suit by attacking Project Veritas and saying that it was innocent of any wrongdoing.
“This is a press release dressed up as legal action from an unelected attorney general. It is based on ‘evidence’ from fraudulent, extreme anti-abortion actors, who claim to be ‘journalists,’” Planned Parenthood of Greater Plains Emily Wales said. “We will continue following state and federal laws and proudly providing Missourians with the compassionate sexual and reproductive care that remains available to them in a state with a total abortion ban.”
Wales, claiming the video is &#8220;heavily doctored and edited,&#8221; <a href="https://apnews.com/article/missouri-abortion-lawsuit-minors-to-kansas-67ef30820213fc6cff8857ba68b8fe00">denied</a> that Planned Parenthood provides transportation for patients, the Associated Press reported. She also said that Kansas requires minors to either obtain parental consent or an order from a judge to get an abortion.
In Missouri, all abortion is effectively prohibited, though nearby states like Kansas and Illinois have legal abortion. Pills for medication abortions <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/04/13/us/abortion-pill-order-online-mifepristone.html#:~:text=There%20is%20less%20ambiguity%20for,But%20enforcement%20remains%20rare." target="_blank" rel="noopener">are</a> also being shipped into the state from outside activist groups.

Last Abortion Clinic In Missouri Forced To Close At End Of May

Missouri Sues Planned Parenthood Over Alleged Trafficking Of Young Girls For Out-Of-State Abortions

Abortion

Missouri

Planned Parenthood

Politics

Project Veritas

A group of red states filed a legal brief in support of Texas Governor Greg Abbot (R-TX) on Friday amid his battle with the Biden administration to keep buoys intended to deter illegal immigration in a portion of the Rio Grande. 
Led by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, more than 20 Republican attorneys general filed an <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/USA-v.-Abbott-En-Banc-Amicus-Brief-Final7344146.1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">amicus brief</a> to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals backing Abbott’s bid to keep the barrier in the river. Abbott was sued by the Biden administration last year over the barriers and a federal judge ruled in favor of the federal government. Texas was able to  appeal and will be able <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/fifth-circuit-buoy-lawsuit-rio-grade-18613406.php#:~:text=Antonio%20Express%2DNews-,Gov.,the%20barrier%20from%20the%20river.">to keep</a> the barrier in while the case plays out at the appeals level. 
The brief says that the Biden administration has not done its job to protect the border and that Texas has a right to defend itself.
“The Constitution  guarantees the States’ right to self-defense expressly and as a natural  incident of the States’ status as sovereign entities,” a copy of the brief obtained by The Daily Wire said. “Here, however, the  federal government has sought to disable Texas’s exercise of that right  by claiming that it violates a federal law focused on the navigability of  the nation’s waterways, a law that does not expressly limit the States’  ability to engage in self-defense.”
The attorneys general go on to rip into the Biden administration for its policies at the border. 
“The current administration has not only failed to secure the border, but also has willfully enacted policies that have encouraged illegal immigration. The result: millions of illegal aliens crossing the southern border and continuing into the interior,” they wrote. &#8220;A flood of illegal immigration across the Southern  border that has brought with it crime, human trafficking, and hundreds  of thousands of fentanyl deaths to the people of this country. In both  scope and effect, the wave of illegal migrants pouring across the border  is like an invasion.&#8221;
In addition to Kansas, the states who signed onto the brief included Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Virginia.
The brief argues that the court should allow Texas to keep the barrier in the Rio Grande because states have a constitutional right to self defense and that the Rivers and Harbors Act does not limit Texas’s ability to defend itself. The Biden administration has argued that the Rivers and Harbors Act prohibits Texas from putting any barriers in the Rio Grande. 
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti told The Daily Wire that the Volunteer State had helped file the brief because the state was being impacted by the border crisis. He said the case was an urgent policy matter as well as fundamentally being about constitutional principles. 
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“It’s not just important because immigration is important, we obviously have a real problem with illegal immigration right now, just the scale and the volume of people coming in and the inability of our existing institutions to deal with that,” Skrmetti said. “But separately this is an important matter of state sovereignty. We have a constitutional system that has both the federal government and the state governments as sovereign governments. And if a state’s not able to defend itself then it loses a key part of that sovereignty.” 
Skrmetti pointed out that state’s have a right to protect themselves from invasion, saying that unrestricted migration was “functionally an invasion” and could have detrimental effects on the country. 
“The federal government has abdicated its responsibility,” he said. “The Constitution is not a suicide pact and the states have a right and an obligation to engage in self-defense.”

Court Allows Texas Border Buoys Temporary Stay

Red States Hit Biden Admin With New Legal Brief Backing Texas’ Actions To Secure The Border

Biden Administration

Greg Abbott

Illegal Immigration

Tennessee

Texas

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pete-davidson-curses-out-peta-exec-in-furious-voicemail">PETA</a> (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has decided your kid&#8217;s favorite carnival ride must be eliminated after the extreme animal rights organization slammed the use of animal-themed carousels as &#8220;exploitation&#8221; and more.
In a <a href="https://www.peta.org/media/news-releases/will-animal-themed-carousels-change-with-the-times-peta-appeals-to-wichitas-chance-rides/">letter</a> to the country&#8217;s largest manufacturer of carousels, Kansas-based <a href="https://www.chancerides.com/carousels/https://www.chancerides.com/carousels/">Chance Rides</a>, the organization claimed that using designs of horses and other animals &#8220;unintentionally celebrates the exploitation&#8221; of animals that are &#8220;thinking, feeling, affectionate, playful, and social beings,&#8221; the <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/02/08/news/peta-calls-on-amusement-ride-manufacturer-chance-rides-to-stop-selling-animal-themed-carousels/">New York Post</a> reported.
&#8220;Animal-themed carousel sets reinforce the notion that these sentient beings are simply here for our entertainment, rather than individuals with the same capacity to experience fear, pain, joy, and love as any of us,&#8221; the letter added.
PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a press release, &#8220;Children learn through play, and teaching them to have respect and compassion for all living, feeling beings can help create a more just and merciful world.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
PETA asked Chance Rides to replace animal themes with cars, trucks and rainbows. <a href="https://t.co/Dok7CH18il">https://t.co/Dok7CH18il</a>
— Wichita Business Journal (@ICTBizJournal) <a href="https://twitter.com/ICTBizJournal/status/1755657267121213658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2024</a></blockquote>
&#8220;PETA urges Chance Rides and all other carousel manufacturers to hit the brakes on old-fashioned animal-themed rides and embrace designs that engage children&#8217;s imagination and showcase human talent,&#8221; Newkirk added.
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What does the group want Chance Rides to make instead of producing carousel figures in animal forms as companies have for decades? Well, according to the letter, PETA wants the company to &#8220;instead produce carousel figures in the shape of cars, airplanes, spaceships, bulldozers, and other vehicles or more whimsical designs, like shooting stars, rainbows, or brooms.&#8221;
Founded in 1961, <a href="https://www.chancerides.com/carousels/">Chance Rides</a> said of its fantasy carousels, &#8220;In a world that often moves too fast, people still find time to take the carousel&#8217;s magical voyage. Children experience pure wonder, parents and grandparents see life through younger eyes, teens forget their inhibitions … even romance finds its spark beneath the dazzling lights.&#8221;
&#8220;Each Chance Rides carousel is a masterpiece, painstakingly crafted for an authentic, distinctive look,&#8221; it added. &#8220;Multiple sizes and scenery options are available for you to find the Chance Rides carousel that fits your needs.&#8221;
At the time of this publication, the company has yet to respond publicly to PETA&#8217;s request.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pete-davidson-curses-out-peta-exec-in-furious-voicemail" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pete Davidson Curses Out PETA Exec In Furious Voicemail</a>

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PETA’s Coming For Your Kid’s Favorite Carnival Ride

Animals

Carnival

General

PETA

Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) is warning about a proposed rule from the Department of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/health-and-human-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Health and Human Services</a> that could force foster parents to accept gender ideology and harm religious liberty.
Led by Marshall, a group of Republican senators sent a <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/Marshall_NPRM-LGBT-Letter-FINAL.pdf">letter</a> on Thursday to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra expressing concern over a proposed <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/09/28/2023-21274/safe-and-appropriate-foster-care-placement-requirements-for-titles-iv-e-and-iv-b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">placement rule</a> from HHS that would dictate that minors who identify as LGBT are placed with providers who agree to affirm a child’s gender identity, pronouns, and provide them with “services that are necessary to support their health and wellbeing.”
“Foster care providers’ top priority should be matching vulnerable children with a safe and loving home. Unfortunately, under the Biden Administration, moral and religious values are under attack by the far Left&#8217;s endless pursuit to further their LGBTQ+ agenda,” Marshall told The Daily Wire. “We are fighting back against the Biden Administration&#8217;s woke gender ideology and pronoun politics. Their new proposed rule aims to exclude faith-based foster care providers from helping children in need — not on my watch.”
Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), and John Barrasso (R-WY) also signed on to the letter, first obtained by The Daily Wire, which urges HHS to rescind the rule. The Republicans say that the proposal would make foster parents who want to shield children from gender ideology guilty of &#8220;child abuse.&#8221;
“The premise of this proposal is that any foster care provider who does not ‘affirm’ a child’s sexual orientation or gender that differs from his or her biological sex is perpetuating and committing child abuse and will be shunned for failing to support the foster child’s ‘health and wellbeing,’” the letter said.
“All children in foster care, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, deserve a safe and proper placement. However, this proposal goes beyond statutory requirements to force states to adopt extreme gender ideology in their placement decisions. Congress intentionally gave states the authority to make those determinations, but HHS has usurped that authority to impose its own woke ideology in place of states’ judgments,” the senators added.
Additionally, the senators noted that the rule from the Biden administration would require states to place children with sex-specific facilities in line with their “self-identified gender.” The letter said that this “undermines the safety and security of foster youth and is inappropriate, as children are in different stages of their development.”
The letter also raised concerns about what the rule would do for states that work with faith-based foster care organizations. If faith-based organizations do not comply with the proposed placement rule for kids who identify as LGBT, they may be prohibited from working to provide homes for children any longer.
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The lawmakers also noted that the rule could cause conflict in states where transgender procedures on children have been banned.
“These procedures can cause irreparable harm to children, many of whom have inconsistent parental guidance and lack the physiological development that is necessary to make an informed decision of such consequence. States should not be penalized for acting to protect the children of their state,” the letter said.
Over a dozen Republican attorneys general have already written to HHS <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/states-press-hhs-over-illegal-rule-that-could-force-foster-care-providers-to-facilitate-trans-procedures" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in opposition</a> to the proposed rule. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said that he would consider suing the administration if the rule goes into effect.

Congressional Lawmakers React To The Expiration Of The Title 42 Border Policy

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Marshall Challenges Proposed HHS Rule That Would Force Foster Parents To Accept ‘Extreme Gender Ideology’

Over two dozen Republican attorneys general are challenging a proposed rule from the New York Stock Exchange that they say would illegally implement a radical <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/environmentalism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">environmentalist agenda</a> and harm national security.
The rule from the NYSE would create a listing <a href="https://www.nyse.com/introducing-natural-asset-companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">entity</a> called a Natural Asset Company (NAC), which would be empowered to control private and public lands by capturing “the intrinsic and productive value of nature” and block things like logging, herding, and drilling from happening on the land. The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering the proposal to approve NACs and is taking public comment until January 18.
“If it approves the NYSE’s proposal, the Commission will have effectively enabled the NYSE, the most well-known and influential stock exchange on earth,  to authorize the existence of entities that could ultimately be used to subordinate the interests of millions of Americans to the aims of environmental activists as well as to United Nations policies and mandates,” a Tuesday <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/2024-01-09_Comment_Letter_to_SEC_re_File_No._SR-NYSE-2023-09.pdf">letter</a> from 25 Republican attorneys general led by Utah AG Sean Reyes and Kansas AG Kris Kobach said.
The letter said that the proposal would violate federal securities laws, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Constitution. The Republicans added that the rule is intended to fund a rule proposal from the Bureau of Land Management that is seeking to grant “conservation leases” on public lands.
The letter said that it is not in “the public interest to facilitate a massive corporate takeover of public lands by private actors who owe no duty to the public and who are guided by their own financial and political interests. Yet that is precisely what the proposed rule does.”
There would also be national security concerns if the SEC allows the NYSE to adopt its proposed rule.
“Even more alarming, the proposed rule will enable foreign actors to obtain perpetual control over public lands, either directly through organizing and registering as NACs or through obtaining controlling interests in NACs. This raises serious national security concerns, particularly given the importance of energy production and natural resource availability to America’s geopolitical position,” the letter said.
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Reyes said that the push for NACs is a “brutish vehicle to accomplish an activist political agenda.”
“They deprive public use of land in multiple ways that will further jeopardize U.S. energy independence and grid stability while illegally opening management, use and ownership of these lands to private parties, including hostile countries or entities,” he said in a statement.
The letter was signed by the AGs of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Stock Exchange

Republican AGs Issue Warning Over Proposed Environmental Rule They Say Would Compromise National Security

Environmentalism

National Security

Securities and Exchange Commission

Utah

Over a dozen Republican attorneys general are challenging the Biden administration over a proposed policy that would push diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles in the private sector. 
The coalition of 19 states, led by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, <a href="https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/pr/2024/pr24-01-comment.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argues</a> that the Commerce Department’s proposed “Business Diversity Principles” promote racial discrimination and anti-American principles. 
The <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/29/2023-26254/business-diversity-principles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposed principles</a> from the Commerce Department would push the “best practices related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the private sector.” The AGs say that the principles promote race-based hiring, which is a violation of federal law. 
“The federal Department of Commerce needs to recognize it’s not legal to treat people differently because of the color of their skin,” Skrmetti said in a statement. “We’re warning the Department that its proposed ‘Business Diversity Principles’ guidance violates the law, promotes racial discrimination, and would lead our country backward.”
One of the principles would tell companies to track “demographic data across all levels and departments, company policies, practices, and workers&#8217; perception” in order to say how well it was following DEIA guidelines. 
It would also push corporations to pursue “clear strategies to increase diversity among the organization&#8217;s executive ranks” and make sure they have access to “DEIA professionals.” The proposal adds that corporations should maintain “DEIA councils” to oversee the implementation of DEIA principles. 
The Republican officials said in their letter that focusing on race was counterintuitive to true diversity. 
“We endorse the value of promoting meaningful diversity of experience, thought, and background among the public- and private-sector workforce. But race is both a poor and unlawful proxy for achieving that end,” they wrote. &#8220;We write to briefly reiterate the significant legal defects with the Department’s proposal to push race-based discrimination to advance the Department’s DEIA agenda.&#8221;
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The AGs of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia also signed on to the letter. 
The proposal comes as part of the Biden administration’s put DEI policies in place throughout every area of the federal government. The push was started on Biden’s first day in office when he signed an executive order called “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.”

US-NEWS-WILL-ELECTION-CONSPIRACY-THEORIES-CAUSE-7-KC

Republican AGs Challenge Commerce Department’s DEI Proposal

Republican AGs Challenge Commerce Department's DEI Proposal

Commerce Department

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Montana

Racial Discrimination

A suspect has finally been identified in the murder of Krista Martin, who was found dead in her Wichita, Kansas, home back in 1989.
The suspect, Paul Hart, died in a car accident in 1999, but his DNA linked him to Martin’s murder, the Wichita Police Department said in <a href="https://www.wichita.gov/WPD/NewsReleases/2023-10-02%20Cold%20Case%20Clearance.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a press release</a> on Monday.
On October 2, 1989, Krista Martin, 20, was found beaten to death in her apartment. She had also been sexually assaulted. DNA testing and databases were not widespread in 1989, but evidence collected at the scene was preserved as police tried to solve Martin’s murder.
Using traditional investigating methods, police were unable to locate Martin’s killer after years of investigation. DNA samples compared to potential suspects yielded no results.
Between 1990 and 1992, the original detective on the case sent evidence to the FBI crime lab to try and identify a suspect, but even that didn’t work, police said.
By 2009, DNA technology was more advanced, so the evidence in Martin’s murder was sent to the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center (SCRFSC) in Wichita. Scientists developed a DNA profile, which was entered into the national CODIS database, but no match was found.
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In 2020, police again attempted to re-evaluate the DNA evidence, sending it to the FBI. In 2021, a Wichita homicide detective and an FBI special agent teamed up to reinvestigate the case, traveling to Alabama and Arkansas to conduct interviews and collect evidence. In 2022, police sent the DNA evidence to private genealogists to try to identify a suspect. In April 2023, they had the suspect: Paul Hart. They quickly discovered Hart died in a car crash in Memphis, Tennessee, in March 1999.
Still, police traveled to Arkansas to collect DNA samples from Hart’s relatives. An Investigative Genetic Genealogy team, private genealogy company Orthram, and the SCRFSC confirmed that Hart was the suspect in Martin’s murder.
Once the facts were sent to Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett, he <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wichita-suspect-krista-martin-murder-1989-dna-match/">determined</a> that charges would have been filed against Hart if he were still alive. Since he’s dead, the case is considered cleared.
Ember Moore, Martin’s niece, told reporters at the news conference that she became involved in her aunt’s case in 2009 at the age of 21. Moore thanked those who worked on resolving it and said the family had peace now that they knew who was suspected of killing Martin.
&#8220;She deserved so much more out of this life than what she ended up with,&#8221; she said of her aunt.

Crime scene

Suspect Identified In 1989 Murder Of Wichita Woman

The mayor of a small town in Kansas reportedly suspended the police chief who led the August raids of a local newspaper&#8217;s office and homes of its owners, including a 98-year-old woman who died less than 24 hours later, in a move that garnered national attention from news organizations and freedom of press advocates.
Marion Mayor Dave Mayfield <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-09-30/the-police-chief-who-led-a-raid-of-a-small-kansas-newspaper-has-been-suspended" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Associated Press that he had suspended Chief Gideon Cody on Thursday, who led the August 11 raids on parties involved with the Marion County Record, a family-owned weekly newspaper serving a community about 60 miles north of Wichita.
&#8220;I did indeed suspend chief Cody and I won&#8217;t discuss any details regarding his suspension as it is a personnel matter,&#8221; Mayfield <a href="https://www.komu.com/news/marion-police-chief-suspended-after-raid-of-marion-county-record-newspaper-in-kansas/article_f4d33a18-cb4c-5b06-9d6c-c46d64251a66.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in an email to CNN.
Mayfield&#8217;s decision reportedly comes after previously saying he would take action after reviewing the findings of a state police investigation.
Vice-Mayor Ruth Herbel said suspending Cody is &#8220;the best thing that can happen to Marion right now,&#8221; according to The Associated Press.
&#8220;We can&#8217;t duck our heads until it goes away, because it&#8217;s not going to go away until we do something about it,&#8221; Herbel said, whose home was also searched in the raid.
The Marion County Record was named in a search warrant signed by Marion County Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar in August which alleged violations of identity theft and &#8220;unlawful acts concerning computers.&#8221;
Authorities searched the home of Eric Meyer, co-owner and publisher of the paper founded more than 150 years ago, and the Marion County Record&#8217;s newsroom after reporters dug into allegations that the police department had turned a blind eye to a local sweet shop owner driving with a suspended license after a DUI.
Four Marion police officers and three sheriff&#8217;s deputies reportedly seized personal cell phones, computers, and other materials at Meyer&#8217;s home and the Marion County Record office, including some unrelated equipment needed to publish.
The police department said it believed a reporter might have committed identity theft in pulling records on the local sweets shop owner, but both the newspaper and the reporter said they only accessed publicly available records.
Authorities also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/video-98-year-old-kansas-newspaper-owner-tells-police-get-out-of-my-house-during-raid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">searched</a> the home of Joan Meyer, the 98-year-old mother of Eric and co-owner of the Marion County Record.
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A <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD-wJ19eVvE&amp;t=93s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">minute-and-a-half clip</a> shows police raiding her house on August 11, where Meyer can be heard shouting at the cops while wearing her robe and slippers and using her walker. She died less than 24 hours later after she collapsed from hours of &#8220;<a href="http://marionrecord.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shock and grief,</a>&#8221; according to the Record.
Her son said he believes the stress and anger she experienced due to the police raid contributed to her death.
The police department reportedly posted on August 12 on Facebook, &#8220;As much as I would like to give everyone details on a criminal investigation I cannot. I believe when the rest of the story is available to the public, the judicial system that is being questioned will be vindicated.&#8221;
Legal experts reportedly believe the search from law enforcement violated a federal privacy law that protects journalists from having their newsrooms searched or a state law protecting journalists from disclosing sources or turning over unpublished material to authorities.
Cody <a href="https://apnews.com/article/newspaper-raid-kansas-affidavit-07d9c856894892bff13cb014248ec866" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> defended the raid in a Facebook post, saying the federal law makes an exception specifically for &#8220;when there is reason to believe the journalist is taking part in the underlying wrongdoing.&#8221;
Mairead Elordi contributed to this report.

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