Wire
NASCAR bans 2009 testing to save teams cash
Sponsorship dollars hard to find; some teams looking for miracle or a merger to avoid folding Jenna Fryer AP Auto Racing Writer HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — NASCAR has suspended all testing at its sanctioned tracks next season in a cost-cutting measure that should help teams save several million dollars in their 2009 budgets. The moratorium, announced Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, bans testing at any NASCAR-sanctioned track, including ...
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Officials worry budget worse than in ‘03
TOPEKA (AP) — Some state officials worry the state budget problems will be harder to solve now than they were in 2003. When Gov. Kathleen Sebelius took office in January 2003, officials said the state faced its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. A looming shortfall was called “a billion-dollar problem.” As their 2009 session approaches, legislators also face a shortfall that, without quick action, could approach $1 billion ...
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World Briefly
Congress examines whether more changes are needed in $700 billion bailout program WASHINGTON (AP) — While the Bush administration shifts course on its $700 billion rescue plan, Congress is examining whether even bigger changes should be made in the program in light of the deteriorating economy and soaring mortgage foreclosures. The debate may not be resolved until President-elect Barack Obama takes office on Jan. 20 and pursues policie...
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Bruce ready to face former team for first time
R.B. Fallstrom AP Sports Writer ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Rams released Isaac Bruce after 14 seasons last winter, and current players don’t want him getting too frisky in his first game as an opponent. Bruce caught the winning touchdown pass in the Rams’ lone Super Bowl victory after the 1999 season, and was with the franchise so long he bridged the gap to 1994, his rookie year and the franchise’s final season on the West Coast. Now ...
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Celebrities
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Rihanna has canceled a concert scheduled Friday in Indonesia over security concerns. Dive Purnomo, a spokeswoman for the event organizer, said the 20-year-old singer had been scheduled to perform before a sold-out crowd of 6,000 in the capital, Jakarta. But she changed her mind while in Australia, one of several countries that issued a travel advisory to citizens in Indonesia after the weekend executions of three ...
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Lawsuit against KU point guard dismissed
LAWRENCE (AP) — A Douglas County District Court judge has dismissed a civil lawsuit against Kansas point guard Sherron Collins. Collins had been accused of sexually assaulting a 35-year-old woman in an elevator in May 2007. Collins’ attorney, Chris Burger, and the woman’s attorney, James Wisler, agreed to file a motion requesting a dismissal with prejudice. Douglas County court officials said Judge Jack Murphy signed the order of dismissa...
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Oddities
Man arrested after wheeling heater down street MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Police in Memphis figured something wasn’t right when they spotted a man wheeling a water heater down a street on a dolly. And when officers got out of their car to talk to 52-year-old Kenneth Bolden, he took off running. The Commercial Appeal reported that police caught him, put him in the squad car and drove around the neighborhood asking him to identify the source of ...
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Cleveland lefty Cliff Lee wins AL Cy Young Award
Mike Fitzpatrick AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Cliff Lee won the American League Cy Young Award in a runaway on Thursday, capping a dominant comeback season that made him the second consecutive Cleveland Indians lefty to earn the honor. Demoted to the minors last year, Lee went a major league-best 22-3 this season with a 2.54 ERA. He received 24 of 28 first-place votes and 132 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association ...
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Lakers 7-0, Pierce keeps Hawks from joining them
The Associated Press The Los Angeles Lakers had a surprisingly easy time staying undefeated. Only a “Super” effort kept the Atlanta Hawks from joining them. Paul Pierce made a jumper with 0.5 seconds left to give the Boston Celtics a 103-102 victory over Atlanta on Wednesday night, handing the Hawks their first loss of the season. The Hawks (6-1) provided another tough test for the Celtics, just as they did in going the distance against t...
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Sprint Nextel offers buyout package to thousands of workers in Kansas City area
OVERLAND PARK (AP) — Sprint Nextel has announced plans to cut more jobs in the wake of reporting the loss of an additional 1.3 million customers and $326 million. Sprint said Wednesday it is offering voluntary buyout packages to an unspecified number of its 57,000 workers, including 12,000 based in the Kansas City area, said Lisa Zimmerman-Mott, a Sprint spokeswoman. “No one is being forced to do anything,” Zimmerman-Mott said. “There are no ...
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Lil Wayne, Kid Rock take stage at CMAs
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — It wasn’t hick-hop but real hip-hop at the CMA Awards as Lil Wayne joined Kid Rock onstage during country music’s biggest night. Kid Rock brought the prolific and best-selling rapper on stage Wednesday as he performed his hit “All Summer Long.” But Lil Wayne didn’t rap: In fact, he didn’t say a word. Instead Lil Wayne, wearing a Tennessee Titans jersey that matched Kid Rock’s, simply remained in the background, strum...
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Holiday highlights: Bond, Nixon, ‘Madagascar’
David Germain AP Movie Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nixon’s back. So are Kate and Leo, Nicole and Baz, a herd of stranded zoo animals and a very vengeful James Bond. Despite the harsh economy, Hollywood has been on a box-office roll the last month, and studios head into the year’s homestretch with a solid lineup of returns, reunions and promising newcomers that could uphold the old saw about movies as a recession-proof business. Lighthearte...
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Marvel Studios announces Downey, Favreau to reteam on ‘Iron Man 2,’ ‘Avengers’
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Robert Downey Jr. will strap on his metal suit to join the superhero team effort “The Avengers” in addition to “Iron Man 2,” Marvel Studios announced Tuesday. Downey is reprising his role as billionaire genius Tony Stark from last summer’s blockbuster “Iron Man,” with the sequel due out May 7, 2010, and “The Avengers,” scheduled for July 15, 2011. The movies are part of a four-picture deal between Downey and Marvel. “Ir...
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Extreme Makeover helps wounded soldier, town
CHAPMAN (AP) — Army Spc. Patrick Tutwiler was shot in the neck in Baghdad. Then while he was recovering at home, an F-4 scale tornado hit Chapman, destroying his house and dozens of others. When his neighbors began rebuilding, Tutwiler, 24, was turned down for loans to finance a new home. He and his wife, four children and a nephew had to move into base housing at Fort Riley. But that would only be temporary because Tutwiler was getting dis...
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Coping with the teenage years
Leanne Italie Associated Press Writer Parenting teens is a tough, stressful job these days, but the payoff can be huge with a reserve of patience and the drive to ask for help when needed. Here are some strategies: DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE Adolescence is about struggle — for identity, independence — but the grab for power often competes with the intense need for reassurance at home and conformity among peers. Teens may fight the lea...
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Topeka legislator not interested in taking Jenkins’ current post
Carl Manning Associated Press Writer TOPEKA (AP) — A legislator mentioned as a potential replacement for State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins is not interested in the job. Some Democrats saw state Sen. Laura Kelly, of Topeka, as a potential replacement for Jenkins. Kelly, the ranking Democrat on the Senate budget committee, won her second term last week. But she said Wednesday, “I have no interest in being state treasurer.” Jenkins will leave t...
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World Briefly
Democrats readying bailout legislation with government ownership stake in Big Three car makers WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Democrats are pushing legislation to send $25 billion in emergency loans to the beleaguered auto industry in exchange for a government ownership stake in the Big Three car companies. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., hope for quick passage of the auto bailo...
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Cessna cuts 665 jobs in Kansas, Oregon
Roxana Hegeman Associated Press Writer WICHITA (AP) — Cessna Aircraft Co. announced Wednesday it is cutting 665 jobs in Kansas and Oregon because of the global economic downturn. Spokesman Doug Oliver said 500 layoffs will be made at Cessna’s 12,000-employee Wichita plant, which builds the company’s larger jets. The other 165 cuts will occur at the Bend, Ore., plant, which has 460 employees producing a high-performance, single piston aircraft...
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Oddities
Missing cat back in California home after 13 years SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — A California couple recently had an unexpected reunion with an old housemate: their pet cat who went missing more than 13 years ago. The cat, named George, was last seen by Melinda Merman and Frank Walburg in 1995. He recently resurfaced when the manager of a mobile home park trapped the sickly feline and gave him to an animal hospital. A microchip implanted in G...
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Kansas Lottery awards slots contract to GTECH
Carl Manning Associated Press Writer TOPEKA (AP) — The Kansas Lottery Commission awarded GTECH Corp. a contract Wednesday to run the central computer system that will control slot machines at state-owned casinos. GTECH, which also operates the Lottery’s online games and terminals, was involved in a computer blunder earlier this year in the Lottery’s Pick 3 game when the system reported the wrong winning numbers on June 29, June 30 and July 1....
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