Wire
How to let kids pet your dog
Linda Lombardi For The Associated Press “Can I pet your dog?” Most of us want to say yes. A good neighbor lets children pet his dog, right? “People want to be nice,” says Colleen Pelar, dog trainer and author of “Living with Kids and Dogs... Without Losing Your Mind.” “But by being nice to people we’re sometimes not nice to our dogs.” Many people don’t recognize the subtle signs of stress in dog body language. You may not realize that y...
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Oddities
Washington dentist’s staff saddles up to beat gas costs ARLINGTON, Wash. (AP) — When gas prices hit $4 a gallon, the staff at Dr. Keith Leonard’s dental office figured it was time to pony up. Since more than half of the dental assistants and √∏office staff own horses, on Wednesday the crew saddled up and rode in to work. “We decided that when gas got to $4 a gallon, we would all ride in,” Leonard said. Ten riders and two bicyclists met u...
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Oddities
Crocodile welcomed into Australian pub by drinkers DARWIN, Australia (AP) — Drinkers at an Outback watering hole may have wondered if perhaps they’d had one too many when they were greeted by a crocodile at the pub’s door. But being good hosts, they did the only polite thing and invited him inside. The saltwater croc was just 2 feet long and more a curiosity than a threat to drinkers at the Noonamah Tavern on Sunday. The aggressive hunter...
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Celebrities
NEW YORK (AP) — As Paris Hilton’s sidekick on “The Simple Life,” Nicole Richie showed a flair for comedy — and an impish glee at cracking jokes at others’ expense. The 26-year-old celebutante will again display a caustic streak in an upcoming guest spot on NBC’s “Chuck,” portraying the mean-spirited high school nemesis of undercover CIA agent Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski). In the episode, which will air this fall, Sarah must confront Ri...
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Ask Amy
Dear Amy: An acquaintance of mine once demonstrated a way to force people to R.S.V.P. if they plan to attend an event, leaving you able to assume fairly safely that those you haven’t heard from aren’t coming. She would simply deliberately leave out the information about the venue of the event -- so if people planned to come, they had to call and ask where it was. I’m sure this method has cons as well as pros -- one that comes to mind is if ...
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Heloise
FOR RELEASE FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2008 Mirror, Mirror, Dirt and All Dear Heloise: I plan to make the recipe for the glass cleanerGLASS CLEANERthat was in your recent column. Does it work on mirrors, too? -- Judy, via e-mail Yes, it does, and it costs a lot less money than the store-bought version. Just mix 1/2 cup white vinegar with 1/2 cup water, or use full-strength 5 percent vinegar. Pour into a clean, labeled spray bottle a...
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State Briefs
Kansas lifts wheat embargo, tests show grain safe WICHITA (AP) — Kansas regulators on Wednesday lifted an embargo on wheat from 20 fields and three grain elevators in seven south-central Kansas counties after test results showed no detectible traces of a toxic fungicide applied too close to harvest. But a separate later embargo remained in place on wheat from 11 northern-Kansas counties, pending test results from those fields, said Lisa ...
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Pentagon asked to block cable broadcast on Christian network featuring uniformed officers
John Milburn Associated Press Writer TOPEKA (AP) — A foundation that has sued the military alleging widespread violations of religious freedom is asking the Pentagon to block a Christian cable TV broadcast featuring officers in uniform. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has raised objections to 20 minutes of the two-hour broadcast of “Carman’s Red, White and Blue Spectacular,” saying the program may violate a prohibition against u...
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Heloise
FOR RELEASE THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 Dear Heloise: Now that many stores have stopped having in-store layawayIN-STORE LAYAWAY, I thought of a new way to put items on layaway. Most retailers now offer rechargeable, prepaid credit cards or rechargeable gift cards. Simply purchase one, put a little money on it and write what it is being used for on it. Then put more money on it every week until you can purchase what you want. It’s also a...
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State Briefs
Missouri inmate pleads guilty to making threats KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri inmate has pleaded guilty to making threats to lace food products with cyanide at a Kansas City Wal-Mart. Hugh L. Riley Jr., an inmate at the Jefferson City Correctional Center, pleaded guilty in a federal court on Wednesday to mailing a threatening communication. The letter to Wal-Mart asked for $200,000 to stop the contamination of food products. According to...
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Man gets life sentence in death of pregnant teen
WICHITA (AP) — A 51-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday to life without parole for killing a pregnant 14-year-old girl. A jury in May convicted Ted Burnett of aggravated kidnapping and capital murder in the strangulation of Chelsea Brooks in 2006. Brooks was nine months pregnant when the father of the baby allegedly paid Burnett $500 to have her killed. Brooks’ family members, including her mother, father and sister, addressed the court ...
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World Briefs
China says North Korea will turn over declaration on its nuclear program BEIJING (AP) — China says North Korea will submit a long-delayed declaration of its nuclear program, a step that could see the U.S. start removing it from its terrorism blacklist. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei says North Korea on Thursday “will submit its nuclear declaration to the chair of the six-party talks.” He also says the United States will fulfill ...
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Ask Amy
Dear Amy: I am a single mother with two children. We live on a tight budget. My neighbor invited my son to her son’s birthday party and my daughter to the party for her twins the following week. My children chose the birthday gifts. I thought these gifts were fine -- there was a boy’s gift and two separate gifts for the twins. My neighbor called me the following week and said basically that her children didn’t like the gifts and they didn’...
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Oddities
Man leaves Georgia jail naked, gets arrested again SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Sometimes, it’s better to look like a jailbird than sport a birthday suit. Police say Bill Merit, 49, left the Chatham County jail and began walking by the side of the road, naked. Witnesses called police, who arrested him and jailed him again on a charge of public indecency. A police report says Merit told an officer that he didn’t take the clothes jailers gave him b...
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U.S. military deaths in Iraq war at 4,110
By The Associated Press As of Wednesday, June 25, 2008, at least 4,110 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,342 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers. The AP count is five more than the Defense Department’s tally, last updated Wednesday at 10 a.m...
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Some Kansas wheat embargoed
Roxana Hegeman AP Farm Writer WICHITA (AP) — Regulators embargoed some winter wheat fields in some south-central Kansas counties and grain in three elevators after a spot check showed farmers had applied a toxic fungicide too close to harvest, the Kansas Department of Agriculture said Tuesday. “We hope this is entirely precautionary to protect the integrity of Kansas wheat,” said Kansas Agriculture Secretary Adrian Polansky. “We are very ho...
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Wilson County cracks top 10 in methane production
LAWRENCE (AP) — A new method for recovering natural gas in southeast Kansas has helped Wilson County crack the top 10 among producers in the state. According to a recent report from the Kansas Geological Survey, Wilson County rose to eighth place in 2007 with 15.3 million cubic feet of methane. The gas is being extracted from coal beds in what is known as the Cherokee Basin Coal Area. The region is the third-largest producing gas field in t...
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Two dead in Leavenworth County plane crash Tuesday
TONGANOXIE (AP) — Two people were killed Tuesday when their small plane crashed in Leavenworth County, the Kansas Highway Patrol said. The patrol identified the victims as James Phillip Jambor, 24, of Fort Worth, Texas, and Murray Brown, 47, of Kansas City, Kan. Patrol dispatchers said investigators were still searching wreckage Tuesday evening, but declined to release other information about the crash. The plane crashed Tuesday morning i...
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Spirit Aerospace workers vote to keep embattled union
WICHITA (AP) — Professional and technical workers at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita are keeping their union. Slightly more than 54 percent of voters Tuesday favored retaining representation from a unit of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace. The tally was 1,073 votes for SPEEA, with 895 votes against. “Now we know this decertification nonsense is behind us, we can concentrate on the real problems of our members,” ...
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Heloise
FOR RELEASE WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2008 The Smell of Burnt Popcorn EDITOR’S NOTE: IN “CRISP CARROTS” HINT, THE WORD “VOILA” HAS AN ACCENT MARK OVER THE A. Dear Heloise: I love making popcornPOPCORN, but if it burns, the smell lingers for days in the microwave. How can I make the smell go away? My dorm mates will be happy! -- A college student, via e-mail College students aren’t the only ones who have experienced what I c...
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