Wire
Parents: Slain Little Rock TV anchor sexually assaulted
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A television anchorwoman killed in her home had been sexually assaulted and beaten so badly in a suspected burglary that her jaw shattered and she broke a hand while trying to fend off her attacker’s blows, her parents said Monday. “This monster stole my daughter’s innocence,” said Patti Cannady, the mother of Anne Pressly, on NBC’s “Today.” “He took her life. He took her identity. He took our lives,” she said. Po...
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Retailers offer deals, discounts on ‘Cyber Monday’ promotion
NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers who saw Thanksgiving holiday sales drop off as the weekend progressed stepped up online promotions on the day known as “Cyber Monday” to try to get consumers tired of the crowds at stores to keep shopping. But after weeks of already heavy discounting both at regular stores and online, experts were doubtful that the day would give much of a lift to what is still expected to be one of the weakest holiday seasons in y...
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Obama taps Clinton, Gates
CHICAGO (AP) — Barack Obama announced a national security team Monday headed by Hillary Rodham Clinton, who fought him long and bitterly for the presidency, and Robert Gates, the man who has been running two wars for George W. Bush — striking choices by a president-elect who declared he wanted “strong personalities and strong opinions.” While the team may be a bit more centrist — some war opponents might even say hawkish — that many Obama s...
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Sebelius hosts meals, events at mansion
TOPEKA (AP) — Kansas taxpayers have footed the bill for numerous parties, receptions and other private functions at the governor’s mansion. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported Sunday that 42 functions held by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius at Cedar Crest between January 2006 and May 2008 cost the state $36,000, according to state documents. They have included a July 2007 meal for Delano Lewis, a Washburn University graduate and former ambassador t...
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Oddities
Red Sox fans can show their loyalty for eternity ROCKLAND, Mass. (AP) — Lifelong Red Sox fans can now take their love of the team to the next level — eternity. A Massachusetts funeral home recently took delivery of the first Red Sox casket, which features the team logo on the exterior as well as the inside. The casket is manufactured by Eternal Image of Michigan, which has a licensing agreement with Major League Baseball. Bob Biggins, co...
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Ask Amy
Dear Amy: I have two small children, ages 5 and 7. Recently friends told them that they do not believe in Santa. I was heartbroken when my children reported this to me. I have no problem with parents who want to talk with their children about such things, but they should also respect those who want to keep the magic of Santa alive in the hearts of their children. My comment is just this: When you have decided to talk to your little ones a...
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Parsons lab only one to process Kodachrome
PARSONS (AP) — In 1935 Leopold Mannes and Leopold Godowsky Jr. created a color 16mm film they called Kodachrome. The following year, Eastman Kodak introduced the film to the general public in 35mm and changed the course of photography forever. For nearly 75 years, Kodachrome was — and for many, still is — the gold standard of color photography. Many photographers say that the range of color recorded on Kodachrome cannot be matched by othe...
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New House speaker designated
John Hanna AP Political Writer TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republicans picked a new Kansas House speaker Monday, dumping incumbent Melvin Neufeld after he and his allies lost major debates on energy and gambling. GOP House members and members-elect named veteran Rep. Mike O’Neal, of Hutchinson, as their new leader, on a 41-36 vote. Neufeld, of Ingalls, is the first incumbent speaker to be denied a second two-year term since 1994. The decision st...
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Celebrities
NEW YORK (AP) — Tina Fey’s husband is talking about something the “30 Rock” actress would rather not discuss: the scar on her left cheek. In an interview in Vanity Fair, Jeff Richmond says a stranger slashed Fey’s face when she was 5 years old. Says Richmond: “That scar was fascinating to me. This is somebody who, no matter what it was, has gone through something. And I think it really informs the way she thinks about her life.” Says Fey...
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42 die in Kansas police chases in past 12 years
WICHITA (AP) — Police chases on Kansas roads have cost 42 lives over the past 12 years and injured 37, a newspaper reported Sunday. The Wichita Eagle analyzed state records and found that about 20 percent of those killed were in vehicles hit by fleeing cars. Such statistics anger the families of victims, who say the toll is too high. Michael King’s 44-year-old sister, Peggy King, was killed Nov. 15 when the Buick she was riding in was str...
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Heloise
Dear Heloise: Now that so many people do so much online and the holiday shopping season is upon us, I would like to throw out a lesson. Everyone knows the dangers of credit-card fraud and identity theft that exist when you put your personal info on the Web. A smaller problem is spoiled surprises. I ordered a high-tech DVD player for my husband from a large, reputable store. I had it shipped to me at work for two reasons: Its expense, and my...
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Celebrities
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Malaysian technology conglomerate has repaid $900,000 to Bruce Willis after the actor filed a lawsuit demanding a refund of his investment. Martin Singer, Willis’ lawyer, says the federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles has been “amicably resolved.” The Kuala Lumpur-based Petra Group said Willis invested $2 million last year in its subsidiary, Green Rubber, a developer of technology that can recycle rubber in old tires. ...
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Team of FBI investigators readies to fly to Mumbai
Foster Klug and Lara Jakes Jordan Associated Press Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — A team of FBI agents was ordered to fly to India to investigate the militants who killed four Americans and injured at least two others during a wave of assaults that ripped through a commercial center of Mumbai. American officials were working out the final details Friday with Indian diplomats for the departure of the FBI team, U.S. authorities said, speaking o...
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Abstinence program focuses on Latino youth
Shajia Ahmad The Garden City Telegram GARDEN CITY (AP) — Some teens were too shy to share their private pledges of abstinence, but others read their commitments aloud. “My parents raised me to wait. I want to wait and it be special and wait for that one man,” one girl wrote. Another girl wrote why it was important for her to abstain from sex until she was ready. “We have to respect our bodies until we are prepared physically and mentally,” sh...
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Kansas mother has natural birth on bathroom floor at home
Healthy baby girl born with father’s help after 21-minute labor and delivery Jodie Garcia The Ottawa Herald OTTAWA (AP) — Cristyn Dieckmann wanted a natural birth. She got what she wanted and even more: a 21-minute labor and delivery on her bathroom floor. “It happened so quickly,” she said. “It was an amazing experience,” her husband, Therron Dieckmann, who helped deliver his daughter, said. Clara Faye Dieckmann was born Nov. 9 at 10...
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Greensburg official gets national award
GREENSBURG (AP) — Greensburg City Administrator Steve Hewitt has been named American City and County Magazine’s 2008 Municipal Leader of the Year. Hewitt became well-known for his work helping Greensburg recover from a May 2007 tornado that all but flattened the town. The magazine says the award is for “someone who has vision beyond their leadership and courage beyond the officialness of their title.” Every year, the magazine invites its 8...
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Oddities
Full-size cardboard figure causes NJ bank standoff MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — A standoff at a New Jersey bank is over after police learned a “person” seen inside was actually a full-size cardboard figure. Officers went to the PNC Bank in Montgomery Township on Thursday night after an alarm went off. They saw what they thought was at least one person through the windows of the bank, which had its blinds drawn. The area was sealed off...
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GOP: Sebelius should order cuts
Republican leaders say waiting to reduce spending will cause pain for agencies later TOPEKA (AP) — The two top Republicans in the Kansas Legislature say Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius must immediately order cuts in state spending to make up for falling revenue. House Speaker Melvin Neufeld and Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt urged Sebelius to use her executive power to go beyond asking state agencies to draft plans for 3 percent rollb...
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Bush: Time for klieg lights to go ‘somewhere else’
Natasha T. Metzler Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — President George W. Bush is relishing the chance to see “the klieg lights shift somewhere else,” although he admits he’ll miss perks like White House cooking and flying on Air Force One. “Frankly, I’m not going to miss the limelight all that much,” Bush said in an intimate family conversation with his sister, Doro Bush Koch, about how he’ll feel when he leaves the White House to...
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World Briefs
Indian commandos drop by helicopter into besieged Jewish center; dozens more hostages freed MUMBAI, India (AP) — Commandos ended a siege of the luxury Oberoi hotel on Friday while other forces rappelled from helicopters to storm a besieged Jewish center, two days after a chain of militant attacks across India’s financial center left at least 143 people dead and the city in panic. While explosions and gunfire continued intermittently at t...
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