Wire
Heloise
Dear Heloise: When you travel and have to take off your shoes to go through security, take along a package of wipes to clean off your feet before putting back on your shoes. I was in the airport putting on my shoes, and a lady there was not sure that she wanted to put her shoes back on, so I offered her a wipe. -- A Reader, via e-mail This is good for people who are “barefoot.” I keep a pair of nonskid, lightweight knit slippers in my carry...
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Priest shortage could alter college identities
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The shortage of Roman Catholic clergy isn’t just being felt in church. Religious orders that have founded and run Catholic colleges and universities across the U.S. — in some cases for more than a century — are grappling with how to retain the institutions’ distinct religious identities in the face of declining numbers of priests and nuns. The Rev. Timothy Lannon, president of Saint Joseph’s University, can envision a t...
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Rancor increases in 2nd District race
John Hanna AP Political Writer TOPEKA (AP) — Republican challenger Lynn Jenkins continued to face questions Thursday from Democrats about her performance as state treasurer as she campaigns to unseat Rep. Nancy Boyda. Meanwhile, Jenkins’ fellow Republicans stepped up their criticism of Boyda in hopes of preventing the Democratic incumbent from winning a second term in the 2nd District of eastern Kansas. The two candidates have sparred in...
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Statewide, students do better on tests
TOPEKA (AP) — Kansas students’ scores on standardized reading and math tests continue to improve. The state Department of Education report card on tests given last spring shows 84.1 percent of students who took the reading test scored in the top three achievement categories, compared with 59.2 percent in 2000. In the math category, it was 81 percent last spring, compared with 50.3 percent in 2000. “We are just very pleased with the results...
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Law experts: Florida conviction possible without body
Mark Wangrin Associated Press Writer ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Prosecutors have DNA tests and hair samples. They have testimony about “the smell of death” in the trunk of the suspect’s car. What they do not have is a body. Prosecutors building a case against a single 22-year-old Florida mother accused of killing her young daughter will have to rely on forensic evidence and persuade a jury that Casey Anthony lacks credibility and had a motive,...
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Hopper receives Legion of Honor
PARIS (AP) — Dennis Hopper has been named a commander in the French Legion of Honor. The 72-year-old actor was visibly moved as he received France’s most prestigious prize at a ceremony in Paris on Monday. The Cinematique Francaise in Paris is opening an exhibit on Hopper this week that will run through January 19. Hopper’s screen credits include “Apocalypse Now,” “Blue Velvet” and 1969’s “Easy Rider,” which he also directed.
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E-mail about Obama angers some Democrats
JUNCTION CITY (AP) — A Republican county official’s e-mail linking Barack Obama to Muslim extremism is drawing Democratic protests. Geary County Treasurer Kathy Tremont forwarded the e-mail to her staff last week. She says the e-mail related to issues she and others in the office had been talking about. Tremont says she has apologized to her staff for forwarding the e-mail. Internet rumors have falsely claimed that Obama is Muslim. The De...
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Two reports of unexpected charges by Obama campaign
Margaret Stafford Associated Press Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two Missourians who support John McCain say they were stunned to find charges on their credit cards directed to the Barack Obama presidential campaign. Sandy Pogones of Camdenton and Steve Larman of North Kansas City each found a $2,300 charge on their credit card bills recently for the Obama for America campaign. Their credit card companies removed the charges, but both sa...
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Celebrities
Janet Jackson to resume tour after bout of vertigo NEW YORK (AP) — Janet Jackson is returning to her “Rock Witchu” tour and — finally — revealing the mystery illness that led her to cancel a string of concerts. Following two weeks of scrapped shows, Jackson was scheduled to resume her tour Wednesday night at the Verizon Center in Washington after a bout of migraine-associated vertigo. She is being treated for the illness, which is characte...
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Cromwell plays derisive dad as elder Bush in ‘W.’
David Germain AP Movie Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Cromwell approached the role of President George H.W. Bush in Oliver Stone’s “W.” with one certainty: He would avoid the sort of caricature Dana Carvey embodied years ago when he did Bush on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” The lanky Cromwell had the height requirement but otherwise did not resemble the elder Bush, whose touchy relationship to George W. Bush is pivotal in Stone’s film bio...
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Top 5 lists in entertainment.
Television 1. “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS. 2. “Dancing with the Stars,” ABC. 3. “NCIS,” CBS. 4. “Criminal Minds,” CBS. 5. “CSI: NY,” CBS. (From Nielsen Media Research) Film 1. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” Disney. 2. “Quarantine,” Sony Screen Gems. 3. “Body of Lies,” Warner Bros. 4. “Eagle Eye,” DreamWorks-Paramount. 5. “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” Sony. (From Media By Numbers LLC) Hot Five 1. “Live Your Life,”...
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Ask Amy
Dear Amy: The last year has been brutal. In addition to the death of a family member, being harassed at work and being diagnosed with diabetes, I learned that my boyfriend, “Dave,” was cheating on me through all of it. I was with Dave for two years, and for the last six months we have spoken frequently about marriage and wanting to have children. I learned that Dave was having a physical and emotional affair with another woman, and was talkin...
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Slattery blames Roberts for Iraq war
John Hanna AP Political Writer OVERLAND PARK (AP) — Democratic challenger Jim Slattery blamed Republican Sen. Pat Roberts on Wednesday for the Iraq war, and Roberts called the statement irresponsible. Slattery later tempered remarks he made during the candidates’ last scheduled debate, saying all senators who supported the 2003 invasion, including Roberts, bear some responsibility for the unpopular war. But he also repeated his belief tha...
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Oddities
32 cats, note from ill owner left with Alabama vets OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) — Five veterinary clinics in eastern Alabama received 32 surprises in the last week: Healthy cats in containers and carriers, along with notes from an anonymous donor saying she is dying from cancer. The notes signed by “Miss R” beg the vets to find her pets new homes. “My time is very, very short,” the donor wrote. “There is not enough time to find homes for my childr...
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Exhibit promotes healthy choices for school children
DODGE CITY (AP) — The gym at Linn Elementary School was full of excitement recently as students traveled through a Body Venture exhibit for their physical education class. The kids learned about a healthy lifestyle by being transformed into food and going to different parts of the human body. “It’s about learning good nutrition and physical activity,” said Judi Salyer, a Body Venture manager. The children started their adventure in the lu...
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DJ AM says fleeing jet crash recalled ‘Miami Vice’
NEW YORK (AP) — DJ AM was jolted from a nap by a real-life nightmare: the fiery plane crash in South Carolina that left him badly burned and killed four passengers. After falling asleep on the runway, “The next thing I remember is us crashing into something,” the celebrity disc jockey tells People magazine. “I woke up to (fellow survivor Travis Barker) screaming and the plane engulfed in flames. I remember thinking it was like ‘Miami Vice,’...
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Moore spent more than $1.1 million since July
Sam Hananel Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Dennis Moore has spent more than $1.1 million since July in his bid for a sixth term from Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District, according to campaign finance reports filed Wednesday. The Democrat from Lenexa faces a well-financed challenger in Republican Nick Jordan, a state senator from Johnson County who has criticized Moore for supporting Congress’ $700 billion financial industry...
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World Briefs
Dow ends with a 733-point loss The economy lurched deeper into the doldrums Wednesday and took the stock market down with it, sending the Dow Jones industrials to a staggering 733-point loss and erasing any hopes that the convulsions that have shaken Wall Street for a month were over. The daylong sell-off came as retailers reported the biggest drop in sales in three years and as a Federal Reserve snapshot showed Americans are spending le...
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Heloise
Dear Heloise: I am a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Southern Maine, and I enjoy reading your column in the Morning Sentinel, which is the newspaper in my hometown of Waterville, Maine. My hint is in regard to brown paper bag lunches. I use these to take my lunch to work and always like to add a piece of fresh fruit. I could never find anything to do with the stickers that come on the fruit. Then I realized that after I folded th...
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Kansas honey output falling
HUTCHINSON (AP) — Kansas honey production is half what it was in 2004, but not because of a strange phenomenon wiping out beehives in much of the nation. Kansas State University entomologist James Nechols said Tuesday the state’s honey losses could be blamed on the environment, drought patterns, reduction of floral sources and retiring beekeepers. He said, however, that Kansas is among the states unaffected by the phenomenon, known as Colo...
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