6/18/2023 Lawrence Journal-World

These family members are descended from a freed slave who lived in Lawrence.

Last weekend, they all met for the first time.

‘We have become one.’

By Austin Hornbostel ahornbostel@ljworld.com

Last weekend in Lawrence, a group of family members descended from the freed slave who for a time operated the only tannery in Kansas, McCarter Byrd, met in person for the first time.

The roughly 30 folks who congregated in Lawrence came from far and wide — from places like California, Florida, Nebraska and Illinois — to connect with and get to know the community that they’ve now discovered is an important place in their family’s rich history.

Courtesy of Richard Rice Sr. MCCARTER BYRD

By Rochelle Valverde rvalverde@ljworld.com

SCHOOLS

Juneteenth celebration is all about community

By Matt Resnick mresnick@ljworld.com

What does Juneteenth mean to Lawrence?

At the city’s annual celebration of the holiday on Saturday, attendees had plenty of answers: It’s about Black history and culture, social service, learning, singing and dancing — and it’s a time for building community.

LAWRENCE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

been any reductions in the band,

orchestra and choir class offerings available to students, and that the reduction in staff is tied directly to student enrollment.

Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo LAWRENCE’S JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION PARADE makes its way through downtown on Saturday.

Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photos ABOVE: CITY COMMISSIONER AMBER SELLERS, RIGHT, AND URSULA MINOR, PRESIDENT OF THE LAWRENCE BRANCH OF THE NAACP, SECOND FROM RIGHT, are pictured at the Lawrence Juneteenth Celebration Parade on Saturday. BELOW: MEMBERS OF THE UNITY HIGH STEPPERS DRILL TEAM from Topeka perform during the parade.

Contributed Photo

MEMBERS OF THE RICE-BYRD FAMILY MET FOR THE FIRST TIME IN PERSON in Lawrence last weekend. They’re pictured here with Kerry Altenbernd, who performs interpretations of abolitionist John Brown, at Grover Barn.

Contributed Photos ABOVE, BYRD TANNERY PICTUREDIS AS IT LOOKED IN 1915. AT LEFT is remainswhat of the tannery on Maine Street.

> JUNETEENTH, 8A > FAMILY, 5A

ELIZABETH "BETTY" HAZLETT

Elizabeth Betty Hazlett passed away on Tuesday May 30 2023 at her home in Lawrence, Kansas She celebrated her 102nd birthday a little over one month prior to her death with friends and family remaining lucid until the very end

Betty was born in Lawrence Kansas on April 26, 1921 , the daughter of Edwin F and Marie (Robinson) Abels Ed and Marie were owners and editors of a weekly newspaper in Lawrence, The Outlook, for forty­f ive years Betty pitched in at the newspaper in her teen years and while in college by selling advertising to local merchants

Betty attended the University of Kansas receiving undergraduate and master s degrees in English and Journalism

She loved the university and the education she received there She was an ardent KU sports fan and treasured the latest NCAA championship She was alive for all six National Basketball Championships the f irst coming in 1922!

Betty began working as a classroom teacher in 1945 in Denver, Colorado She taught at Bear Creek High School for two years until her return to the state of Kansas After working for her parents utilizing her degree in Journalism, she became the Editor of the Kansas Government Journal, the Kansas League of Municipalities magazine In 1959, Betty accepted a teaching position at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka, where she taught English, Journalism and was the Yearbook Sponsor In 1970, Betty and her husband, Emerson moved to Manhattan, where she became the English and Journalism teacher at Manhattan High School She retired in 1980 She was proud and honored to have taught in the public school system Many of Betty's students kept in touch with her, and many contacted her recently on her 102nd birthday As well as being instrumental in the lives of her two sons she was the past­President of the Women’s Kansas Day Club a founding President

of the John Haupt Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) a member of the University Women s Club, a member of the P E O (Philanthropic Educational Organization) Kansas State Chapter, an organization dedicated to the advancement of women

Betty was f irst married to Allan R Ewing, on May 26 1942 who was killed at the Battle of the Bulge in the Second World War on Christmas Eve in 1944

Betty and Emerson Hazlett were married in Lawrence on October 7 1949, and shortly thereafter they moved to Topeka Emerson survives at home He was with her every step of the way, lying next to her when she passed away They loved Colorado, and until recently the two spent their summers in Estes Park, where they were active in the Summer Resident s Association for over 30 years

Other survivors include her two sons, Allan A Hazlett and Stan A Hazlett; six grandchildren, Christopher Hazlett, Rob Hazlett Ryan Hazlett Jessica Wood, Jocelyn Gunter, Elizabeth Boschma; ten greatgrandchildren, one greatgreat­grandchild, with another on the way

Betty was preceded in death by her parents and daughter­in­law Peggy Hazlett

Presently, there is no service scheduled Friends and relatives will be contacted to get together soon to honor and celebrate her life

For more information or to post a condolence go to warrenmcelwain com

Please sign this guestbook at Obituaries LJWorld com

RICHARD D. SHERIDAN

Rick Sheridan, 8/26/ 1957­6/ 10/2023, spent his f irst 25 years in Lawrence and visited many times after that He graduated from Lawrence High School in 1975, and he worked for several years before entering KU in 1980 Rick f inished a bachelor’s in American Studies (1985) and a master s in Theatre and Media Arts (1988) He later completed a D Tech (Doctor of Technology) from Durban University of Tech nology in Africa after receiving a full scholarship Rick worked as a journalist for 25 years He was the associate editor of the Pikes Peak Senior News in Colorado for several years He also wrote freelance articles for the Dayton Daily News, Chicago Sun­Times, New Orleans TimesPicayune Tampa Bay Times, etc Rick was the art director of the Louisiana Weekly in New Orleans, and Washington Life in Washington D C He was a college professor for 16 years working as an assistant professor at Wilberforce University and as a lecturer at California State University Butte College and Stanford University Besides his careers, Rick loved hiking the mountains of Colorado with his wife Kimberly

They visited many attractions on the east and west coast and they especially enjoyed visiting religious sites, including churches shrines pilgrimage sites, etc Rick and Kimberly were a couple for 14 years right up to his death Rick volunteered with Audio Reader for several years and volunteered twice in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina He was also a disc jockey at KJHK and KKFI during his college years His life was not always easy He was happy to have overcome some diff icult times in his youth Rick is survived by his wife Kimberly his mother Audrey, his sister, Margaret, of Lawrence, and numerous aunts uncles and cousins There will be a memorial service to be announced later Rick died of melanoma

Please sign this guestbook at Obituaries LJWorld com

RHONDA KAY HELM

S ervices for Rhonda Kay Helm 65 Lawrence are pending and will be announced by Rumsey­Yost Funeral Home She died June 16 2023 at her home rumseyyost com

DAVID L DRUMMOND

S ervices for David L Drummond 74 Lawrence are pending and will be announced by Warren­McElwain Mortuary He died June 16 2023 at his home

2022

A Celebration of Life service was held 11:00

A M Saturday June 17 2023, at Smoked Creations, Ottawa, Kansas Inurnment Highland Cemetery, Ottawa Jim was born August 22, 1942 in Kansas City Kansas, the son of James M Sr and Maxine E (Johnson) Haag He lived in Hiawatha, Kansas for 13 years before moving to Ottawa in 1994 He graduated in 1967 from Kansas State University with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering

THOMAS E GLEASON JR

Thomas E Tom

Gleason 74 died June 15 2023 at his home in Lawrence A celebration of his life is planned for 3 p m July 20 in the Pavilion at the Lied Center of Kansas

He was born Nov 15 1948, in Topeka to Thomas E Gleason and Carolyn Carey Gleason The family moved soon after to Ottawa where Tom grew up and attended school He was a 1966 graduate of Ottawa High School The summer after his high school graduation, he moved to Lawrence where he lived the rest of his life He earned a journalism degree from the University of Kansas in 1970 and a juris doctorate from the KU School of Law in 1973

Tom joined his father s law practice in Ottawa and served many clients in both Ottawa and Lawrence For the last 30 years, his practice was focused on representing a group of independent rural telephone companies across Kansas, some of which shared generations of ties with the Gleason f irm He was a zealous advocate for legislative and regulatory efforts to promote the interests of rural telecommunications throughout the state

Tom was a gifted musician and enjoyed all kinds of music He was a drummer in several popular Midwest rock bands in the late 1960s and early 1970s He later took up guitar and was always ready for an impromptu jam session with friends He loved to

LOTTERY

share the fact that the f irst of many rock concerts he attended during his life was in 1964: the Beatles playing at Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium during their f irst U S tour

Tom also took an interest in various community organizations and affairs He was active in the Democratic Party and served as a Lawrence city commissioner from 1981 to 1983 He enjoyed plants and gardening, especially his large collection of cacti and succulents He was a big Jayhawk fan and the best pet dad

Tom is survived by his wife, Ann Gardner, his son Chris and several cousins He was preceded in death by his parents and his younger brother

John The family suggests memorial contributions to the Douglas County Community Foundation or Ottawa’s Prairie Paws Animal Shelter, which can be sent in care of WarrenMcElwain Mortuary 120 W 13th St , Lawrence, KS, 66044

Please sign this guestbook at Obituaries LJWorld com

On August 27 1978 Jim was united in marriage to Linda S Basel in Topeka, Kansas In the mid­1970 s, Jim was employed at Finney & Turnip Seed Construction Company, Topeka, as an engineer; late 1970’s to early 1990’s with the City of Hiawatha, Kansas, as administrator and engineer; early 1990’s to early 2000 s with the City of Clinton, Iowa, as a project engineer; early 2000 s until his retirement in 2019 with Franklin County Public Works as director and engineer

Jim was a member of the Hiawatha Masonic Lodge No 601 and Abdallah Shriners of Topeka He enjoyed hunting, f ishing, golf ing, and traveling to the Ozarks He believed in community improvement

and had many organizations that he contributed to yearly His donations included the Wildcat Foundation in Manhattan and Harvesters among many others Jim will be remembered for his love of family and their time spent together

He was preceded in death by his parents and brother­in­law Edward Wilson Survivors include his wife Linda of the home; four children Raymond W Haag and wife Kelly of Rawlins, Wyoming, Jeffery M Haag also of Rawlins Jacob M Haag and wife Tammy of Topeka, Kansas and Michelle L Reinert and husband Doug of Fort Smith, Arkansas; sister Patricia Wilson of Lindsborg, Kansas; twelve grandchildren f ive greatgrandchildren, and two great­great­grandchildren Family and friends are encouraged to post their condolences and memories on Jim’s Tribute Wall at www dengelmortuary com Please sign this guestbook at Obituaries LJWorld com

Fellowship helps develop employees’ leadership skills at LMH

By Autumn Bishop

When the word “fellowship” is used in a health care setting, it brings to mind the extended training a doctor undertakes to become a specialist in their field. But at LMH Health, fellowship has another meaning.

LMH Health Fellowship is a leadership development program started more than 30 years ago. It provides members the opportunity to learn about LMH operations, services, metrics and key issues from leaders, staff and community representatives. Graduates of the program, known as Fellowship Ambassadors, foster positive relationships within the organization and the community and serve as role models and representatives of their departments. Since 2000, 75% of Fellowship graduates are either still employed by LMH or retired from the organization.

“Fellowship is a cornerstone of what it means to be ‘Better Together,’” said Brooke Bacon, LMH Health accreditation coordinator and Fellowship officer. “The program drives

work half-time or greater and be free from corrective action for the previous year. Applications are reviewed by a committee and members are selected from the pool. Members of the class of 2023 include:

l Julie Anno, mammography supervisor

l Theresa Bouray, payment posting representative

l Dae Curtiss, application analyst

l Tara Farrell, RN

l Shari Fine, CMA

l Kyley Garst, clinical educator

l Kendra Powers, social worker

l Justin Rohrberg, physical therapist

l Maria Scherich, implementation services manager

l Sarah Scoular, SharePoint systems engineer

l Kenna Tuckness, clinical IT educator

l Mary Tye, outpatient coder

l Alice Wells, population health nurse

applied to be part of the Fellowship program to be able to get a larger view of the workings of the organization.

“I like the idea of being able to look around at the different areas in LMH Health,” she said. “When you’re working in one area, you really only know how that one works. Through Fellowship, you get other glimpses and see what other areas make LMH function the way it does.”

Time and change motivated Fellowship’s leadership team to provide an opportunity for former class members to re-engage. The first time IT application analyst Dae Curtiss participated, LMH Health looked very different than it does today.

employees to be positive role models and gives them the courage and leadership skills to champion their colleagues and departments on initiatives that improve the lives of our patients, as well as LMH staff. Leadership is not an assigned role; it’s an activity,

and anybody can lead if they desire.”

Getting involved

To be eligible to apply for the Fellowship program, associates must have been employed by LMH Health for at least one year prior to the program’s start date,

l Officers: Laura Ashley, Brooke Bacon, Allison Koonce Kenna Tuckness started working as a respiratory therapist at LMH Health in 2005. Since that time, she’s worked in the pulmonary function lab and now as an IT clinical educator. Tuckness

“I’ve been with LMH Health since 1996. We didn’t have any clinics as part of the hospital when I first participated in Fellowship,” she said. “I learned so much going through the program and developed a loyalty to the organization. Being on the committee and seeing how much has changed through the years, it’s exciting to get back into Fellowship, reaffirm that loyalty and feel part of the group again.”

Recipe changes coming for COVID-19 vaccines

By Lauran Neergaard and Mike Stobbe l l l Associated Press

Today’s vaccines still contain the original coronavirus strain, the one that started the pandemic — even though that was long ago supplanted by mutated versions as the virus rapidly evolves.

On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration’s scientific advisers said the next round of shots in the U.S. should only include protection against the newest variants that are now dominant worldwide — a

branch of the omicron family tree named XBB. The FDA will make the final decision. Vaccine makers said during the meeting that they could have updated vaccines available within months, depending on the strain.

While infections have declined, the virus could be a real concern next winter, FDA’s vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks said as the daylong meeting began. “We’re concerned that we may have another wave of COVID-19 during a time when the virus has further evolved,

immunity of the population has waned further, and we move indoors for wintertime,” he said.

Here are some things to know:

Why another round of shots?

The FDA had told Americans to expect an updated fall vaccine against COVID-19, just like they get a new flu shot every fall. Even though most of the population has either been infected or had at least one round of vaccinations, the coronavirus keeps churning out new varieties.

Something special starts here.

Allison Koonce/LMH Health

PICTURED ARE PARTICIPANTS IN THE LMH HEALTH FELLOWSHIP

PROGRAM. Back row, left to right: Shari Fine, Laura Ashley, Alice Wells, Kenna Tuckness, Sarah Scoular, Mary Tye, Kendra Powers, Kyley Garst, Maria Scherich, Julie Anno and Justin Rohrberg. Front row, left to right: Dae Curtiss, Theresa Bouray and Tara Farrell. >

COVID-19 vaccines are on track for a big recipe change this fall.

Connecting with the organization

Fellowship provides lots of opportunities to learn about LMH Health and the community. Bacon said that what stands out most to her is the involvement in the program from every aspect of LMH.

“We generally meet once each month. Our senior leadership team often spends the day with us during their designated days, and it’s an all-hands-ondeck approach. Each department has a designated time slot and during this time each area gets to explain a day in the life,” she said.

Each day includes one hour of team building and a leadership activity or discussion. This is an opportunity to ask questions and have a conversation about employees’ work, the future of the organization and how to attain personal goals.

Vaccines

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3A

What’s in use in the U.S. now are combination shots from Pfizer and Moderna that mix the original strain with protection against last year’s most common omicron variants, called BA.4 and BA.5. But just 17%

“Hearing from Russ Johnson (LMH Health CEO and president) and the senior leadership team about what they’re doing behind the scenes has really stood out the most. It’s great to have that personal attention in a small group,” Curtiss said. “I enjoy getting to know them and the others in Fellowship, developing those relationships, hearing what they’re doing and how our jobs connect and intertwine.”

Tuckness said learning about other areas of the health system, especially those that aren’t seen on a daily basis, has been enlightening.

“It’s been interesting to find out more about what other areas do. Erica Hill and Verdell Taylor talked with us about the Inclusion, Diversity and Equity efforts at LMH Health,” she said. “We’ve talked with groups like the marketing team to learn what they do. You don’t see all these things when you’re providing patient care. It gives you perspective about what’s going on.”

of Americans rolled up their sleeves for a combo booster.

And while the FDA did allow seniors and others at high risk to get an extra booster dose this spring, most people will be many months beyond their last shot by fall.

Those currently available shots do still help prevent severe disease and death even as XBB

Giving back Class members support the Fellowship program through volunteerism at LMH Health or in the community. Over the bulk of the pandemic, Fellowship officers and ambassadors focused efforts on community outreach and volunteering.

LMH helped to support many local nonprofits that provide resources to Lawrence and Douglas County as well as compiling a large donation to Heart to Heart International for relief efforts in Ukraine.

Volunteering with partners such as Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center and Just Food is one way that this year’s class is giving back.

“I think there’s something about the aspect of giving for many of us. That’s why you go into health care,” Tuckness said. “To see what these organizations are able to do for people is interesting — to see how they give to help people function dayto-day the way as we help people give back to their ability.”

variants have taken over. But protection gradually wanes over time and was short-lived against milder infection even before the virus, inevitably, evolved again. “We need a better vaccine. We should be updating it,” said one adviser, Dr. Eric Rubin, an infectious disease doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Bacon said she gets teary every time Fellowship visits Just Food. The organization identifies gaps within the food system and works with schools, volunteers and businesses to solve food insecurity and remove barriers to healthy eating.

“A community is only as strong as the health of its population. One of my biggest highlights in the past six months was organizing the LMH Health food drive for Just Food,” she said. “LMH employees donated a total of 243 pounds of food. It was humbling and a good reminder of the empathy and compassion that lives in the hearts of our employees.”

Visiting with the team at Bert Nash gave Curtiss a look at the work they’re undertaking in the community and where there’s still room to grow. “We got a detailed rundown of how Bert Nash works with the community and their plans and goals,” she said. “With the opening of the Treatment and Recovery Center, they’re focusing hard and connecting

Sharpening protection

Last year when regulators were struggling to decide how to update the vaccine, a combo shot seemed like the safest bet. Omicron was pretty new, and there was no way to know how long it would stick around. Keeping the original strain in the shot actually has a downside called “imprinting.” After

with as many people as they can in the community — not just those who need help but also others who know folks who do.”

Changing perspectives

For these three women, participating in the Fellowship program has expanded their knowledge about LMH Health and deepened their ties to the organization. As a returning class member, Curtiss said that the experience has encouraged her to be more involved.

“Over the last ten years, I hadn’t been as involved in activities at LMH. Getting back into Fellowship has rejuvenated me,” she said. “Hearts of Gold, Rock the Block, Penny Jones — Fellowship has reinvigorated my desire than just doing my job from 8 to 5.”

Tuckness shared that increasing her understanding of how other areas of the health system operate and what they need to function has been beneficial. Teams get used to being in their own niche, but Fellowship has given her perspective.

repeated exposure to the original strain, people’s immune systems tended to recognize and respond more strongly to it than to the half of the new booster dose that was brand new. The FDA advisory panel agreed that the fall shot should just target XBB variants. The World Health Organization’s vaccine advisers

“I like to say that I can now see behind the green curtain,” she said. “Oz looks really good but you don’t know how it functions until that curtain moves and you see the man behind it moving all the levers.”

Bacon explained that the Fellowship program facilitates an opportunity for class members to see the upfront value, compassion, empathy, knowledge, and skillset of the people that work within LMH Health. The team is always looking for community partners who are interested in seeing those qualities firsthand. “We’d love to learn about your organization and establish that relationship,” she said. “We’ve learned through the COVID pandemic that when we stay in silos, we can only do so little but together, as community partners, we can do so much more.”

— Autumn Bishop is the marketing manager and content strategist at LMH Health, which is a major sponsor of the JournalWorld’s Health section.

and European regulators recently made similar recommendations.

Another challenge: Deciding which XBB variant to target — since what’s spreading now likely will have mutated by winter.

Regulators will be making their best guess, just like they do every year in setting the recipe for the fall flu vaccine.

Only a few decades ago, however, this reunion wouldn’t have been possible. The two sides of the family at one point lived in the same Wisconsin city. But instead of distance, they were separated by segregation. One of McCarter Byrd’s daughters had a son with a white man, creating a new branch of the family that until recently was unaware of its roots. As a result, two sides of the same family — one white and one Black — were living simultaneously on opposite sides of Milwaukee from the 1930s through the 1960s, never knowing of their nearby kin.

The story of the RiceByrd family is at once both a story of the ugly history of American racism and of a modern-day yearning to find familial roots. It’s also the tale of how unraveling a family secret has inspired the members of that family to educate others about the importance of confronting racism and working to understand one another.

Piecing together

a family tree

For Richard Rice Sr., this was all part of a discovery decades in the making. About 40 years ago, his aunt put together a rough family tree, but Rice noticed some missing pieces. It was harder to fill in those blanks before the internet, but Rice still tried to search for information about some of the names on the family tree from year to year.

“Growing up, the only thing I knew about my family was that my grandmother, who helped raise me and was one of McCarter Byrd’s daughters, her family owned a tannery in Lawrence,” Rice, who’s now 76, said. “That’s all I knew.”

His grandfather, Eli Rice, was also from Lawrence, and he married and ended up settling in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where family members like Richard’s father, uncle and aunts were born.

About five years ago, everything changed. That’s when Rice, who now lives in Los Angeles, came across a Facebook post from the Guardians of Grover Barn, a volunteer organization formed in Lawrence in 2017 dedicated to protecting and preserving the historic stone barn at 2819 Stonebarn Terrace, which was built in 1858 by abolitionists Joel and Emily Grover. The barn would go on to play a significant role as a stop in the Underground Railroad in pre-Civil War Kansas. The post included a short biography of McCarter Byrd detailing his life in Lawrence after moving from North Carolina, where he was born a slave in March of 1849.

Rice said that post, along with clippings of

Lawrence Journal-World articles dating back as far as 1915, stitched together to tell the story of his greatgrandfather. From there, more internet searches and DNA tests linked Rice to members of the family he’d never met before.

“(It connected me to) dozens,” Rice said. “McCarter had a number of daughters and only one son, and I traced family members from each of his children that had children.”

Those extended searches also revealed the family’s secret — that two sides of the family had been segregated from one another for years. Rice said while it was hard to believe at first, he discovered photographs of his great-aunts with the Black side of the family and with the white side of the family. The families never connected at the time, though.

“I understand why,” Rice said. “If the white side of the family had revealed that they were really descendants of slaves, their lives would’ve been different. They would not have been able to live where they lived in Milwaukee, job opportunities would’ve been less and so on.”

Filling in the blanks

Rice played a key role in uniting the branches of the Rice-Byrd family tree, but he said it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of one individual in Lawrence — Judy Sweets, a genealogical researcher who plays an active role with the Guardians of Grover Barn. Sweets told the Journal-World a moment of “serendipity” led the two to connect. She was the one who authored the Facebook post highlighting McCarter Byrd, which was originally part of a series of daily posts on the page in honor of Black History Month.

Not long after that, Rice reached out. It was the first time he’d found any detailed information about his great-grandfather besides that he was born in North Carolina.

“Then, it was kind of amazing to watch that Facebook page after he contacted me,” Sweets said. “All these other people started coming out of the woodwork. They were contacting each other, saying ‘Oh, am I related to him, too?’ They were just getting so excited, and I’d say every 15 seconds people were posting another post. They had no idea

McCarter Byrd was their great-grandfather, or their great-great-grandfather.”

That connection came full circle last Friday, when Sweets led the family in an orientation on the first day of their reunion at Grover Barn. She said it was wonderful to see them mingling and getting to know each other.

It’s not the first time Sweets has played a role in linking the far-flung members of a family together. She said in one instance in the 1990s, she helped a family find their sibling who’d been adopted at birth. The Journal-World also reported in 2002 that Sweets helped a couple from Hull, England, trace their roots to a Lawrence abolitionist named John Doy.

“It’s one of the highlights of my life to be able to offer that or do that for someone,” Sweets said on Friday. “... It’s a lot of fun to do, and I enjoy the research. This has been great. Everyone looked pretty happy today.”

Exploring their roots

The Rice-Byrd family descendants arrived in Lawrence the night of Thursday, June 8, and their next three days were packed with activities. After the orientation at Grover Barn on Friday, June 9, they were able to take their pick of tours and visits to a number of sites, such as the homes of family members like Lucy Byrd, McCarter Byrd’s wife, or the furrier business of Cornelia Byrd, one

of the great-aunts who kept contact with both the white and Black sides of the family.

On Saturday, June 10, the family was able to get a look at the last remaining vestige of Byrd Tannery, a stone stable building on Maine Street. The building is privately owned, but the family hopes it will one day become a historical landmark. They also viewed the family’s cemetery plot at Oak Hill Cemetery and were joined by Kansas Rep. Barbara Ballard at their family banquet at the Eldridge Hotel. But last Sunday’s activity may have been the most impactful item on the itinerary. The family visited Ninth Street Missionary Baptist Church, which itself is a key fixture from McCarter Byrd’s era of Lawrence history that recently celebrated its 160th anniversary. The family knew McCarter Byrd had been a member of the church’s congregation, but they weren’t prepared to stumble across a stained glass window etched with his name.

“Today was just so mindblowing, overwhelming to know that we were worshiping right exactly where he worshiped, where he was in the sanctuary, where he was a deacon,” Maria King, a member of the family from Roscoe, Illinois, said Sunday afternoon. “We were there. That was the most amazing thing that has happened to me this entire weekend, other than meeting my family.”

The congregation of today, as it turns out, didn’t know anything about McCarter Byrd until the family shared what they knew with them. Robyn Rice Olmstead, a member of the family from Oakland, California, echoed how overwhelming it felt to discover. She called it “another little piece of the puzzle” of the family’s history.

‘We have become one’

King and Rice Olmstead were among the 16 family members who spoke with the Journal-World Sunday afternoon before departing Lawrence. For many of them, it was an emotional conversation. Some, like William Byrd of Lincoln, Nebraska, were brought to tears at the realization that Cornelia Byrd — his aunt — had been such a beloved figure on both sides of the family tree.

Mary Ellen Byrd, from Detroit, described how the past few days had been filled with plenty of laughter and shared tears. Byrd said the family has become emboldened in their desire to preserve their shared history and help others learn how important it is to trace back their own family lines.

“I wish more people would do their ancestry and say ‘We’re all one,’” Byrd said. “... I think if more people did their ancestry and discovered, ‘Oh, I can’t really criticize that person — they are

my brother, or they are my sister,’ we wouldn’t have some of the issues we’re having in terms of people being pulled over just for driving while Black or being attacked by suspicion just because they’re walking in a hoodie.”

Holly Smith, who also lives in Lincoln, was on the younger end of the spectrum of family members who traveled to Lawrence for the reunion at 26. Smith said growing up, it always felt like there was something missing. They said the reunion connected the dots and made them feel “whole.”

“(Our family) history is really important not only to Lawrence but to all of America, and I want that history to be saved and remembered and passed on so that way, history doesn’t repeat,” Smith said. “... I just think it’s really beautiful and I’m so happy that I got to meet everybody here.”

That was a similar sentiment shared among many members of the Rice-Byrd family — that their story is clearly meant to educate. Some, like Richard Rice Jr., spoke about how their family roots served as an active lesson in not judging a book by its cover. Rice Jr. talked about how he has experienced casual racism throughout his life because he is white-passing. That’s meant working with friends to confront and understand their stereotypes after learning he’s Black and wrestling with the internal and external pressures of his racial identity.

Paula Cannon, of Murrieta, California, said she was initially reluctant to travel to Lawrence and wasn’t sure what she’d gain by being there. But the lesson she learned by coming and forging a closer relationship with her family members was that the color of their skin doesn’t matter.

“I think that this family reunion, if it has done nothing else, it has broken the mold of what the expectations of racial interactions could be, should be or have been in the past,” Cannon said. “We have become one. I didn’t come here looking to meet my white cousins, my Black cousins — I just came to meet my family. Just in meeting each and every one, everyone’s given something different.”

Rice Sr. said that’s an especially important message, given the conflict unfolding in state and national politics regarding what’s appropriate to teach students about America’s history of racism. He said the family still has plenty of work to do to learn even more about their ancestors, but they plan to keep at it.

“As we’ve gone through this process, especially in light of some states that are trying to make illegal the history that we’re trying to uncover, it’s important for us to document our own history,” Rice Sr. said.

Contributed Photo ABOVE: STEPHANIE BYRD, MELANIE BYRD, HOLLY SMITH, MARY ELLEN BYRD AND WILLIAM BYRD pose for a photo with state Rep. Barbara Ballard. Ballard joined the family during a banquet at the Eldridge Hotel as part of their family reunion. LEFT: MCCARTER BYRD’S NAME IS PART OF ONE OF THE STAINED GLASS WINDOWS at Ninth Street Missionary Baptist Church. Members of the Rice-Byrd family didn’t know it was there until attending a church service as part of their family reunion activities last weekend.

Holly Smith/Contributed Photo

OLD HOMETOWN

150 years ago IN 1873

From the Daily Kansas Tribune for Wednesday, June 18, 1873: l “Yesterday was a busy day at the Police Court. Judge Smith had his hands full. Yesterday was the day set for the resumption of the case of Skip Matthews and others, charged with personating a policeman and blackmailing a saloon keeper…. H. C. Edwards, who was arrested on Monday charged with stealing a pair of pantaloons, was brought up…. Bob Brien was fined the usual fine for disturbing the peace…. Bob is a Kentuckian, and has a great deal too much mouth.”

l “Our soap factory is doing a large business at present…. It appears now that the Turners will not have their usual 4th of July picnic…. Remember the festival of the Sisters of Charity, to-morrow evening, at Liberty Hall…. The twig blight is more serious than at first estimated. It is doing harm particularly to apple trees…. Some enterprising man ought to erect a suitable bathing house on the river above the proposed dam. It would pay…. Mr. Isaac Kilworht is erecting a story and a half brick dwelling on New Hampshire, near Winthrop [Seventh]. When finished it will be a neat dwelling…. Prof. Snow will not take his usual trip East this summer. He will remain at home and devote his leisure hours to gathering specimens of every description.”

From the Lawrence Daily Journal for Saturday, June 18, 1898:

years ago

IN 1898

l “A couple of boy fiddlers attracted quite a good deal of attention on the streets today, and would have created some sympathy for themselves if it had not been for the noticeable fact that they were working for a loafer who accompanied them, and who made them do just as he said. This old loafer probably got all the boys’ money and then gave them the dickens for not getting more.”

l “There is every probability that the landing of Shafter’s army in Cuba will be chronicled tomorrow, and the war department at Washington has said that it anticipates big news by that time.”

— Reprinted with permission from local writer Sarah Parsons.

Letters to the editor

l Letters should be 250 words or fewer and can be submitted via email at letters@ljworld.com.

Our 3-part diplomatic push on Asia

Washington — Over the next week, we’ll see an unusual road show dramatizing the Biden’s administration’s foreign-policy strategy for Asia.

The week’s meetings with senior officials of China, India and Japan will highlight the three essential power centers in the Indo-Pacific. By seeking greater engagement with all three, President Biden is attempting to create a more stable strategic balance. Rather than walking a bipolar tightrope between Washington and Beijing, the United States is trying to build a matrix of relationships, with the United States as a key interlocutor in each node.

Make no mistake: The strategic challenge that will animate the three sets of meetings is how to avoid a disastrous conflict between the United States and China. Dialogue with China should reduce uncertainties and potential risks in what will be a continuing Sino-American competition; partnering with India should enhance India’s ability to deter China, and U.S. deterrence, as well; deeper cooperation with Japan and its neighbors, South Korea and the Philippines, should help buffer the danger of a catastrophic U.S.-China collision.

The headline event will be Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing this weekend, the first visit to China’s capital by a secretary of state in five years. Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to Beijing, summed up its importance in an interview with me last week: “The secretary’s meeting is the opening of a new phase in the relationship. Both sides have recognized that the absence of conversation is dangerous.”

China has been signaling its readiness for improved cooperation since the meeting in Vienna last month between national security adviser Jake Sullivan and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi. The frank discussions there opened the way for the trip by Blinken, who is likely to be followed soon to Beijing by Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen.

What’s ahead on the U.S.China agenda is fuzzy: U.S. officials hope for greater economic cooperation, perhaps including an initiative to provide debt relief for poor countries. The United States has encouraged Chinese mediation of a settlement of the Ukraine war that doesn’t reward Russia’s aggression. A breakthrough seems unlikely while Ukraine is waging its counteroffensive. One tantalizing possibility is talks about limits on AI, which Chinese President Xi Jinping said last month needs “a new security architecture.” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington could be the week’s real strategic centerpiece. India’s population is now bigger than China’s, and its economy is growing much faster. India will keep its independence as a swing power, but Modi’s visit will demonstrate that it leans increasingly toward Americanled rule of law — with growing

economic, intelligence and military ties to the United States.

“India could be the most important bilateral relationship for the United States in the 21st century,” argued a senior administration official. He explained in an interview that where strategists talked a decade ago about America and China as the “G-2,” the world’s only superpowers, the U.S. relationship with a rapidly growing India may provide an alternative G-2.

New Delhi won’t be an easy partner for Washington. The prickly Indian bureaucracy can be resistant to transparency and cooperation. Modi’s Hindu nationalism has frightened minorities in India, and his governing style sometimes verges on authoritarian. But India remains a genuine democracy, and its elites increasingly favor close ties with the United States.

The high ground in America’s future competition with China will be technology, and here India’s deepening ties with the United States may be a trump card. The Biden National Security Council has framed an “initiative on critical and emerging technology” with India that, according to a January NSC fact sheet, will involve bilateral cooperation on AI, quantum technologies, advanced wireless systems, semiconductor supply chains, space systems and other technologies. That’s a potential game changer.

What has pushed Modi toward Washington is his mounting concern about Chinese aggression on his border. Though few Americans know it, China and India fought a bloody border skirmish in June 2020 in the Galwan Valley, in the Himalayan border region. The two

sides avoided gunfire, but they fought a grisly medieval battle with spears and shields that killed 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.

Washington has shared intelligence with Modi about China’s rapid buildup along the border, including a new army division headquarters and road and rail networks for supply, according to the senior administration official. But Ashley Tellis of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace cautions in a recent Foreign Affairs article: “New Delhi will never involve itself in any U.S. confrontation that does not directly threaten its own security.” Washington’s partnership with New Delhi may be deepening, but it won’t become a NATO-like alliance.

The sleeper in the new Asia power game is Japan, which is combining its growing military power with supple diplomacy to mend fences with Asian neighbors that share Tokyo’s fear of Beijing. On Thursday, Sullivan met in Tokyo for two trilateral strategy sessions — first a South Korea/U.S./ Japan meeting, followed by a Philippines/U.S./Japan session. “We have a diplomatic and political tail wind, and China knows it,” Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, said in an interview this week.

Competition between China and the United States will be inescapable in the Indo-Pacific region. It will probably get more intense through most of our lifetimes. But diplomacy is producing some needed speed bumps — and a widening safety net — that should reduce the likelihood of a fatal crackup.

— David Ignatius is a columnist for

The Washington Post News Service & Syndicate.

l

A Supreme Court blunder endangers Native American children

Washington — Because of

Thursday’s Supreme Court blunder — an act of misplaced judicial restraint — the lives of some Indian children will be unnecessarily miserable, and sometimes shorter, than they would be without an excrescence on U.S. law called the Indian Child Welfare Act. This especially unpleasant manifestation of identity politics will continue to multiply broken hearts and bodies.

The ICWA’s defenders say it concerns not race but a political category, the rights of tribes. This is a distinction without a difference, as the ICWA is applied. The government recognizes 574 tribes, which the ICWA treats as fungible. All of them base membership eligibility solely on biological rather than cultural or political facts.

Predicated on generic Indianness, the ICWA makes children — all of whom are U.S. citizens — sacrificial playthings of race-mongers bandying rhetoric about tribal “integrity” and “coherence.”

Penetrate the fog of such abstractions, and the ICWA is starkly incompatible with the nation’s foundational

proposition: Rights inhere in individuals, not groups. The ICWA, which repellently calls children tribal “resources,” is about enhancing tribal power rather than protecting children’s welfare. It allocates group entitlements based on biology, as did Germany’s 1935 Nuremberg Laws.

About the case decided

Thursday: The biological mother of a Navajo child identified as A.L.M. and his sister, called Y.R.J., supported their being raised by Chad and Jennifer Brackeen, neither of them Indians, in Texas, far from the Navajo Nation. This nation, however, wanted the siblings separated, and the sister sent to another state to live either with a great-aunt or an unrelated Navajo couple.

The court, divided 7-2, chose not to strike down the ICWA.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote: The ICWA “requires a state court to place an Indian child with an Indian caretaker ... even if the child is already living with a non-Indian family and the state court thinks it in the child’s best interest to stay there.” That accurate description should have sufficed to dictate a different ruling.

Barrett writes unhelpfully that Congress has “plenary” but not “absolute” power to legislate regarding Indians. Otherwise, Congress could disregard the Constitution, including “equal protection of the laws,” concerning Indians. But the court now allows that. Could Congress forbid Indians from leaving their tribes, marrying outside the tribe, adopting non-Indian children, etc.? The seven justices might say yes. During oral argument last November, Brett M. Kavanaugh said this case involved tension between, on the one hand, “respect for tribal self-government” and tribes’ difficult histories, and, on the other hand, “the fundamental principle we don’t treat people differently on account of their race or ethnicity or ancestry.” Now he has

joined the court majority in abandoning that principle.

The ICWA shreds federalism principles. Fifty states have child protection systems whose overriding concern is “the best interests of the child.” The ICWA makes this consideration subordinate to the child’s relationship with a tribe. On Thursday, the court ratified this federal interference with child-welfare proceedings in state courts.

Dissenting against racebased custody proceedings, Samuel A. Alito Jr. rightly rejects “ICWA’s attempt to control local judicial proceedings in a core field of state concern” — “child custody, foster care, and adoption.” Also dissenting, Clarence Thomas acerbically notes that “not one” of the federal government’s constitutionally enumerated powers justifies intruding on those state concerns.

The ICWA was enacted to stop the wicked practice of forcing assimilation by removing Indian children from nonIndian families. Now it functions to yank even thriving Indian children from nurturing non-Indian families, in barbaric homage to Indian “blood.” This

means that Declan Stewart and Laurynn Whiteshield and others died unremembered.

Declan was 5 when beaten to death in 2007 by his mother’s live-in boyfriend. Oklahoma, responding to his fractured skull and severe bruising between his testicles and rectum, had earlier removed him from his mother’s custody. The Cherokee Nation objected. The state, knowing the ICWA’s bias toward tribal rights, relented. Declan died of a beating a month after being returned to his mother.

Laurynn was 3 when living in foster care with a North Dakota minister, Jeanine KerseyRussell, who tried to adopt her. The Spirit Lake Sioux tribe, invoking the ICWA, got Laurynn sent to a reservation in 2013 and the custody of her grandfather. Within six weeks she was dead, thrown down an embankment by the grandfather’s wife, who had a record of child abuse.

This was carnage from identity politics. More will come from the court’s decision allowing children to be treated like tiny trophies of tribal power.

—

David Ignatius davidignatius@washpost.com

George Will georgewill@washpost.com

Judy Erpelding, who received multiple honors for her teaching during her 11 years directing the orchestra at Free State High School, decided to leave her position at the end of this school year because she felt like the district was not supporting growth in the performing arts programs or allowing the arts to continue their rebound from drops in enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cut ahead of the 2022-2023 school year of an orchestra teacher who split time between Free State and Lawrence High School directly affected Erpelding’s workload, and amid the discussion of further cuts to the performing arts ahead of next school year, she ultimately made the difficult decision to resign.

“They’re asking way too much of the teachers in the fine arts,” Erpelding said. “What seem like small, tiny, incremental cuts will end up being very deep ones because they’re going to lose really good educators because they just keep piling more on.”

Based on information the district provided to the Journal-World, Lawrence high schools will have nine band, orchestra and choir staff members next school year: a director for each area (six total across both schools), assistant band directors (two total across both schools) and one assistant choir director, at Free State only. Not all positions are finalized at the middle school level, and the four middle schools will have either full- or part-time band, orchestra and choir directors as determined by student enrollment, meaning any-

where from six to 12 full-time positions. If the district doesn’t cut beyond the five positions already eliminated ahead of last school year and the upcoming school year, that represents 20% of the district’s performing arts teachers. If the district were to make further reductions and only have part-time directors at all four middle schools, meaning all those directors would split time between schools, that could represent an up to 43% reduction in performing arts staff.

Specifically, at this point, the district has identified 4.2 positions in the performing arts at the secondary level that will be eliminated ahead of next school year. When including the reduction ahead of this school year of the orchestra teacher who worked at both high schools, the total reductions over the past two years equals 5.2 full-time positions. The 4.2 full-time positions consist of duties that have been split between multiple schools and are as follows:

l Liberty Memorial Central Middle School orchestra: 0.6 full-time equivalent (FTE)

l Liberty Memorial Central Middle School band: 0.5 FTE

l Southwest Middle School band: 0.1 FTE

l Southwest Middle School choir: 0.5 FTE

l Billy Mills Middle School band: 0.5 FTE

l Billy Mills Middle School choir: 0.3 FTE

l Lawrence High School choir: 1.0 FTE

l Free State High School choir: 0.2 FTE

l Free State High School band: 0.5 FTE

Lawrence parent Laura VanSickle-Deavours, whose children have participated in orchestra and choir while attending district middle and high schools, also expressed concerns about the reductions. For instance, she said having more than one choir teacher, particularly both a male and a female teacher, was important for instruction and helping students develop their voices. For orchestra lessons, she said that having more than one teacher in the room means students get that much more instruction on their instruments.

“They split up into small groups and they practice,” she said, saying that teachers rotate around the room and help. “And if there (are) two, that’s double the amount of instruction and comments and help that they can give to those small groups and ensembles.”

VanSickle-Deavours said she didn’t understand how the reductions squared with the talk of potentially turning Liberty Memorial Central Middle School into a magnet school for the performing arts, one of the potential themes floated by the school board. She said the district has had a reputation for having very strong performing arts programs, but she is afraid the reality is falling behind that reputation.

“The district, going back like a decade ago, had a super strong fine arts program, and I think they’re running partly on the reputation of a fine arts program that isn’t at that same level anymore,” VanSickleDeavours said. “And they talk about their pride in the fine arts and even the potential of opening up a magnet school at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School, but they’re not even taking care of supporting the staffing and the needs of the fine arts staff that are in the district.”

The cuts ahead of next school year are part of the 50 secondary teacher reductions that the Lawrence school board approved this spring as part of an effort to free up money for teacher and staff raises and other budget priorities. Like the approximately 70 position cuts made ahead of this past school year, which positions are being eliminated is determined by building and district administrators, rather than discussed at the board level. According to information from the district’s human relations department, provided by district spokesperson Julie Boyle, the district has currently identified 47.6 positions that it will eliminate ahead of next school year, all of which are being eliminated through attrition. The district states that number is subject to change as enrollment fluctuates and will be assessed based on student enrollment and class thresholds.

The response from the district’s HR staff also specified that the reductions planned for each school building are determined based on each building’s student enrollment requests. The response states that while positions are being cut, programs are remaining in place; however, there is a possibility of reduced coverage and sharing staff between buildings.

“Staffing coverage may be reduced or provided from staff transfers or shared staff across buildings,” the response states.

The Journal-World asked the district how many band, orchestra and choir teachers would be asked to teach at more than one school next year due to the cuts. The response from district HR staff stated principals are constantly assessing student enrollment requests and they estimate all staff

transfers will be finalized by the end of the summer. Once transfers are finalized, the district will know how many band, orchestra and choir staff members will be teaching at more than one building next school year.

For Erpelding, who was directly affected by the cut ahead of this past school year, the discussion of further cuts to the performing arts as a whole, including more teachers having to split time between two schools and the combination of some grade levels into one class, prompted a reassessment of her plan to spend her whole career in the Lawrence district. She said the loss of the orchestra teacher who split time between the two high schools affected the level of instruction her students received, the expertise available to them and outside performances. Specifically, she said she had to teach fewer pieces and that students lost the additional, specialized instruction from the other teacher, who played different instruments than she does. The additional demands on her time also meant she had less time to plan extra trips and performances that enhance the program and the experience of her students.

“Last time we went on a trip for orchestra we went to Los Angeles, and we performed at Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood,” Erpelding said. “It was an amazing trip. Those were the kind of opportunities I was able to provide when I was being supported and I had an assistant.”

Erpelding said it seemed like the cuts simply fill a budget gap temporarily without considering the longterm impact for the district’s performing arts programs.

“It seems like all of these decisions don’t have any vision behind them,” she said. “They’re meant to just kind of plug a leak and fill a gap temporarily. And they’re like, ‘Well, once we get through this, then we can maybe change it,’ but what will our programs look like at that point?”

After already having to decrease the level of teaching she had held herself to this past school year, Erpelding said she made the very difficult decision to take a job in the Blue Valley school district, where she said she feels she has more support to grow the orchestra program. Pay is also a consideration. She said she felt like every year in Lawrence she was being asked to take on more and more while her pay lagged behind — requiring her to work a part-time job at FedEx to supplement her income for the past two years. She said that at Blue Valley she would receive more pay for a reduced workload, prepping only four lesson plans per day instead of the six she was doing at Free State.

Still, it was a difficult choice for Erpelding, one that continued to call up strong emotions for her about a month after making her decision. She said her job at Free State was her first teaching job, and she thought she would spend her whole career there.

“It’s required a shift inside of me in regards to my beliefs about change and who I am in a lot of ways,” she said, pausing as she tried not to cry. “... It’s been hard. It’s been very hard. I thought this would be me and my job until I was done. I wanted to build a legacy. I wanted to build something that I could be proud of and that my students would be proud to be a part of.”

“This event is great, and I love that it brings the community together,” said Catherine Tolbert-Gladney, who’s originally from Lawrence and traveled from her current home in Sikeston, Mo., for the festivities.

Juneteenth, which became the United States’ newest federal holiday in 2021, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. It was first celebrated in Texas, and its date comes from the day when troops belatedly enforced emancipation in Galveston, Texas — June 19, 1865.

Saturday’s celebration in downtown Lawrence started with a parade down Massachusetts Street, and then visitors and locals alike congregated in South Park, where businesses and other vendors set up shop.

The celebration has grown since last year, said Janine Colter, president of the Lawrence Juneteenth Organization, and the turnout exceeded her expectations.

“We want awareness and education — but also to have a fun celebration with unity, and to have a good time,” she said.

Colter lauded community organizations — nonprofits and local governments alike — for their involvement, and said that “There are resources here where people can find out information they may not know.” She also highlighted the music and dance at the celebration, including the youth dancers who dazzled during the morning parade, as well as a performance by renowned R&B singer Macy Gray.

“A lot of slaves didn’t even know that they were free,” and that’s a detail that often goes overlooked, Caro said.

she said. “Others took credit for a lot of the things that were developed and built by Black people.”

branch, said people of all backgrounds turned out on Saturday to celebrate.

“I love seeing people together and supporting Juneteenth,” Wesley said. “To see people of many nationalities here is what it’s all about.”

“We definitely share our African American history here. A big part of our communication is through music, so we just want a celebration,” Colter said.

The exact time of Gray’s performance was not announced prior to the show, and Colter said that was because the Juneteenth committee wanted to avoid having people show up exclusively to attend Gray’s performance.

“We want people to be neighborly and to get to know each other,” she said.

Another attraction at the event was a community service awards ceremony, which Colter said was “for people that really make a difference in the community, through social service and giving back.”

The honorees included the winners of a high school essay contest. Two of the winners were from Lawrence Free State High School and one from Lawrence High. And the Tshirt worn by event staff and organizers, which

also displayed the theme of the essays — “Power for change is within all of us” — was designed by a Free State student.

“We definitely get the young people involved,” Colter said.

l l l

At a table in the park, Kevin Caro had a plaque that told the story of how the holiday gained its federal status.

“A lot of people don’t know what Juneteenth is all about,” he said. He related the story of Opal Lee, the retired teacher and activist from Texas who was a key figure in getting the holiday its current national recognition.

“... Opal Lee walked 1,359 miles from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., in 2016,” Caro said of the then 89-year-old Lee. “She delivered 1.5 million signatures to Congress to help make Juneteenth a federal holiday.”

Even though Juneteenth is celebrated all over the country now, Caro emphasized that some people still don’t know about the history of the holiday, or even that slavery in the United States didn’t end when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Saturday’s events included stories of Lawrence’s own Black history, such as the bus tour of Underground Railroad sites — what TolbertGladney said was one of the best parts of the celebration.

Tolbert-Gladney said it’s important amid the celebrations to honor the stories of Black Americans and their contributions to U.S. history.

“People need to be educated because they’re telling the wrong story,”

Many people at the celebration emphasized that while Juneteenth is a celebration of Black culture and history, it’s also an inclusive holiday where anyone is welcome to show up, learn, and celebrate.

“It’s to celebrate people,” said attendee Viola Stevens. “Not necessarily African-American people, but people in general.”

And staffer Marlon Wesley, a member of the Lawrence NAACP

Some people even came from faraway states to celebrate in the place where they grew up.

One of them was Leonard Martin, a Lawrence native who now lives in Phoenix. Martin, who was the first Black drum major at Lawrence High School, said that “this event has very special meaning to me,” largely because of how it strives to include everyone.

“Not only is it for Black people, it’s for everybody,” he said. “This is American history.”

Rescuers rush to ferry Ukrainians from flood zones

By Samya Kullab, Sam McNeil and Evgeniy Maloletka Associated Press

Kherson, UKraine — At last, help came for Vitalii Shpalin.

From a distance, he spotted the small Ukrainian rescue boat traversing floodwaters that had submerged the 60-year-old’s entire neighborhood after a catastrophic dam collapse in the country’s embattled south.

He and others boarded with sighs of relief — interrupted suddenly by the crackle of bullets.

Shpalin ducked, and a bullet scraped his back. He felt one pierce his arm, then his leg. The boat’s rescue worker cried into the radio for reinforcements.

“Our boat is leaking,” Shpalin heard him say. An older man died before his eyes, his lips turning blue.

Their vessel, taking civilians to safety in Kherson city across the river, had been shot by Russian soldiers positioned in a nearby house, according to Ukrainian officials and witnesses on the boat.

“They (Russians) let the boats through, those coming to rescue people,” Shpalin said. “But when the boats were full of people, they started shooting.”

Massive flooding from the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on June 6 has devastated towns along the lower Dnieper River in the Kherson region, a front line in the war. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of causing the breach.

In the chaotic early days of flooding, Ukrainian rescue workers in private boats provided a lifeline to desperate civilians trapped in flooded areas of the Russian-occupied eastern bank — that is, if the rescue missions could brave the drones and Russian snipers.

The boats have carried volunteers and plainclothes servicemen, shuttling across from Ukrainian-held areas on the western bank to evacuate people stuck on rooftops, in attics and elsewhere.

Now, that window is closing. As floodwaters recede, rescuers are increasingly cut off by putrid mud. And more Russian soldiers are returning, reasserting control.

Biden touts his economic policies at campaign rally

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— President Joe Biden delivered an unapologetically economic populist message Saturday during the first rally of his reelection campaign, telling an exuberant crowd of union members that his policies had created jobs and lifted the middle class. Now, he said, is the time for the wealthy to “pay their fair share” in taxes.

Biden spotlighted the sweeping climate, tax and health care package signed into law last year that cut the cost of prescription drugs and lowered insurance premiums — pocketbook issues that advisers say will be the centerpiece of his argument for a second term.

“I’m looking forward to this campaign,” Biden said to cries of “four more years!” before adding, “We’ve got a record to run on.”

His choice of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania — and a friendly union audience — as his first official campaign stop reflected their crucial role in his reelection effort. The city was the site of his 2020 campaign headquarters and the state was one of a handful that had voted for Republican Donald Trump in 2016 but flipped back to Democrats four years later.

Every civilian evacuated from the eastern bank carried a harrowing tale of survival, of racing to relocate to higher ground. They described the initial scramble on the morning of June 6. Within hours, the water came gushing in, reaching their ankles and then submerging entire floors.

passes an estuary. The video’s authenticity was confirmed by Tolokonnikov.

Accounts of Russian assistance vary among survivors, but many evacuees and residents accuse Russian authorities of doing little or nothing to help displaced residents. Some civilians said evacuees were sometimes forced to present Russian passports if they wanted to leave.

Russia’s Defense Ministry didn’t immediately respond to requests from The Associated Press for comment about actions by authorities in the Russia-occupied flood zone, or about the attack on the rescue boat.

The AP spoke with 10 families rescued from the eastern bank, as well as with rescue workers, officials and victims injured on the rescue missions.

“The Russian Federation provided nothing. No aid, no evacuation. They abandoned people alone to deal with the disaster,” said Yulia Valhe, evacuated from the Russianoccupied town of Oleshky. “I have my friends who stayed there, people I know who need help. At the moment, I can’t do anything except to say to them, ‘Hold on.’”

At least 150 people have been rescued by Ukraine from Russian-controlled areas in the risky evacuation operations, government spokesperson Oleksandr Tolokonnikov said. It is a small fraction compared to the nearly 2,750 people rescued from flooded regions controlled by Ukraine.

A local organization, Helping to Leave, which helps Ukrainians living under Russian occupation to escape, said it received requests from 3,000 people in the occupied zone, said Dina Urich, who heads the organization’s evacuation department.

“We will surely do everything we can, but we also cannot expose our people to danger,” Tolokonnikov said.

“Russians keep threatening us and fulfilling their threats by shooting people in the back,” he said.

Olha, another resident of Oleshky, said she had heard about the rescue missions, but didn’t know how to get on a list. “If we could, we would have done the same, but I didn’t know how,” she said, declining to give her last name for safety reasons.

Rescuers have often used information provided by relatives of those stranded. Military drone pilots have searched for people and plotted routes through the fast-moving waters laden with debris, while navigating around Russian troop positions.

They also have delivered water, food and cigarettes to people with a note “from Santa.”

Valerii Lobitskyi, a volunteer rescuer, said shelling often derailed the missions. He has been shot at once, and on another occasion had to abort a mission to rescue an older woman after a close call with a Russian motorboat.

BRIEFLY

More than 1,000 union workers representing professions from carpenters and airport service workers to entertainers and heavy service equipment engineers — most wearing T-shirts bearing their union’s logos — began chanting “Let’s go, Joe!” and “We want Joe” and blowing whistles hours before the president arrived.

Biden did not mention any of his potential Republican opponents by name, but said many in the GOP “oppose everything I’ve done.” Pointing to high inflation rates, Republicans have criticized “Bidenomics” a term the president tried to turn back on his opponents on Saturday. “I don’t know what the hell that is,” he said, “but it’s working.”

U.S. ambassador marches at Pride in Warsaw

WarsaW, Poland (aP)

— The United States ambassador held a U.S. flag high as he marched in the yearly Pride parade in Warsaw on Saturday, a clear message of Washington’s opposition to discrimination in a country where LGBTQ+ people are facing an uphill struggle.

“America embraces equality,” Ambassador Mark Brzezinski said, as he marched with more than 30 other members of the U.S. Embassy and alongside representatives from Canada, Austria and other Western countries in the Equality Parade.

In recent years Western governments have been

In Oleshky, many residents moved from the outskirts of town to the center, which sits on an elevated plain.

Valhe, who was rescued with her family on June 12, said neighbors and friends tried to save people themselves in the absence of an official rescue effort.

“I saw soldiers, I saw FSB workers (Russia’s Federal Security Service), but no rescue service,” she said. One older man tried to flee the deluge by climbing a tree. But the winds were too strong. Valhe heard his cries for help, but knew that if she tried to approach him, she would perish in the current. He told her, “My dear, stay put, don’t follow me.”

She watched him drown. Shpalin said he lied to Russian soldiers when they tried to evacuate him to another area. He had heard from others who accepted the Russian offer that they were taken only to a nearby village and told they couldn’t go further unless they agreed to obtain Russian passports.

Shpalin told the soldiers he wouldn’t leave because he had lost his documents in the flood. In reality, they were on his person.

“I didn’t believe them,” he said.

When the Ukrainian rescuers found him, he was sheltering with other civilians on a sandy hill near a quarry in the village of Kardashynka.

The attack that wounded Shpalin on the evacuation boat on June 11 killed three civilians and injured 10 others. At least two police officers also were wounded. Kherson authorities and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff said Russian soldiers fired the shots.

Drone footage obtained by the AP shows gunshots being fired from a nearby summer home as the evacuation boat

alarmed as the conservative government in Warsaw depicted gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people as threats to the nation and its children.

The participation of the U.S. ambassador sent a clear message to the government of Poland, a NATO member on the alliance’s eastern flank where the United States has increased its military presence since Russia’s fullscale invasion of Ukraine last year.

Poland has for decades considered Washington its key guarantor of security, but the importance of U.S. protection has only grown with the war playing out across its border in Ukraine.

The U.S. is also seen as a guarantor of protection to the LGBTQ+ community, which a few years ago was fighting for the right of same-sex union or marriage, but recently has been more concerned about a climate of hostility from the government and the Catholic Church.

The colorful and joyful parade was a brief moment of celebration and relief for a community that has been criticized by elected leaders as a threat to the nation’s traditional Catholic identity.

Judge rules

against Utah city that denied permit for drag show

salt laKe City (a P )

— The city of St. George must issue a permit for a

Serhii, 59, another evacuee on the boat, said that he saw Russian soldiers on the balcony of the house. They shouted something — “Move on,” or “Don’t move” — then fired, he said. Serhii, who would only give his first name because his family still lives in occupied territory, threw his body over his wife’s to protect her.

Some days later, in Kherson, the boom of artillery resounded in the background as 46-year-old Vitalii Holodniak, one of those killed in the boat attack, was laid to rest.

His sister Svitlana Nosik, 56, held up his death certificate. “Place of death: Dneiper River, evacuation boat,” it read.

“That is not how I expected to greet my brother in Kherson,” she said.

Another evacuee, Kateryna Krupych, said she looked out the window on June 7 to find mucky water surrounding her home on the island of Chaika, in the gray zone between front lines. Houses floated by. She packed up her family’s supplies and they left in a boat, but got separated along the way. Eventually, they were all rescued by Ukrainians.

Krupych said the previous eight months under Russian occupation had been hard. Her family survived by relying on the kindness of neighbors who fled to Kherson city. They told her where to find the spare keys to their homes and leftover food supplies.

“It was mentally difficult when the (Russians) entered our island, when they terrorized us,” she said. Russian soldiers frequently passed their home, she said, pressuring them to leave.

For Olha, still in Oleshky, the costs of the dam collapse continue to be revealed. Many houses are collapsing, she said, and she struggles to find drinking water and food. There is the risk of waterborne diseases.

Plus, “(Russians) can forceevacuate people — we are scared of this, we don’t want to go to their territories,” she said. “We don’t want to be forgotten.”

Utah-based group that organizes drag performances to host an all-ages drag show in a public park, a federal judge ruled, calling the city’s attempt to stop the show unconstitutional discrimination.

“Public spaces are public spaces. Public spaces are not private spaces. Public spaces are not majority spaces,” U.S. District Judge David Nuffer wrote in a Friday ruling granting the preliminary injunction requested by the group. “The First Amendment of the United States Constitution ensures that all citizens, popular or not, majority or minority, conventional or unconventional, have access to public spaces for public expression.”

Southern Utah Drag Stars and its CEO, Mitski Avalox, sued the city of St. George in May after the city denied the group permits for an all-ages show it aimed to host in a public park in April. A complaint filed in federal court accused city officials of “flagrant and ongoing violations of their free speech, due process, and equal protection rights,” and asked for St. George to reverse its decision and authorize a drag show at the end of June. A city events coordinator told Drag Stars, Avalox said, that the group could start advertising for the April show before obtaining a permit. The city council later denied the permit, citing a never-previouslyenforced ordinance that

forbids advertising before permit approval.

Blinken arrives in Beijing on high-stakes diplomatic mission

Beijing (aP) — U.S.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing early Sunday on a highstakes diplomatic mission to try to cool exploding U.S.-China tensions that have set many around the world on edge.

Blinken was to begin two days of talks with senior Chinese officials in the afternoon. He is the highestlevel American official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office and the first secretary of state to make the trip in five years.

The trip comes after he postponed plans to visit in February after the shootdown of a Chinese surveillance balloon over the U.S.

Yet prospects for any significant breakthrough on the most vexing issues facing the planet’s two largest economies are slim, as already ties have grown increasingly fraught in recent years. Animosity and recriminations have steadily escalated over a series of disagreements that have implications for global security and stability.

Blinken plans to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, top diplomat Wang Yi, and possibly President Xi Jinping, according to U.S. officials.

Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo

A VOLUNTEER CARRIES A WOMAN as she is evacuated from a flooded village in Kherson, Ukraine, on June 9.

Czarek Sokolowski/AP Photo

U.S. AMBASSADOR MARK BRZEZINSKI HOLDS A U.S. FLAG as he marches in the yearly Pride parade in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday.

If

Care Survey by Genworth, an insurance company “In many cases, long-term care insurance

communities

is a lot less expensive than the actual cost of care,” says Michelle Gessner, a certified financial planner in Houston. “So $1 of premium gives you multiple dollars of benefits, and that’s not the case with paying for it out of pocket.” Another option may be a permanent life insurance policy with a long-term care rider, often called a hybrid policy. Arrangements vary, but typically you can use some or all of your death benefit to pay for long-term care

Some

“They can be a good

accepted technology being deployed at great volumes. But there isn’t a clear alternative on the market yet. We’re doing something different, storing energy for 100 hours at dramatically lower costs, to solve a multi-day storage problem as opposed to single digit hours.

Why did you choose West Virginia for the battery manufacturing facility?

The Mississippi River and Ohio River are essential for moving several million tons of material. Many people in the area had great experience working in industrial environments.

How did you build trust with the local community? Being transparent and committed to the region. We held a meeting at the local community center and a few

The Week In Review

FED KEEPS RATES UNCHANGED FOR FIRST TIME IN 15

The

inflation. But top Fed officials want to take time to more fully assess how their rate hikes have affected inflation and the economy

The Fed’s move to leave its benchmark rate at about 5.1%, its highest level in 16 years, suggests that it believes the much higher borrowing rates it’s engineered have made some progress in taming

The central bank’s 18 policymakers envision raising their key rate by an additional half-point this year, to about 5.6%, according to economic forecasts they issued Wednesday

The economic projections revealed a more hawkish Fed than many analysts had expected.

EUROPEAN REGULATORS EYE GOOGLE DIGITAL AD BUSINESS

European

authorities seeking to bust Google’s alleged monopoly on the online ad ecosystem

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch and top antitrust enforcer, said its preliminary view after an investigation is that “only the mandatory divestment by Google of part of its services” would address the concerns

The

BIDEN TARGETS JUNK FEES

The 27-nation EU has led the global movement to crack down on Big Tech companies — including moving closer to groundbreaking rules on artificial intelligence — but it has previously relied on issuing blockbuster fines, including three antitrust penalties for Google worth billions.

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT

QB Edison eager to help Free State football take the next step

By Conner Becker cbecker@ljworld.com

Note: Senior Spotlight is a summer series highlighting incoming area high school senior athletes.

Wesley Edison is a familiar face on the Free State football team. The incoming senior notched his varsity letter quarterbacking as a sophomore with a team full of big names — Jet Dineen (Kansas State), Dash Cleveland (Baker), and Jordan Brown (Saint Mary) — two years ago.

Things have changed since then. Gone are the faces surrounding Edison’s rise to the starting job. Even star offensive lineman Calvin Clements, now at Kansas, is nowhere to be found as summer practices resume.

Returning running back Grant Lincoln and offensive lineman Hank Fuchs are two seniors Edison is looking at to help elevate the program after Free State endured a learning curve during last year’s (5-3 Sunflower League) campaign.

“It comes with a lot of help,” Edison said. “More people than you’d think. Last year, I had a really skilled running back (Tay Ware) so it was a lot better being back there than, say, if it was just me. I think I had a lot of help on the leadership part.”

Recovering from a discouraging start, Free State closed its 2022 regular season with four consecutive wins, including a 31-19 victory at then-top-ranked Olathe North and a 28-26 thriller at Lawrence High in the City Showdown.

Last season, ending with a 34-0 loss at Wichita East in the first round of the substate playoff, seemingly brought Edison and Free State coach Kevin Stewart closer together.

“Me and (Stewart) have been talking since we lost in November,” Edison said. “We’re running a new offense this year, it’s more of a passing offense. Stewart just has to trust me a lot, and we have a lot of pieces, but it just depends on how we build as a team for our success.”

> SPOTLIGHT, 4B

Courtesy of Kansas Athletics

ABOVE: THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS UNVEILS JILL LARSON BRADNEY’S RETIRED JERSEY during a ceremony on March 28, 2015.

RIGHT: WHEN BRADNEY PLAYED FOR THE JAYHAWKS, she was the university’s first All-American in softball.

Area softball luminary picked for Kansas Sports Hall of Fame

By Henry Greenstein hgreenstein@ljworld.com

Jill Larson Bradney had already been a three-sport athlete at Kansas and the Jayhawks’ first-ever softball All-American by the time she found her way to Perry-Lecompton High as an assistant volleyball coach. “I had a friend that knew me, I was working here in town at a day care center, I was trying to apply for some jobs, and I was going back and getting my master’s,” she recalled. “And they called and said that this position was going to be open, and if I’d be interested, and I said ‘Well, yeah, sure.’”

That trivial agreement turned into a venerable 37-year career. Bradney taught and coached in the school district in a variety of capacities, for a variety of age ranges, and served as the founding head coach of the Kaws’ softball program. She ushered that program through its first 28 years of existence before her retirement last year, and on Monday,

the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame honored Bradney by announcing her as one of its 12 inductees for 2023.

“I am super proud of her for it,” said Erin Damme, who played for Bradney in the early years of the program and succeeded her as coach this past season. “She has dedicated her life to softball.

“When she played in college, she dedicated herself to being the best. When she graduated, she came to Perry and started coaching and spent 28 years helping out all our local youth playing softball with all of her knowledge, me being one of them.”

Bradney, a Wichita native, came to Kansas when Title IX was in its infancy and the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women still oversaw college sports. In the fourth and fifth years of her five-year program at KU, softball became a year-round sport for the first time, after she had played basketball as a freshman and then both volleyball and softball as a sophomore and junior.

> HALL, 4B

Taylor hits walk-off single in MLB debut as Royals rally past Angels

By David Smale Associated Press

Kansas City, Mo — Samad Taylor hit a walk-off single in his MLB debut and the Kansas City Royals beat the Los Angeles Angels 10-9 on Saturday

to snap a 10-game losing streak.

“God put me in the right position and I came through,” Taylor said. “They were throwing a lot of breaking balls early. I may have seen four fastballs all day. So I went

in there sitting breaking ball. He hung a change-up and I put a good swing on it and we won the game.”

Aroldis Chapman (2-2) earned the win in relief. Chris Devenski (3-1) took the loss.

Taylor’s hit was not

his only impressive plate appearance. He also collected two walks as the Royals climbed back from an 8-2 deficit entering the bottom of the seventh.

“It was impressive for a lot of reasons,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro

said. “The emotions he was able to keep under control, with a couple of walks in big spots. For him to be able to keep it under control is tremendous.

“It showed patience, but also controlling (himself). I can only

imagine the feeling and excitement.”

Los Angeles wasted a strong start by Griffin Canning, who allowed two runs on three hits in six innings.

> ROYALS, 2B

DAVID HARTZLER

Courtesy of Kansas Athletics

JILL LARSON BRADNEY HAD HER KANSAS SOFTBALL jersey retired at a ceremony in March 2015.

Conner Becker/Journal-World Photo FREE STATE SENIOR WESLEY EDISON gets instruction during a summer practice on June 15 at Free State High School.

By Doug Ferguson Associated Press

Los AngeLes — Rickie Fowler made his biggest birdie when no one expected it with a 70-foot putt. Wyndham Clark responded with a bold play for a birdie on the last hole to catch him Saturday and set the stage for a dynamic conclusion to the U.S. Open.

Fowler, Clark share lead with champs chasing WVU hoops coach Huggins resigns after DUI arrest

Fowler looked to have his first 54-hole lead in a major until he missed a 3 1/2-foot par putt on the final hole at Los Angeles Country Club and settled for an even-par 70. Clark was reeling after his third bogey on the back nine, but drilled his approach at a tight pin on the 18th to 6 feet for a birdie and a 69.

The final hour saved what had been a stale atmosphere among the glitz of LA, with just about everyone playing a part.

Rory McIlroy had two quick birdies and stayed in the hunt with a 69, leaving him one shot behind the co-leaders. He will play in the penultimate group with Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world who finished eagle-birdie for a 68.

This wasn’t just any eagle. He holed a 7-iron from 196 yards on the 17th hole — which had only yielded four birdies all day — and finished with a 20-foot birdie putt.

For so long, it was all about avoiding mistakes on

Royals

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B

Brandon Drury hit two home runs and drove in three runs, and Shohei Ohtani hit his MLB-leading 23rd home run to help Los Angeles build a lead.

Kansas City scored three runs in the seventh off Kolton Ingram, who was also making his big league debut. He allowed two hits and two walks in a third of an inning. The Royals got three more off Jose Soriano

in the eighth. Nick Pratto had an RBI single. Bobby Witt Jr. drove in two with a single.

The Royals went 6 for 10 with runners in scoring position — all from the seventh inning on — going 10 for 69 with runners in scoring position during the 10game losing streak.

Tied at 8 in the ninth, Mike Trout hit a single to drive in Andrew Velazquez, who led off the inning with a walk before stealing second and third.

But the Royals answered as Edward Olivares led off

of

Gary Woodland

Rising to within the top 10 at one point during Round 3, former KU standout Gary Woodland finished the round at 1-over-par in a tie for 32nd place with Patrick Rodgers and Denny McCarthy.

with a single. Pinch-runner Dairon Blanco stole second and went to third on a throwing error.

Blanco scored on a single by Maikel Garcia. Garcia stole second and went to third on a bunt by Nicky Lopez. And then Taylor launched one over the head of Trout in center to win the game.

“It’s awesome,” said Witt, who had a pair of two-RBI hits in the seventh and eighth innings. “It’s incredible how (Taylor) carried himself the whole game, and then in that moment.

It’s crazy how baseball works like that sometimes.”

Mike Mayers gave up six runs on seven hits in fiveplus innings for Kansas City.

Drury’s home runs came in the second and sixth innings. Ohtani’s 437-foot home run to center came in the seventh.

Taylor Ward also homered for the Angels in the second.

The Royals tied the game at 2 in the fourth when Salvador Perez reached on an infield single and MJ Melendez hit a 420-foot home run to right center.

was charged with driving under the influence on Friday night after his SUV had stopped in the middle of traffic in Pittsburgh with a shredded tire. According to a criminal complaint, a breath test determined Huggins’ blood alcohol content was 0.21%, more than twice the legal limit.

The move comes a month after the university suspended him for three games for using an anti-gay slur while also denigrating Catholics during a radio interview.

Huggins, 69, of Morgantown, West Virginia, was pulled over by police in Pittsburgh on Friday night. He was charged with driving under the influence, was released from custody and will appear at a later date for a preliminary hearing, according to a police report.

In a statement to the West Virginia community, Huggins said: “Today, I have submitted a letter to President Gordon Gee

and Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker informing them of my resignation and intention to retire as head men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University effective immediately. My recent actions do not represent the values of the University or the leadership expected in this role. “

On Friday night, an officer observed garbage bags with empty beer containers both inside the vehicle and in the trunk, according to a criminal complaint. Huggins said he had been to a basketball camp with his brother in Sherrodsville, Ohio. An officer said Huggins was asked multiple times what city he was in but never got a response.

It was Huggins’ second such arrest. The other occurred in 2004 when he was the head coach at Cincinnati.

West Virginia’s athletic department said in a statement it was aware of Friday’s incident. “We are gathering more information and will take appropriate action once the review is complete,” the statement said.

Last month Huggins agreed to a three-game suspension, a $1 million salary reduction and sensitivity training for using the slur during an interview with Cincinnati radio station WLW. Huggins was asked about the transfer portal and whether he had a chance of landing a player at West Virginia from Xavier, a Jesuit school.

George Walker IV/AP Photo

WATCHES

Marcio J. Sanchez/AP Photo

Huggins

Grand slam gives early jolt as Braves nab 5th straight win

The Associated Press

AtlAntA — Matt Olson hit a first-inning grand slam and the homerhappy Atlanta Braves won their fifth straight game with a 10-2 rout of the Colorado Rockies on Saturday.

Ozzie Albies, Eddie Rosario and Orlando Arcia also went deep as the National League-leading Braves (45-26) moved a season-high 19 games over .500. They have combined for 42 runs and 52 hits during the winning streak and lead the majors with 122 homers.

Olson’s 20th long ball, an opposite-field shot that sailed 424 feet into left-center, added to the Braves’ dominance in the first. Their 66 runs top the majors and they also rank first with 31 games of at least one run in the first.

After Olson made it

4-0, Michael Harris II’s sacrifice fly and Albies’ 16th homer put the Braves

Hall

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B

In her final season, the spring of 1981, Bradney led the Jayhawks in batting average, hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs and runs. Since then, she has had a frontrow seat to the development of women’s sports at KU through her role on the board of directors of the K Club alumni group. “It’s been amazing, and I’m so glad that we were kind of there to form that legacy,” she said. “There were people before me that pioneered how athletics are becoming now,

Spotlight

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B

Edison, who provided over 1,800 yards in combined offense last year, will be directly competing with junior Boston Baker for the starting job this spring.

Needless to say, nothing’s a sure thing for either candidate. But for Edison, the work gets a little sweeter with a familiar face on the sidelines. His personal position trainer, Mason Beach, is now one of the newest members

up 6-0 in the second. Rosario and Arcia went deep in the third to pad the lead at 9-0.

Bryce Elder (5-1) retired the first 11 batters he faced before Ryan

and it’s just amazing to be a part of that, because women need to be recognized, they need to have those opportunities, because they’re good. It’s been exciting to be a part of that and kind of a building block, I should say, for that.”

A decade later, she made an impact on the community level when she helped start PerryLecompton softball. The program reached a critical mass of parent and student support and got approved by the board in time to start in 1994. It was a modest beginning: “We did have pants for our uniform, but we had T-shirts,” she said. “Then we kept

of Stewart’s staff, serving as the team’s receivers coach.

Beach previously served as the QBs coach at Lansing and Pleasant Ridge, as well as a student assistant at Saint Mary in Leavenworth. “I told (Stewart), ‘You gotta hire this guy,’” Edison said. “He’s a really good dude and coach.”

Additionally, Edison is working closely with returning quarterbacks coach Asheiki Preston. Edison and Preston have worked together since the senior QB was still in junior high. Preston’s son, Bralin, will be a returning

McMahon hit a hard single past Albies at second in the fourth. He gave up Mike Moustakas’ homer in the fifth and finished with four hits and one run allowed with no walks

growing and growing.”

She helped coach her team in “the college game, the short game,” their ability to be opportunistic on base hits.

“She never just told us to do something,” Damme said. “She always explained it to its fullest. There was always a reason for what we were doing, and it helped everybody understand.”

Bradney was also noted over the years for her positive and laid-back coaching style.

“Growing up I always had positive coaches,” she said, “and my parents were a big part of my accomplishments, and they were realistic with me,

starter in the receivers’ room.

Those connections will be huge for Edison in the final chapter of his high school career. Edison has spoken with several schools, including KU, Northern Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota State.

A shiny senior season would undoubtedly improve Edison’s recruitment, but the senior QB isn’t focusing on where he’ll land in the future just yet. Right now, the Firebird’s big concern is just on winning one football game after another at Free State.

and four strikeouts in six innings.

Chicago White Sox 4, Seattle 3 SeAttle — Zach Remillard’s base hit in the ninth

like, ‘You didn’t do this, but you did this well,’ and just trying to give me a positive outlook to continue to grow and not think that ‘Well, I don’t have to do anything else.’

The years she put into the Kaws’ program paid dividends when PerryLecompton reached the state playoffs in 2008 and 2017, a pair of appearances she fondly recalled. She also singled out Damme, who as Erin Erickson had a strong college career at Missouri, as a success story. She said it was a “no-brainer” that Damme would take over the program. “I have been with her for 12 years coaching,

inning scored the tying run, his RBI single with two outs in the 11th gave Chicago the lead, and the White Sox rallied for a win over the Seattle Mariners.

Remillard made his major league debut, but wasn’t in the lineup for Chicago until Tim Anderson left in the fourth inning with a sore shoulder. Remillard made his first game memorable with the two biggest hits to help the White Sox win for the second time in seven games.

Eloy Jiménez homered for the second time in three games, hitting his eighth of the season for Chicago. Seattle got a leadoff homer from J.P. Crawford but didn’t have a hit after the fifth inning.

Texas 4, Toronto 2

Arlington, texAS — Josh Jung and Jonah Heim hit back-to-back homers, Adolis García had his MLB-leading 10th outfield assist among three defensive gems and the Texas Rangers beat the

which has helped because I got to learn from her,” Damme said. “She always put in extra hours. It wasn’t just at practice, she (put in) extra hours printing off articles or finding new drills. So now I hold myself to that. I have to find new things and keep it lively. So it’s hard but I’m very blessed to be able to do it in her footsteps.” She said she also appreciates Bradney’s ability to keep tabs on her former players: “How many people has she been around, and she can still come out and be like, ‘I remember when,’ and those little things mean so much to everybody.”

Bradney, for her part,

Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 on Saturday.

Corey Seager also homered, his 10th on a solo shot in the seventh, as the AL West-leading Rangers won for just the third time in 10 games.

The rookie Jung’s tworun homer put the Rangers in front in the second inning after García walked, and Heim made it 3-1 seven pitches later off Trevor Richards in a bullpen game for Toronto.

Minnesota 2, Detroit 0

MinneApoliS — Minnesota’s bullpen teamed up for a three-hitter in a 2-0 victory over Detroit.

Alex Kirilloff delivered an RBI single in a breakthrough fifth inning against Tigers starter

Joey Wentz. José De León started with two perfect innings for the Twins. They opted for an all-reliever game to give their rotation a break during this stretch of 16 games without a day off.

has found herself busy in retirement (“I don’t know what I’ve done, but I’ve been busy.”) — visiting her 100-year-old mother every day, watching her grandkids play soccer and basketball, and of course going to Perry-Lecompton softball games.

“It all went by really quick,” she said of her career, “but it all seems like everything was yesterday, you know … I would never have traded any of it. There were ups and downs, just like everything, but it was an amazing ride.”

Bradney’s induction will take place at the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane on Oct. 1.

Brynn Anderson/AP Photo

ATLANTA BRAVES’ MATT OLSON (28) celebrates with Austin Riley (27) after hitting a grand slam in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday in Atlanta.

DOWN

3 Broadway opening

4 Declare for the draft, say

6 “Slumdog Millionaire”

7 Be a snitch

8 Wishy-washy R.S.V.P.

9 Plant holder?

10

A father’s love is everlasting, even after dad is gone

Editor’s note: Annie Lane is on vacation. The following column originally ran in 2022.

Dear Annie: I am a newly minted member of the group of us who will spend Father’s Day without our fathers. Without the phone call. Or the card. Or the flowers or the celebratory meal. No dad jokes or dad hugs or dad reassurances. No one requests membership in this club, but it’s one most of us inevitably join.

Dear Annie

Annie Lane dearannie@creators.com

Dad — or Papadoodle, as we called him — was with us on Christmas, in perfect health and

‘Ridley’ a familiar tale of murder

Among the more curious television traditions is our need to turn to murder for comforting familiarity. PBS imports the 2022 British crime series “Ridley” (7 p.m., TV-14), which offers viewers few new variations on a cozy, if morbid, formula.

ROYAL STARS HOROSCOPE

perfectly himself: slinging presents, slurping his morning mocha, laughing. Snorkeling, playing pickleball, talking to our son for hours, dressing up for dinner even though he preferred his trademark polo and cargo shorts. Two weeks later, out of the blue, a heart attack brought an untimely demise. One day he was here, and then in an instant, he was gone. A few nights after, while drifting to sleep in my childhood home, I knew

my father was with me. I felt him so deeply, perhaps as profoundly as I’ve felt anything in my life. He wrapped me in a big warm hug, an embrace teeming with the kind of love only a parent could bestow. And in that moment, he explained the true significance of the parent-child relationship. “It’s so simple, don’t you get it?” he said. “It’s just about love, and that’s what I gave you. Can’t you see? Nothing else matters if you don’t have that.” The strength of his love was staggering; it

surrounded me and burst from inside my heart.

My dad was a deep thinker, an intellectual, a man with a vocabulary as big as his heart. He taught us to love the outdoors, show everyone kindness and not skip the sunsets. He taught us to follow our passions and to never, ever forget to laugh. But his greatest gift? Deep and unconditional love.

So, this Father’s Day, as we wrap up a gift, let’s all remember that the most important thing we can

offer anyone is love. It’s accessible to us all, and it’s what means the most. This Father’s Day, I am comforted by the assurance that my beloved Papadoodle, and his undying love and spirit, will be with me forever. -Love is the Answer

Dear Love: Thank you for your beautiful letter. He sounded like an amazing man. What a gift he gave to you to live a life bursting with love.

— Send your questions to dearannie@creators.com.

For Sunday, June 18: You are charming, playful, passionate and adventurous, and you hate to be bored. You have an excellent head for business. Simplicity is the key to life this year. Take charge of your health. Create solid foundations. Explore physical exercise, or perhaps martial arts or yoga.

The stars show the kind of day you’ll have: 5-Dynamic; 4-Positive; 3-Average; 2-So-so; 1-Difficult

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

encourage you to change your future goals. Or a discussion with someone might suggest future travel plans or exploring opportunities in publishing, medicine or the law. Tonight: Confusion.

This Week: Your popularity will increase!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

HHH You are high-viz today!

Adrian Dunbar stars in the title role as retired detective inspector Alex Ridley. Dunbar may be familiar to viewers for his roles in “Line of Duty” and the recent Irish series “Blood,” which streamed on Acorn. Going back some time, he appeared in and co-wrote the 1991 musical “Hear My Song.”

“Ridley” is co-created by the talent behind “Vera” and “Midsomer Murders” and ticks off many familiar boxes for fans of those series. Ridley’s nature is mirrored by the weather. If there are moments of sunshine in the pilot episode, I missed them. As with any tale of a retired detective, he’s drawn back to “the life” when the murder of a local, unpopular sheep farmer reopens an old case of molestation and child abduction whose resolution Ridley found less than satisfying.

Ridley is summoned by his old colleague and replacement DI, Carol Farman (Bronagh Waugh, “Unforgotten,” “The Fall”). She may put her ego aside to ask help from her old mentor, but her supervisors are none too pleased to see Ridley back on the job.

One of the few nods to contemporary mores is the fact that Farman is romantically involved with another woman. Otherwise, “Ridley” is as familiar and comfortable as an old (gum)shoe, and a show about a singing detective, to boot.

And that makes it a perfect appetizer for the final season of “Endeavour” on “Masterpiece” (8 p.m., PBS, TV-14). “Ridley” will air over five successive Sundays on broadcast television and can be streamed on PBS platforms including PBS.org and the PBS app.

HHH For those of you who want to putter around home and get things done, this will be a productive day. You also might entertain at home today. Group gatherings are favored. Tonight: Confusion.

This Week: Home and family are your focus.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

HHHH You might learn something today. This is certainly an excellent day to study or make long-range practical plans. It’s also a great day for a short trip, because you are particularly upbeat and optimistic. You will enjoy schmoozing with others. Tonight: Check your money.

This Week: Short trips and appointments create a fast pace!

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

HHHH Business and commerce are favored today. Financial negotiations and planning will have a solid outcome in the future. You also might see ways to boost your income today. Work-related travel might happen for some. Tonight: Doubts. This Week: Think cash flow, earnings and values. What really matters?

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

HHHH You have a well-balanced approach between practical realism and hopeful optimism. Therefore, trust your decisions today. Tonight: Solitude. This Week: It’s time to rejuvenate yourself for the rest of the year!

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

HHHH Although you will enjoy the company of any gathering, you will also be happy to have a private, one-to-one encounter with someone. This will make you feel good. Incidentally, this is an excellent time for you to buy wardrobe treasures for yourself. Tonight: Be discerning.

This Week: Play things low-key and quiet.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

HHH A friend, especially someone older or more experienced, might have wise advice for you today. In fact, their advice might

Some people seem to know personal details about your private life. This could be because an important discussion with a boss or someone in authority is taking place. Very likely, you will benefit financially. Tonight: Get the truth.

This Week: You look successful and affluent. Use this!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

HHHH This is the perfect day to make travel plans for the future or to blow town if you can. This could relate to your kids, especially regarding duties and obligations. You also might travel with a partner or close friend for pleasure. Tonight: Check your finances.

This Week: Travel, study, explore!

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

HHH This is a financially beneficial day. Negotiations will go your way. It’s a good day to ask for a loan or to request the use of something that someone else owns. Tonight: Disappointment. This Week: Romance is passionate. Tidy up paperwork.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

HHHH This is a good day for a heart-to-heart discussion. You might want to discuss practical situations that need to be addressed, especially in the long-term future. However, you also might have some lighthearted, fun-loving playful times with kids or social outings. Tonight: Deceit.

This Week: Close relationships are your focus.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

HHH Your health and your job are both favored today, because you can see practical ways to improve each of these areas in your life. This is a good day to entertain work colleagues at home. Tonight: Plans change.

This Week: It’s a productive week with efficient work.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

HHHH This is a playful day! Romance, fun activities with kids, social outings and sports events are all excellent choices. You also might help someone younger to train, practice or hone their technique in the arts or sports. Tonight: Caution.

This Week: Vacations, romance and fun times!

— The astrological forecast should be read for entertainment only.