Data center lessons. Gender-inclusive policies. New age of atrocity.

By Sherman Smith | editor-in-chief

TOPEKA — Kansas communities exploring data center development must put policies in place to protect residents, the environment and long-term economic growth before building begins, national experts say.

Mike Turner, a Loudoun County, Virginia, county official, learned about holding data centers accountable through “painful lessons.”

Loudoun County is often called “data center alley,” with 70% of the world’s internet traffic going through 253 data centers located there. Turner wrote a white paper about what government entities should consider before approving a data center.

“The 15 best practices are based on six factors that you have to address before we say yes to a data center: sound, power, water, emissions, setback and appearance,” he said. “Right now, if you measured, we probably don’t pass five of the six. Our new ordinances that we’re crafting and have been crafting for the last two years do address all six.”

LAWRENCE — The U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Education announced a plan for increased enforcement measures against two Kansas school districts for their gender-inclusive policies.

In April, the department found four public school districts — Olathe, Shawnee Mission, Topeka and Kansas City, Kansas — were in violation of federal Title IX civil rights protections. Reasons included allowing students to change their name or pronouns used at school without clear communication to parents and allowing transgender students to use the restroom, locker room and changing room that aligns with their gender identity.

On Tuesday, the Education Department announced it would work alongside the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division to take “enforcement measures” against the Olathe and Shawnee Mission school districts for failing to comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA.

By Huascar Medina

Día de Detenido-Desaparecido — Day of the Detained-Disappeared — occurs Aug. 30.

It was introduced in 1981 by the Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared-Detained Persons (FEDEFAM) and later adopted and formalized by the United Nations in 2010 to honor victims of enforced disappearance worldwide as the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

This day of commemoration and awareness was born from the struggles of families in Latin American countries tormented by dictators throughout the 1970s and 1980s. These leaders included the likes of Augusto Pinochet of Chile, Jorge Rafael Videla of Argentina, Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay and Hugo Banzer of Bolivia.

During this period, military-backed rightwing dictatorships conspired with the support of the United States to persecute and eliminate political, social, student and trade-union activists.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service took another step Thursday in implementing a Trump administration policy to restrict mail-in voting, even as a high-stakes legal battle plays out and midterm elections approach.

WASHINGTON — A developing trade war with Canada could bite Republicans ahead of the upcoming midterm elections as voters worry about rising prices and industries in states with competitive races could suffer.

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