Wire
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The Hutchinson News on Biden as Obama’s vice presidential pick: Critics were quick to theorize that Sen. Barack Obama’s decision to choose longtime Sen. Joe Biden as a running mate centered solely on the experience factor. Those critics should step back and review history. Obama followed a long list of so-called inexperienced presidential candidates who chose seasoned running mates. Take the present occupant of the White House, for example. T...
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KCMO woman claims $2.45 million Lotto prize
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 59-year-old Kansas City woman has won half of the $4.9 million jackpot in a recent Missouri Lottery drawing. Marva Wilson will receive $2.45 million before taxes if she chooses the annuity or $1.5 million cash before taxes if she chooses the lump-sum payment. Wilson bought her winning ticket the day of the Aug. 2 drawing at Apple Market in Kansas City. Wilson told the Missouri Lottery that she is thinking abou...
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Ask Amy
Dear Amy: Recently a long-term relationship of mine came to a screeching halt. We dated for about 2-1/2 years during college. Though we were never officially engaged, I had given her a ring with a semi-precious stone until I could afford the real thing. We had plans to get married when we could live without support from our parents. Then, out of nowhere, she decided to end our relationship by flirting with other men. When I asked her abou...
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What’s in a name? A lot, Slattery says
MANHATTAN (AP) — Jim Slattery sees something unsettling in the Biosecurity Research Institute at Kansas State University, and it’s not the boxy, industrial architecture. It’s the name of the building: Pat Roberts Hall. Roberts, one of the state’s two Republican senators, is seeking a third term this year. Slattery, a former congressman and Washington lobbyist, is his Democratic challenger. Slattery considers Roberts Hall a “monument to me...
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Deciding if your child can go to school alone
By The Associated Press Tips for deciding whether a child is ready to get to and from school without adult supervision — and how to make the route safer. —Know your child. Some 10-year-olds are mature enough to handle the responsibility that goes with independence. Others are not. —Consider the route. Are there major streets to cross? Will the child be walking or biking alone or with schoolmates? —Set clear rules, such as whether your ch...
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Heloise
Dear Heloise: Natural and man-made disasters are frightening, may also cause chaos and put at risk your personal security. Taking a few minutes today to create an action plan might help you avoid identity-theft-related situations. * Keep copies of birth certificates, driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, death certificates, insurance papers and any other vital papers for each family member in a locked box. Place the box in your car only...
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Celebrities
NEW YORK (AP) — Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty say they were nervous about reuniting for the new incarnation of “Beverly Hills, 90210.” The actresses feuded on and off the set of the 1990s cultural phenomenon, and Doherty left the series in 1994 following a rocky stretch during which she clashed with the cast and producers and showed up late for work. Garth, 36, and Doherty, 37, hadn’t spoken in years before filming their first scene tog...
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Godly or gimmick? Churches offer free gas
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (AP) — Carol Umsted got more than the word of God during services this summer at the Congregational United Church of Christ of Valley City. She also got $50 worth of free gas, thanks to winning a raffle. For the local farmer, it was a nice side benefit, at a time when gas was more than $4 a gallon. Churches nationwide are making similar offers, ranging from gas card raffles to 99-cent gas sales at local stations, to boost...
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As Gustav nears, Gulf Coast puts faith in planning
Becky Bohrer Associated Press Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — With Gustav approaching hurricane strength and showing no signs of veering off a track to slam into the Gulf Coast, authorities across the region began laying the groundwork Thursday to get the sick, elderly and poor away from the shoreline. The first batch of 700 buses that could ferry residents inland were being sent to a staging area near New Orleans, and officials in Mississippi ...
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Kansans called to Miss. for storm assistance
TOPEKA (AP) — Kansans are heading to Mississippi in the coming days to help officials there prepare for Hurricane Gustav. Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the adjutant general’s department, said Thursday that Mississippi had requested five staff members to help with emergency preparedness and response as the storm approached the U.S. Gulf Coast. Watson said two state emergency management staff members and three volunteers from incident manageme...
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Ask Amy
Dear Amy: How do I tell my boss and my peers that my peers should do their jobs? I am the team leader for a project that misses deadlines because the people on my team are distracted by other assignments (sometimes given by my boss). Sometimes they just don’t agree that my task has merit over the other things they could or should be doing. My boss is planning a tell-all retreat. She has already accused me of letting the team down by not me...
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TV’s fall season, with new shows, just around the corner
Frazier Moore AP Television Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The fall season is afoot, with these three shows among the first to hit the air: TNT’s courtroom drama “Raising the Bar”; FX’s series about an outlaw motorcycle club, “Sons of Anarchy”; and HBO’s vampires-are-just-folks horror-comedy-romance, “True Blood.” “Raising the Bar” (premiering Monday, Sept. 1 at 10 p.m. EDT) The 1980s just called, and it wants this drama back. TNT has hyped “Ra...
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Oddities
Lone Star State serves up frightening Fair fare DALLAS (AP) — Everything is bigger in Texas, especially the calorie counts at the State Fair, which will offer such delicacies this year as deep-fried s’mores and a fried banana split. The State Fair of Texas begins late next month, and a competition is being held to honor its tastiest fried fare. The eight finalists were announced Wednesday. They include the campfire favorite and the banana spl...
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Celebrities
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Disappointed Neil Diamond fans will get a refund after attending a concert at Ohio State University in which the 67-year-old singer’s voice sounded raspy. Some fans left the Monday concert early and others said Diamond completed the concert without mentioning anything to the audience about his voice. A statement from Diamond, the singer of such hits as “Sweet Caroline” and “Song Sung Blue,” on Tuesday says a doctor ha...
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Regulators debate energy efficiency programs in Kansas
SALINA (AP) — Utility companies and consumer advocates are pleading their case to Kansas regulators over the potential impact of energy efficiency programs. Utilities argue that while they support conserving energy, they want to make sure the reduction in usage doesn’t wreck their financials. “We are totally committed to energy efficiency,” said Chris Giles of Kansas City Power and Light, “as long as we can have the same level of return we...
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Oddities
Charge dismissed in case of dog registered to vote FEDERAL WAY, Wash. (AP) — A judge has decided that a suburban Seattle woman who registered her Australian shepherd-terrier mix to vote has spent enough time in the legal doghouse. Jane Balogh (BAY’-loh) had been charged with making a false statement but entered into a plea agreement last year. A King County judge dismissed the charge Monday after Balogh showed that she had paid $240 in cou...
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Kansas senator promotes ‘whole life’ philosophy
Sam Hananel Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Most Republicans are familiar with Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback’s passionate views against abortion and embryonic stem cell research. But when Brownback addresses delegates on the final night of the GOP’s national convention next week, he plans to promote his “whole life” philosophy, which links his anti-abortion stand with a call to value life “at every stage.” That means making it a pr...
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Obama and Biden on board for post-Denver bus tour
Kathy Barks Hoffman Associated Press Writer DENVER (AP) — When Barack Obama and Joe Biden campaign by bus in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio after wrapping up the Democratic National Convention, they’ll be following a familiar route. Republicans George Bush and Dick Cheney took a whistlestop tour by train of Ohio, Michigan and Illinois after leaving their national convention in 2000. And Democrats Bill Clinton and Al Gore launched a 1,000-mil...
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Ask Amy
Dear Amy: My husband likes his beer, wine and occasional mixed drink. My teenage daughter often will ask for a sip to taste it. I realize this is normal teen behavior, but there are times when he asks her first if she wants to try it, and this bothers me. I recently found out that he has given her wine coolers when I am not there. I don’t know if she begs first or he just offers. Either way, it is not OK by me. She is 16, almost 17. He thinks...
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Man sentenced to life in prison for Kansas City girl’s 1974 slaying
OLATHE (AP) — A man convicted in the 1974 murder of a 13-year-old suburban Kansas City girl is sentenced to life in prison. John Henry Horton was sentenced Wednesday in Johnson County Court for the death of Lizabeth Wilson, of Prairie Village. The 61-year-old Horton was found guilty in March in Lizabeth’s death. He was convicted on the same charge in 2004 but that conviction was overturned by the Kansas Supreme Court. Lizabeth disappeared...
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