Pigeon wearing tiny sombrero discovered in Reno

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A pigeon wearing a tiny sombrero in Reno, Nevada, was discovered following sightings of its cowboy hat-wearing cousins in Las Vegas, a city manager said.

Reno City Manager Sabra Newby tweeted about the bird Wednesday, saying it’s quirky and fun but still inhumane, KOLO-TV reported.

It is the first known sighting of hat-wearing birds in the region, Washoe County Regional Animal Services officials said.

The sighting comes after a pigeon in Las Vegas with a miniature cowboy hat glued to its head died earlier this week, animal officials said.

People who see the bird are encouraged to call animal service dispatch officers, officials said.

It is unclear who put the hat on the bird.

“Reno cares about our animals,” Newby said. “They need protection and don’t need to become a punchline.”

Chiefs cheering section

  • McKineley students and staff show off their Chiefs fandom with shirts and Patrick Mahomes-style headbands.

McKinley Elementary School students were decked out in Red Friday, to cheer on the Kansas City Chiefs, who are vying for a trip to the Super Bowl this weekend in the AFC championship game. Students and teachers wore red shirts, and made up special headbands, shown at left, in honor of Chiefs all-pro quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his distinctive curly locks. The Chiefs take on the Tennessee Titans at 3 p.m. Sunday. COURTESY PHOTOS

Plane slides off runway at KCI

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A plane slid off an icy taxiway at Kansas City International Airport on Friday as a sprawling winter storm hit large sections of the Midwest and beyond, leading to the closure of schools, universities and government offices.

The Delta Air Lines flight was taxiing to be de-iced before flying to Detroit when the nosegear slipped off a taxiway, said Delta spokeswoman Martha Witt. There were no reports of injuries aboard the Airbus A319, which was carrying 123 passengers and a crew of six. Witt said the airline was trying to put passengers from Delta flight 1114 on other planes.

The slippery conditions come after the National Weather Service issued winter weather advisories, saying the storm will create hazardous travel conditions from the Plains into the Northeast through the weekend. Snow is forecast over much of the Great Lakes, with a blizzard warning for parts of the Upper Midwest.

The winter weather advisory extended south into western Oklahoma and northern Arkansas, where freezing rain was expected Friday.

In South Dakota and Minnesota, dozens of schools canceled classes Friday ahead of snowfall expected during the day.

In Kansas, Gov. Laura Kelly closed state offices in the Topeka area, urging people in a news release to “stay safe and warm, exercise caution and allow road crews to do their job.”

Sunflower drops coal plant bid

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Sunflower Electric Power Corp. on Wednesday abandoned its proposed coal-fired power plant in southwest Kansas after nearly 15 years of pushing for the project, handing a big victory to environmentalists who opposed the plan from the beginning.

The utility said in a news release that it will allow the air permit for the Holcomb expansion project to expire on March 27.

Sunflower Electric already operates one plant near Holcomb and proposed building an adjacent $2.2 billion, 895-megawatt facility. Sunflower Electric and its largest development partner, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, together invested more than $100 million in the now-abandoned project.

Proponents of the coal plant had argued the project would bring jobs to the area. Environmentalists objected to the facility, citing the potential for greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

The battle over the plant eventually reached the Kansas Supreme Court, which cleared the way for construction in 2017. 

“Fifteen years ago, the price of natural gas was high, and wind generation was in its infancy,” Stuart Lowry, president and CEO of Sunflower said in a prepared statement. “At that time, the expansion of the Holcomb station emerged as the best way to meet our members’ long-term needs for generating reliable, affordable energy.”

The electricity market has changed over the last decade, with the growth of renewable energy and changes in the economy, Sunflower spokeswoman Cindy Hertel said in an email. Hertel also cited the implementation of the Southwest Power Pool Integrated Market, which has joined the rest of the nation’s regional transmission organizations in operating a day-ahead market for electric power.

No new coal-fired plants have been brought online in the U.S. since 2015 and there are none under construction.

Crest schools release semester honor rolls

COLONY — Crest’s middle school and elementary school have announced their respective honor rolls for the first semester of 2019-20.

Crest Middle School

Sixth grade

All A’s: Maxwell Black, Theo Church, Kinley Edgerton, Kaelin Nilges, Levi Prasko, Peyton Schmidt, Allison Weatherman, Drake Weir and Shelby Womelsdorf.

All A’s and B’s: Aubrey Allen, Kelsie Benjamin, Kimora Coleman, Blaine King and McKenna Powell.

Seventh grade

All A’s: Matthew Beckmon, Janessa Buie, Carmen LeGrande, Gentry McGhee, Denton Ramsey and Ryan West.

All A’s and B’s: Karlee Boots, Ruthie Dietrich, Gunner Ellington, Breakin Jones, Halle Klotz and Clayton Scott.

Eighth grade

All A’s: Kaylee Allen, Liliana Blaufuss, Andie Burnett, Kayla Hermreck and Brooklyn Jones.

All A’s and B’s: Mia Coleman, Brenton Edgerton, Ryan Golden, Brayden Goodell, Brody Hobbs, Navaeh Meats, Caty Nolan, Jerry Rodriguez and Rogan Weir.

 

Crest Elementary School

Second grade

All A’s: Elle Beebe, Kasen Brand, Dillon Fermyn, Jaythan Pearish, Haylee Powell, Lukas Taylor, Gage Thompson and Kroy Walter.

All A’s and B’s: Jorden Allen, Lynnex Allen, Mackenzie Carter, Emaleigh Dietrich, Aubrey Allington, Faye Meats, Raylan Preston and Blake Ryback.

Third grade

All A’s: Chloe Burnett, Noah DeTar, Bentley Hammond and Jemma Womelsdorf.

All A’s and B’s: Lukas Blaufuss, Sunny Brewer, Danielle Burnett, Ty Coberley, Athena Cook, Braylee Edgerton, Violet Henderson, Easton King, Heather Prater, Aiden Ryback, Brailey Valentine and Remington Womelsdorf.

Fourth grade

All A’s: Gracyn Ellington, Koiy Miller, Hynter Pearish, Kallei Robb, Kole Walter and Adayrean West.

All A’s and B’s: Grady Allen, Trewit Luedke, Summer Valentine and Jonathan Whitcomb.

Fifth grade

All A’s: Preston Blaufuss and Lane Yocham.

All A’s and B’s: Tristan Boone, Ben DeTar, Wyatt Dickerson, Ethan Flyingman, Xander Fuller, Alecia Gonzalez, Jaycee Schmidt, Gavin Stanford and Phillip Warren.

CHS students earn honors

COLONY — Crest High School has announced its honor rolls for the first semester of the 2019-20 Crest High School school year.

Superintendent’s Honor Roll

(All A’s)

Freshmen — Haylee Beckmon, Trevor Church, McKenna Hammond, Kamryn Luedke and Brinley McGhee.

Sophomores —  Ursula Billings, Lindsey Godderz, Anna Hermreck, Vivian Noah, Ethan Prasko and Tucker Yocham.

Juniors — Tyson Hermreck, Ben Prasko and Victor Susko.

Seniors — Elka Billings, Greg Hardwick and Summer Starr.

Principal’s Honor Roll

(All A’s and B’s):

Freshmen — Avery Blaufuss, Bailee Griffeth, Kolden Ryberg, Stetson Setter and Jack White.

Sophomores — Joshua Sandness.

Juniors — Aubree Holloran and Kobey Miller.

Seniors — Zach Beckmon, Ridley Black and Annika Hobbs.

Putin fast-tracks effort to extend his rule

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin today fast-tracked work on constitutional changes that could keep him in power well past the end of his term in 2024 while lawmakers quickly sealed his choice for new prime minister.

Speaking to a working group created to draft constitutional changes, Putin cast his proposals as a way to strengthen parliament and to bolster democracy. Kremlin critics described the proposed changes as an attempt by Putin to secure his rule for life.

The Russian leader proposed a set of sweeping amendments to the country’s constitution in Wednesday’s state of the nation address. Hours later, he fired Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who was prime minister for eight years, and named tax chief Mikhail Mishustin to succeed him.

The Kremlin-controlled lower house, the State Duma, quickly approved Mishustin by a unanimous vote today.

The reshuffle has shaken Russia’s political elites, who were left wildly speculating about Putin’s intentions and future Cabinet appointments.

A constitutional reform announced by Putin indicated he was working to carve out a new governing position for himself after his current six-year term ends in 2024, although it remains unclear what specific path he will take to stay in charge.

Putin has been in power longer than any other Russian or Soviet leader since Josef Stalin, who led from 1924 until his death in 1953. Under the current law, Putin must step down when his current term ends.

Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, tweeted that Putin’s proposals reflected his intention to “rule until he dies.”

Putin suggested amending the constitution to allow lawmakers to name prime ministers and Cabinet members. The president currently holds the authority to make those appointments.

Speaking to the group tasked with drafting the amendments, Putin emphasized that they are intended to “strengthen the role of civil society, political parties and regions in making key decisions about the development of our state.”

“The role of parliament will grow, and the interaction between parliament and the Cabinet will strengthen,” he said.

At the same time, Putin argued that Russia would not remain stable if it were governed under a parliamentary system. The president should retain the right to dismiss the prime minister and Cabinet ministers, to name top defense and security officials, and to be in charge of the Russian military and law enforcement agencies, he said.

In his address, Putin said the constitution must also specify the authority of the State Council consisting of regional governors and top federal officials.

Observers speculated that Putin might try to stay in charge by shifting into the prime minister’s seat again after increasing the powers of parliament and the Cabinet and trimming presidential authority. Others suggested that he could also try to continue pulling the strings as head of the State Council.

Another potential option is a merger with neighboring Belarus that would create a new position of the head of a new unified state. That prospect that has been rejected by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an autocratic ruler who has been in power for more than quarter century.

Putin said that the constitutional changes need to be approved by a public vote, but officials said it doesn’t imply a referendum and it wasn’t immediately clear how it will be organized.

Upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko said that lawmakers will rush work on amending the constitution and complete it in the spring.

Observers say that Putin’s move to modify the constitution four years before the end of his term may reflect the Kremlin’s concerns that his popularity may suffer amid stagnant living standards. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2021, but some speculated that an early vote could be held.

Putin has kept his longtime ally Medvedev in his close circle, appointing him to the newly created post of deputy head of the presidential Security Council.

Medvedev served as president in 2008-2012, keeping the seat warm for Putin who continued calling the shots as prime minister when he was forced to step down from the top job due to term limits. Under Medvedev, the constitution was amended to extend the presidential term from four years to six, although it limits the leader to two consecutive terms.

The 53-year-old Mishustin is a career bureaucrat who has worked as the tax chief for the past 10 years, keeping a low profile and showing no political ambitions. He has won a good reputation among experts who praised him for boosting tax collection and streamlining Russia’s rigid tax administration system.

Mishustin vowed to focus on social issues and improve living standards.

“We have all the necessary resources to fulfill the goals set by the president,” he told lawmakers before the vote. “The president wants the Cabinet to spearhead economic growth and help create new jobs. Raising real incomes is a priority for the government.”

Indictment: Researcher secretly worked for China

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas associate professor concealed work he was doing for China while employed at the University of Kansas and tried to recruit other researchers and students for the Chinese government, according to revised federal charges filed Wednesday.

An extensively detailed superseding indictment charges Feng “Franklin” Tao, 47, of Lawrence, Kansas, with two counts of wire fraud and one count of program fraud for failing to disclose on conflict-of-interest forms the work he was doing for China while employed as a full-time associate professor at the University of Kansas’ Center for Environmental Beneficial Catalysis. Prosecutors said some of the Tao’s research at the Kansas university was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Tao’s defense attorney did not immediately return an after-hours phone message and email seeking comment.

The 16-page indictment describes how China spurred its rapid economic growth by offering scholarships or funding to foreign students or visiting professors who were studying or working at U.S. universities. It also used “talent plans” designed to encourage the transfer of original ideas and intellectual property from U.S. universities to Chinese government institutions to enhance Chinese “scientific development, economic prosperity, and national security.”

Such talent plans have existed since early 1990s, but the Chinese government re-emphasized them in 2007 as part of its strategy to enhance economic development, federal prosecutors said. The Communist Party of China reviews all talent plan applicants, and the government administers and funds the program using other agencies within the Chinese government.

As of 2016, China had recruited more than 56,000 talent program participants. The indictment said the Changjiang Professorship was one such program sponsored by the Chinese government and the Communist Party. It alleges Tao did not disclose to the University of Kansas his selection for the Changjiang Professorship or the salary for his appointment to Fuzhou University in Fuzhou, China.

The Changjiang contract also required Tao to recruit two to three doctor students and three to four master’s students per year to work with him at Fuzhou University, according to the indictment.

Federal prosecutors also cited in the indictment email exchanges dealing with Tao’s efforts to recruit students and researchers for work in China, and the indictment alleges Tao sponsored at least four researchers and students visiting the University of Kansas from China. At least one of his researchers joined Tao’s research team at Fuzhou University, according to the indictment.

Federal prosecutors detailed in the indictment numerous trips Tao took in 2017 and 2018 to China. He also performed “some duties” at Nagoya University in Japan.

The unusually detailed superseding indictment came on the heels of a defense motion seeking to dismiss the original indictment against Tao after his attorneys claimed a visiting graduate student fabricated  the allegations against him. The judge said during a hearing on that request that a new motion could make some issues raised by the defense moot.

Prior to his arrest in August 2019, Tao was prominently listed as a member of the Fuzhou University on its website, according to the indictment. Shortly after his arrest, all mention of him was deleted from the Fuzhou website. Prosecutors said Tao never requested permission from the University of Kansas to work at Fuzhou University or Nagoya University.

Tau, an associate professor of engineering at the University of Kansas, was born in China and moved to the United States in 2002. He has been employed since August 2014 at the Kansas university’s Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis in Lawrence. The center conducts research on sustainable technology to conserve natural resources and energy.

Ukraiian backs claims of US extortion to smear Biden

WASHINGTON (AP) — A close associate of President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer says he delivered an ultimatum in May to the incoming president of Ukraine that no senior U.S. officials would attend his inauguration and all American aid to the war-torn country would be withheld if an investigation into Joe Biden wasn’t announced.

Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani, made several potentially explosive claims in a televised interview Wednesday night with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. The day after Parnas said he delivered the message, the State Department announced that Vice President Mike Pence would no longer be attending the inauguration of Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskiy.

Parnas alleged that Trump ordered Pence to stay away at the behest of Giuliani to send a clear message to the incoming Ukrainian administration that they needed to take seriously the demand for an investigation into Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate seen as a potential threat to Trump’s 2020 reelection.

Parnas said every communication he had with Zelenskiy’s team was at the direction of Giuliani, whom he regularly overheard briefing Trump about their progress by phone.

“President Trump knew exactly what was going on,” said Parnas, a Soviet-born Florida businessman facing a raft of criminal charges related to campaign finance violations. “He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn’t do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani, or the President.”

Trump’s press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, disparaged Parnas’ account today.

“Just to say ‘Rudy told me these things’ doesn’t mean that it has anything to do with the president,” she told “Fox & Friends.” “And it certainly doesn’t mean that the president was directing him to do anything. We stand by exactly what we’ve been saying: The president did nothing wrong.”

If Parnas’ allegations are true, his account undercuts a key Republican defense of Trump deployed during the ongoing impeachment fight — that Trump’s withholding of vital military aid to Ukraine last summer wasn’t a quid pro quo for Biden investigations because Zelenskiy didn’t know the money was being held up.

Giuliani called Parnas’ statements “sad.”

“I feel sorry for him,” Giuliani said Wednesday in a text message to an AP reporter. “I thought he was an honorable man. I was wrong.”

The new accusations came as House Democrats made public a trove of documents, text messages and photos from Parnas’ smartphones that appear to verify parts of his account.

A federal judge earlier this month ruled that Parnas could provide the materials to Congress as part of the impeachment proceedings. Democrats voted in December to impeach Trump for abuse of power and for obstruction of Congress.

A House committee chairman said Wednesday his panel will investigate what he says are “profoundly alarming” text messages among the newly disclosed materials that have raised questions about the possible surveillance of former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch before she was ousted by the Trump administration last spring.

The messages show that a Robert F. Hyde, a Republican candidate for Congress from Connecticut, disparaged Yovanovitch in messages to Parnas and gave him updates on her location and cellphone use.

Rep. Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Wednesday that the messages are “profoundly alarming” and “suggest a possible risk” to Yovanovitch’s security in Kyiv before she was recalled from her post.

“These threats occurred at the same time that the two men were also discussing President Trump’s efforts, through Rudy Giuliani, to smear the ambassador’s reputation,” Engel said.

Democrats released the files this week as they prepared to send articles of impeachment to the Senate for Trump’s trial. The documents could add pressure on the Senate as it debates whether to hear witnesses in the trial.

The text and phone records show Parnas communicating with Giuliani multiple times a day before Yovanovitch’s removal, as well as a handwritten note that mentions asking Ukraine’s president to investigate “the Biden case.”

Among the documents is a screenshot of a previously undisclosed letter from Giuliani to Zelenskiy dated May 10, 2019, which was shortly after Zelenskiy was elected but before he took office. In the letter, Giuliani requests a meeting with Zelenskiy “as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent.”

One of the documents released by Democrats is a handwritten note on stationery from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Vienna that says “get Zalensky to Annonce that the Biden case will be Investigated.”

Parnas told Maddow he took the notes as he was speaking by phone to Giuliani, receiving precise instructions about the demands Trump wanted to convey to Zelenskiy’s team.

Trump asked Zelenskiy in a July 25 call to investigate the Bidens. Hunter Biden served on the board of a gas company based in Ukraine.

Parnas and his business partner, Igor Fruman, both U.S. citizens who emigrated from the former Soviet Union, were indicted last year on charges of conspiracy, making false statements and falsification of records. Prosecutors allege they made outsize campaign donations to Republican causes after receiving millions of dollars originating from Russia. The men have pleaded not guilty.

Parnas’ lawyer, Joseph Bondy, told The New York Times that his client is looking to cooperate with prosecutors in his case, who are investigating Giuliani and his dealings in Ukraine.

“We very much want to provide substantial assistance to the government,” Bondy told the Times.

Parnas told the newspaper that although he didn’t speak with Trump directly about the efforts, he met with the president on several occasions and was told by Giuliani that Trump was kept in the loop.

In several of the documents, Parnas communicated with Giuliani about the removal of Yovanovitch. The ambassador’s ouster, ordered by Trump, was at the center of the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. Yovanovitch testified in the House impeachment hearings that she was the victim of a “smear campaign.”

Trump on the July call told Zelenskiy that Yovanovitch was “going to go through some things.” She had been recalled from her diplomatic post roughly three months earlier.

On April 23, just before Yovanovitch was directed to return to the United States, Giuliani texted Parnas, “He fired her again.” Parnas texted back, “I pray it happens this time I’ll call you tomorrow my brother.”

Parnas also received messages from Hyde, who referred to Yovanovitch as a “bitch.”

In a Twitter post Tuesday, Hyde called Parnas a “dweeb” and suggested the messages about surveilling the ambassador were a joke. 

The text messages show that Parnas consulted Giuliani in January 2019 after the U.S. denied a visa to former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. Giuliani replied: “I can revive it.”

The following day, Giuliani told Parnas, “It’s going to work I have no 1 in it.” Giuliani then predicted “he will get one,” before giving Parnas the phone number for Jay Sekulow, the leader of the president’s personal legal team. Sekulow is expected to be part of Trump’s legal team during the impeachment trial.

 

TRUMP HAS repeatedly denied knowing Parnas and Fruman, despite numerous photos that have emerged of the men together. Among the materials released from Parnas’ phone this week were more photos of him with Trump, as well as the president’s son Donald Trump Jr., first daughter Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner.

Asked by Maddow about Trump’s denials of knowing him, Parnas said he had spoken one-on-one with the president numerous times.

“He lied,” Parnas said of the president. “I mean, we’re not friends. Me and him didn’t watch football games together, we didn’t eat hot dogs. But he knew exactly who we were, who I was especially.”