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A bill to help keep kids fed moves forward. Thats coming up on This Land of Ours.

The House and Senate each passed the Keep Kids Fed Act this month, but the bill had to return to the House because the Senate version was slightly different. The Hagstrom Report says the House passed the Senates version of the bill that requires the re-establishment of the reduced price category that Rand Paul of Kentucky insisted on including in the Senate version. The agreement between the leaders of each committee in charge of school meals originally merged the reduced price and free meal categories into one free meal category for the upcoming school year. The legislation also provides $3 billion in additional funding for the school meals program, with offsets coming from rescissions from the Agriculture Department and Small Business Administration programs. Senate Ag Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow says, Schools and parents can rest easy knowing that help is on the way so kids can continue getting school and summer meals.

Story contributed by the NAFB.

Listen to Sabrina Halvorsons This Land of Ours program here.

(USDA/WASHINGTON, June 24, 2022) I am pleased to see that Congress has taken action to provide much needed support to help USDAs child nutrition programs serve nutritious meals to Americas children. Throughout the pandemic, the school nutrition professionals who feed our children faced enormous challenges, which persist today, and they desperately need additional resources and continued flexibilities. The deal passed by Congress will ease some of the uncertainty and provide partial relief to our schools, summer sites and child care feeding programs. As I have said before, it is important to note that schools across the country will still face ongoing challenges and at USDA we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to ensure kids get the nutritious meals they need and deserve.

Sabrina HalvorsonNational Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.

Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She is a native of Californias agriculture-rich Central Valley.

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Keep Kids Fed Act Passed in Both Chambers of Congress - - Southeast AgNet

Ukrainian artillerymen fire the M109 self-propelled howitzer during training at Grafenwoehr Training Area, May 12, 2022. Soldiers from the U.S. and Norway trained Armed Forces of Ukraine artillerymen on the howitzers as part of security assistance packages. (U.S. Army/Sgt. Spencer Rhodes)

WASHINGTON: The Defense Department agency responsible for overseeing foreign arms sales would like to have a presence on the ground to monitor the use of US weapons in Ukraine, but when that will happen is still unclear, its deputy directorsaid Thursday.

We do think that over time, we would like to be able to extend our insights with a greater presence on the ground going forward, Jed Royal, deputy director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, told reporters during a roundtable.

During peacetime, DSCA sends personnel to a foreign nation to open warehouses and arms bunkers to examine equipment and check the serial numbers of high-value weapon systems, Royal said. Right now, in Ukraine, thats just not available to us as a tool.

Currently, DSCA has personnel stationed in Europe that work directly with Ukrainians on arms transfers occurring outside of Ukraine, using paper receipts to track weapons as they move down echelon. However, those officials are somewhat limited in their ability to do more robust monitoring of US made weapons, Royal said.

Once we have more people in country, we should be in a position to actually go do more physical validation [and] verification, going forward, he said. Thats the kind of thing that were looking for here. It still wont be like a peacetime environment for it. So were going to have to get creative in how we do this.

RELATED: US-made jets, air defense on Ukrainian fighter pilots wish listbut not Gray Eagle

Royal added that the agency is not looking to send an operational detachment, but eventually hopes to have a security cooperation office in Ukraine similar to those DSCA has based in other countries.

I wouldnt venture [to guess] in terms of when we will be able to do that or what the what the operational status might be, or the threat environment might be in Ukraine [when we do that], he said, adding that the decision would not be made internally by DSCA but would fall to more senior government officials.

Until then, the assurances DSCA officials have received from the Ukrainians are very robust and satisfactory, he said.

Getting weapons from American stockpiles to Ukrainian forces involves several US agencies, with DSCA responsible for coming up with options of US gear that can meet Ukraines requirements, conducting the necessary security reviews, and pushing those proposal to senior government leaders, who ultimately make the decision on which arms to send.

The United States has delivered more than $6 billion in arms to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February. On Thursday, President Joe Biden said that the US would announce another package worth $800 million in the coming days, which would include advanced Western air defense system for Ukraine, more artillery and ammunition, counter-battery radars, additional ammunition for the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system weve already given Ukraine and more HIMARS coming from other countries as well, he said.

While Congress has been broadly supportive of security assistance to Ukraine, lawmakers across the political spectrum including Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. have raised concerns about the departments seeming lack of oversight.

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DoD agency wants to put weapons monitors on the ground in Ukraine - Breaking Defense

OFFALY certainly took a jaunt down the road less travelled when they appointed a Limerick man as their minor hurling manager but it has yielded rich dividends and is now leading them back towards salvation.

Appointing an outside manager for a minor team was a big step for Offaly. Prior to him taking charge in 2020, it was something that simply didn't happen and while there was no rule about it, the policy in Offaly was to appoint local managers Declan McGovern, a Kildare resident, had served as Offaly minor football manager in the late 2000s but he was a native of Kilcormac.

The appointment of Leo O'Connor as Offaly minor hurling manager in 2020 was new territory for Offaly but it is reaping very big dividends. He was familiar with Offaly hurling as he had come on as a sub during the famous 1994 All-Ireland senior hurling final ironically O'Connor had scored Limerick's finl point in that never to be forgotten decider. That put Limerick five points up and they looked home and dry but a few minutes later when the final whistle blew, Offaly were ahead by six.

It was one of the great hurling finals and it was a defining moment in the life of all that Limerick team, including O'Connor. It is now very ironic that he is now at the fulcrum of Offaly's bid to become a force again. After 2000, Offaly hurling fell off the radar as they went back to the third tier, the Christy Ring Cup while Limerick have been the dominant force of the modern era, a powerful juggernaut who just take the breath away with their hurling and physicality.

O'Connor played a key role in the development of Limerick hurling. He has managed Limerick county teams at every level up to U-21, guiding them to the Munster U-21 title in 2011 and his work with the Limerick development squad system has helped put the foundations in place for their recent success story

Now as Offaly minor hurling manager, he is playing a key role in the development of young players once again. Under his watch, Offaly have had a sensational 2022, winning the Leinster Minor Hurling Championship title for the first time since 2000 and reaching the All-Ireland final for the first time since 1989, when they won their third championship.

He had initially come into Offaly as a coach under Shinrone's Declan Loughnane in 2019. O'Connor had spoken to Offaly GAA chairman Tommy Byrne and Coaching Officer, Martin Cashen about getting involved as well as Declan Loughnane. He had initially worked with Declan in Sligo, introduced through a mutual friend, Christy Phillips and the opportunity to get involved in Offaly intrigued him.

Wexford beat Offaly in 2019 on a day when they hurled well but lost out to a late goal. A team that could have gone on and achieved a lot more that particular year. We had a few injuries going into that game as well, he recalled last week.

In 2020, Offaly got to the Leinster final but it was not played until 2021 because of Covid and a couple of weeks after that defeat by Kilkenny, they were put out by the same side in the 2021 championship in Nowlan Park. It has been a roller coaster year for O'Connor and Offaly the 2020 Leinster final was played on July 4 2021 and now the All-Ireland minor final is on almost exactly a year later, July 3.

Suddenly you are going into an All-Ireland final all in the space of 12 months. It has been a very busy year. A lot of these lads on this minor team, we brought them all in last year and we did an awful lot of work with them, strength and conditioning. Seven of them started last year below in Kilkenny and we finished up with nine or ten of them on the field. Certainly Colm Doyle would have been part of it but he broke his collar bone against Clare in a challenge match, so from that point of view it has been a busy 12 months, but that's how we ended up here - three years in one year!

O'Connor is now living in Tipperary and this adds another edge to Sunday's final. He was a member of the Claughaun club in Limerick, winning a Senior Hurling Championship medal with them as a young lad in 1986, alongside one of their iconic figures, Eamon Cregan, the Offaly manager in 1994.

When you came in were you aware that this year's bunch were particularly talented?

The day they were in the Tony Forrestal I was in Wexford with Martin Cashen with the under 16 team and we stopped by on the way home and saw the Forrestal and you could see there was huge potential in it. They were probably the first Offaly team after a number of years to get into a final. Covid, I think, has levelled the playing field in a lot of ways, - it was a matter in being clever in how you used your players, getting your strength and conditioning into them, that was a major levelling off of the playing field. It proves that when you put in the work like we have done in Offaly over the last two to three years, you can compete at a very high level and hence we are in an All-Ireland minor hurling final.

Offaly changed their backroom team this year with Hughie Hannon, Johnny Pilkington and Martin Cashen replacing Leonard Deane, Ray Cordial and Alan Corboy. Tell us about that?

It wasn't anything major to be quite honest. It happens the whole time in Limerick, my own county, you need to get fellows' experience. I will be very straight, I think ex-inter county hurlers I'm not saying they are the end-all and be-all but I think you certainly need to get that one on one situation. Like Johnny is doing this year. The amount of experience a guy like Johnny Pilkington has, the amount of experience that is in Offaly from the 80s and 90s up to the early noughties is huge and that needs to be transferred to the younger generation and how they do it is the most important thing. Johnny as we all know is a character. He comes in does his one on one, reads situations, reads tactics differently, comes in and comes over to me on the sideline, has a word in my ear. My early morning alarm clock between 7.30-7.40am is Johnny Pilkington ringing me, saying would we try this, would we try that. It is a learning process for us all. Every day is a school day and that is the most important thing.

Coming from Limerick, the poster boy of underage level, with greater resources than Offaly, is it sustainable for Offaly?

I would be very disappointed if it doesn't sustain. Look at what we are in. Four fields, absolutely perfect. This is just a training ground. You have O'Connor Park, you have Birr. If this is not sustainable the way it works in Limerick is from 8am on Saturday morning until 1pm, each development squad comes in for an hour and a half and there is a half hour overlap and coming towards tournament time in July and August they come on Wednesday night for eight weeks before it. That's not major resources. Offaly have this ready made already. It is self contained, you have your gym, you have your ball wall, you have your training fields, you have your astro turf there, everything is self contained here so it is a matter of organising this and putting the right structures in place and making sure the right people are involved in the underage teams coming up, under 14, 15 16 and when they get to minor level. Michael has come in and has done an absolutely fabulous job in where we are.

There are other success stories around Offaly in the last few years. Birr got to an All-Ireland B colleges final that wasn't played because of Covid, that is only a year and a half ago, there are a lot of other success stories around. The under 20 footballers last year, that is huge and certainly this on top of it, getting to an All-Ireland minor final is another major plus within the county.

What is your opinion on the Nowlan Park venue?

Some people consider it the home of hurling. Personally from what I am hearing, the ticket situation has gone really, really well. I think they were worried that Portlaoise would hold the crowd and it has been a major plus for the Leinster Council letting in the Under 16s free and that builds up the crowd. Capacity of 27,000 in Kilkenny and the crowd is so close, I mean who doesn't want to be in a Portlaoise situation again. I mean that night was spectacular for Offaly and the GAA as well. I saw an aerial shot of the ground taken from a drone and you could see the ground full for a Leinster Minor Hurling Championship.

How do you feel about the decoupling of senior and minor?

I was lucky enough to be in a situation where I won an All-Ireland minor medal in Centenary Year below in Thurles and it didn't do me any harm. It is just one of those things where I suppose with the modern era, where things are looked at slightly differently to back then, but in my history, I was born and reared in a GAA family with a Dad who refereed three All-Irelands and I was always there, All-Ireland final day, the minor final was as Gaeilge and the senior final in English.

It became synonymous with the whole scenario. Child protection has a lot to do with it coming along the line, people feel it is putting too much pressure on kids and the minor age coming down a year damned if you do and damned if you don't. It's a difficult one for me personally, I would love to see it played with the All-Ireland senior final. But then, if you have what you had this year with the Leinster Minor Hurling final where are the Offaly people going to get tickets for it?

What puts more pressure on young lads, playing in a packed Nowlan Park or in Croke Park with 70-80% of it empty?

It's not one that we are going to answer. The GAA have obvious reasons for doing what they are doing, all I care about is that we are there that Offaly are in an All-Ireland minor hurling final. It's a fabulous occasion for everyone in the county and I hope everyone gets behind them. Some of them are still 15 years of age. Seven of them finished their Junior Cert last Friday. If it was under 18 some of them might be doing their Leaving Cert, so it is six of one half a dozen of the other.

What did you think of the Tipp v Galway semi-final?

It was a very open game of hurling. Tipp moved the ball well. I thought they were two very good hurling teams. Galway will be disappointed with some of things that happened in the game but minor has really become a development age. From that point of view Galway will be disappointed. We played them recently, we played Tipp very early in the year and we just got over the line. That was last February in Shinrone, so you can't read anything into it.

When you got the team together last December what would you have been saying that a Leinster title was a possibility.

We just met in early December and gave them their programmes. They had these facilities to come and use them when they wanted to. In early January we got them out on the field and if you look back on our history over the last three or four years, there is massive potential within the county and this team having got to a Forrestal final, it was a major step forward. They are a very dedicated, level headed bunch and nothing seems to faze them.

The likes of Portlaoise was unique for the Leinster minor final, none of them would have had the chance to play in anything like that, how did they handle it and how are they handling all that has gone on since?

It happens everywhere and it is up to us to protect them. We are in constant contact with their parents and we manage the situation. Every day is a new day. Parents are in constant contact with me. Keeping them grounded, doing what they normally do at home. We were a little disappointed after the Leinster final with the amount of cramping we had, so we have had nutritionists in and that worked really, really well. Last Friday night no player cramped, which is a credit to Colin Kenny. They are small things but it all comes in to a bigger package.

There was a big difference Portlaoise and the quarter-final against Antrim only three or four weeks previously?

I think that was one of the turning point for the lads this year. That was an Antrim team that was fancied and we put them away fairly comprehensively. That was the day that I asked them could we go to the next level and step up and certainly it happened. I think there is another gear in us. This team, we do play with sweepers at times when necessary, depending on what game plan we have, but it is certainly taking the shackles off them and let them go out and express themselves, go short, play long and we have players all over the field to accommodate that.

What impact did 1994 have on you?

That experience alone, when you are driving down from here at night time and you think of all the things that happened in your career, there are poignant moments in people's lives, and one of the things I probably learned more out of is being beaten in it than if we had won it because with five minutes up we were five points up and I remember it. Gary Kirby was taking a free and Joe Errity was right beside me up at the post and I just looked around and said to the umpire what's left and he said five minutes and probably four and a half minutes from the puck out and eight minutes later Offaly had scored 2-5. The big black hole opened up, Limerick fell into it, Offaly avoided it and everything they seemed to touch . . . . I remember talking to Billy Dooley the following day and he was coming out with Eamon Cregan, a club mate I won a county championship with Eamon Cregan in 1986, ironically as an 18 year old - I remember talking to Eamon and Derry O'Donovan, another Claughaun man who trained Offaly that year, these things happen for a reason. When I look back at the 1981 Offaly team when they turned over Galway, when Pat Delaney went up and caught that ball and popped it, Johnny Flaherty sticks the ball in the back of the net, these things happen in sport, that's why we're all involved in sport.

There is rivalry between Offaly and Tipperary. Johnny Pilkington would have played in the 1987 All-Ireland minor final, is there anything there that you can tap into?

There is always something you can tap into. If you go around this country, the big three traditionally have been Kilkenny, Cork and Tipperary. I live in Tipperary, so I see the traditions they have and how proud they are. They are things we use in the dressing room to drive these lads on to get them over the line. That is part and parcel of it. We are up against one of the big three, I don't know how many All-Ireland minor hurling titles Tipp have, nor do I care, because on Sunday it is going to be us against them and it is going to boil down to 60 minutes of hurling.

Are you as ready as you have ever been?

We have always said, we go game by game by game. Every day is a school day. We have learned as we have gone on. You mentioned about the Antrim thing, that was a major turning curve for us that day in terms of how we handled the situation. It wasn't the greatest field in the world, the grass certainly wasn't cut as we wanted, particularly compared to what we played on in Portlaoise and Thurles, it was a different kettle of fish completely, but these are things that we deal with. These guys don't let it faze them, we take on responsibility and we work for each other.

You were nervous before the Antrim game?

That was the one that I knew if we get over that, we are turning the corner, we are heading for home. That really was the big one.

How much did the Clare game bring you on?

Certainly going four points to nil down was due to the four and a half week break. It doesn't help. Realistically two to three week break is the best scenario, let the players recuperate their bodies. Last Saturday we were all back in the recovery room here and just getting the bodies back right, back training on Monday night and Thursday night and we will look after it from here on in.

Most of Limerick players came through the development squad system, do you envisage some of these Offaly players being involved in a big senior game in Croke Park against them at some point in the future?

Absolutely. In four or five years time, there are a lot of these guys going to be competing against a Limerick team and I have no doubts about that, 100% certain. The potential is there. It is how it is transferred from this level to the next level. Steps of the stairs. I think it is of major importance for the County Board how it is handled over the next three to four years because the potential is there. The strength and conditioning has gone into them. Certainly under my watch in the last three to four years, strength and conditioning has gone into them. You look at Cormac Egan, other than the unfortunate injury, I have no doubt, whether he would be starting on a senior Offaly football, but certainly being introduced and getting an education. The Limerick thing didn't happen overnight and I will categorically say it took 10 years for Limerick to get to where they are. Don't be under any illusions. In 2011 I was manager of the Limerick team that won the under 21, in 2013 they won a Munster senior hurling title. From there on in it gradually started to build. It is how it is managed and how it is phased through.

Is there enough talent to sustain this for Offaly?

There is enough talent around. There is enough hurlers to get them through the system, work them through the phases and get the strength and conditioning in. The strength and conditioning is vitallly important. Everyone talks about the physique of Limerick and I saw the Kilkenny under 20 team beat Limerick in the All-Ireland final this year and the physique of that Kilkenny team. Ironically 11 of them played in the 2020 Leinster minor final only 12 months ago. You see the way Kilkenny are able to do it, so why can't Offaly do it. I think the right process is in place now. I think it is a matter now of exploiting every opportunity that we get.

Offaly need to take credit for what has been achieved as a county. The only way this county can go from where it is now, just take those three teams - say you get three off the 2020 team, three off last year's team, you probably got 4-5 of this year's team, there's the bones of an under 20 team for the next few years, one that would be very well able to compete, one with putting the right process in place, getting the right games, competing at the highest level. That's the one thing we did this year, we have taken this minor team on a tour of Ireland. We have played, the Corks, Tipps, Limericks, we have played them all and we have gained experience.

Are you confident about Offaly?

Within ourselves, if we do the things right the way we wanted to do them and we get our own situation and our own house in order, I think this Offaly team has a lot to bring forward.

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The Limerick maestro at the furnace of Offaly's road towards hurling salvation - Limerick Live

By Dr. Roger H. HullFor The Daily Gazette

If 100 people were asked to describe the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, the overwhelming majority could state it is the right against self-incrimination.

(Among those who have taken the Fifth recently is a long line of Trump acolytes, who, apparently, have forgotten 45 said, innocent people dont plead the Fifth.)

Suppose now those 100 people were asked to state the premise of the Sixth Amendment. Very few could.

Every day one reads articles about whether our 45th president should be indicted for his words and actions regarding the transfer of power following his loss to Joe Biden.

That decision will be made by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Will Garland seek to indict a former president, something that has not been done before in our nations history?

Presumably that decision will be made (relatively) shortly.

Pundits in the press and on television comment daily on what Garland will do.

Assuming he makes the decision to indict and gets the indictment, would he, or a special prosecutor appointed by him, get a conviction?

Here the Sixth Amendment enters the calculation. As the Sixth Amendment states, every person in a criminal proceeding is entitled to a trial by jury.

Since nearly two-thirds of Republicans and one-third of independents still believe the election was stolen from Trump, a jury trial would appear to inure to his benefit.

Why? A criminal jury trial requires a unanimous decision.

Given the fact a significant percentage of those selected to serve on a jury might well feel Trumps actions were justified on January 6 and thereafter, Trump would ostensibly benefit from a jury trial.

Importantly, potential jurors are asked whether they have formed an opinion about the case they are about to hear. Trump supporters clearly have.

Would they answer those questions forthrightly? I have my doubts.

The decision, therefore, becomes a bit more complicated for the Attorney General. After all, while no one is (or should be) above the law, should the Attorney General bring charges when he is uncertain about the outcome? (Most prosecutors would not seek an indictment if they felt they could not get a conviction.)

To complicate matters further, if 45 is indicted and not convicted, will his standing among Americans go up? Presumably so. And, if that is the case, would Garland, in effect, end up enhancing 45s chances for re-election in 2024 by seeking an indictment?

On the first day of law school, students learn to argue a case both ways.

When I taught law, I went a step further: I had students argue a position orally and then write a paper espousing the opposite side of that which they had stated in their oral presentation.

The Garland/Trump scenario can easily be argued both ways.

No, I am not saying I believe 45 did not commit a crime. In fact, I believe he has committed several crimes.

Instead, the argument that can be made both ways is whether a former president, who might be a future president, has his path for re-election made smoother by an indictment on which he is not convicted and, if so, whether the indictment should therefore not be pursued.

No one is above the law, including a sitting or former president.

Yet, if an indictment but not a conviction is obtained, and the former presidents position is politically enhanced by the failure to convict, should the indictment have been sought in the first place?

Doing the right thing usually bears consequences.

In this particular case, those consequences are far higher than usual, since passions have not been this high since the Civil War.

If you were Garland, what would you do?

Dr. Roger H. Hull of Schenectady is president emeritus of Union College and president of Help Yourself Win Foundation.

Categories: Guest Column, Opinion

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GUEST COLUMN: Weigh consequences of indicting Trump The Daily Gazette - The Daily Gazette

Published: 6/29/2022 5:46:23 PM

GREENFIELD Two witnesses in the case against a former western Massachusetts man apprehended in Florida a month after being added to the Massachusetts State Polices list of most-wanted fugitives will not have to testify at his trial, a Franklin County Superior Court judge ruled on Wednesday.

Judge Mark Mason spoke face to face with both individuals, who invoked their Fifth Amendment privileges to not incriminate themselves on the stand, and decided they had satisfied him in arguing their privileges were proper in these circumstances. They could be forced to testify if they accept immunity in exchange for their testimonies. One of the individuals is the complaining witness against Jeffrey Cancel-Muniz, 42, who faces charges of strangulation or suffocation, kidnapping, rape and aggravated rape as a result of a sexual assault that allegedly occurred in Deerfield in May 2020.

Cancel-Muniz appeared at Wednesdays motion hearing with attorney Thomas P. Glynn, who has replaced attorney Isaac Mass. Mass requested to be removed from the case due to a conflict.

Attorney Tyler Ingraham, representing the complaining witness, referred to by only her initials, explained his client was willing to enter the courtroom to speak with Mason, but insisted she not be in the same room with Cancel-Muniz. Mason said every defendant has the right to be physically present in a courtroom and asked Glynn to persuade Cancel-Muniz to go into a cell outside the courtroom. Cancel-Muniz agreed and the witness entered the room, where she was sworn in and spoke with Mason. Cancel-Muniz was ushered back into the room after the woman left and the next witness was sworn in to talk with Mason.

The majority of people in the courtroom were then ordered to leave for what is called a Martin hearing, named after the state Supreme Judicial Court case Commonwealth v. Martin in 1996. This allows the witness to make his or her case for Fifth Amendment privileges in private. The courtroom reopened after about 10 minutes and Mason informed the second witness, represented by attorney John Godleski, that he was free to go.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Sandra Staub of the Northwestern District Attorneys Office.

Cancel-Muniz, a Level 3 sex offender, is being held at the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction in Greenfield. His trial is expected to be held in November.

He was arrested in Florida in April 2021 after a hotel clerk had an issue with him, searched his name online and saw his face on a poster the State Polices Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section had released to news media outlets. Deputies with the Osceola County Sheriffs Office responded to the Travelodge Suites by Wyndham Kissimmee Orange after the lodging facility notified them that Cancel-Muniz was a guest there, according to a statement from Massachusetts State Police spokesperson David Procopio at the time. Deputies verified the warrants against Cancel-Muniz and arrested him as a fugitive from justice.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.

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Two witnesses invoke Fifth Amendment rights in former fugitive's Deerfield case - The Recorder