Wire
Topeka to auction historic Sumner School
TOPEKA (AP) — The city plans to auction off a former elementary school linked to the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic Brown v. Board of Education decision against segregated schools. Sumner Elementary closed in 1996. The city bought the building six years ago and has been trying to find a group that could redevelop it. The City Council voted 8-1 Tuesday to auction the school to the highest bidder. A minimum bid of $50,000 will be required, an...
full story
Missouri board gets questionable voter registrations
Bill Draper Associated Press Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Election officials in Missouri are sifting through hundreds of questionable or duplicate voter-registration forms submitted in the Kansas City area by a group that has been accused of elections fraud in other states. Charlene Davis, co-director of the Jackson County Election Board in the county seat of Independence, said fraudulent registration forms from the Association of Commu...
full story
Biofuel plants in Missouri hit economic road block
Chris Blank Associated Press Writer LILBOURN, Mo. (AP) — It’s one of the newest buildings in this small agricultural town. Aligned between two city water towers, the 120-foot long biodiesel plant gleams in the sun. The paint on its sign hasn’t even chipped. But weeds have begun to encroach on the Great River Soy biodiesel plant, which produced just 94,000 gallons over two weeks before it ran out of money and was shuttered. It’s a scene t...
full story
Rivals competing for voters’ trust on economy
Liz Sidoti Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — With the deepening U.S. economic crisis rippling around the globe, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain seem to agree the question facing anxious voters is: Who do you trust? “All we heard from Sen. McCain was more of the same Bush economics that led us into this mess,” Obama said in Indianapolis the day after their second debate. “He thinks we won’t notice” downsides of his hea...
full story
Celebrities
NEW YORK (AP) — Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, who always has been afraid of flying, says he’s glad to be alive after suffering severe burns in a fiery plane crash last month. “I hate planes,” Barker said in an interview with Us Weekly magazine. “My biggest fear ever is to be involved in a plane crash, so when that happened ... well, I’m just thankful to be alive! I’m just grateful to be here at all.” The 32-year-old musician and ...
full story
Oddities
Two people watch 123 hours of movies in NYC NEW YORK (AP) — You may want to try this at home. Suresh Joachim of Toronto, and Claudia Wavra of Germany, claim to have broken the world record for continuous movie watching, after seeing 57 films in 123 hours in a plastic-glass house in New York’s Times Square. A Guinness World Records spokesman said it appears the non-dynamic duo have broken the record but said it will take two weeks to offic...
full story
Stocks tumble as Street worries about financials
NEW YORK (AP) — The misery worsened on Wall Street Tuesday, with stocks piling on losses late in the session and bringing the two-day decline in the Dow Jones industrials to more than 875 points amid escalating worries about credit markets and the financial sector. The Dow lost more than 500 points and all the major indexes slid more than 5 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index saw its first close below 1,000 in five years. Steps by...
full story
Fort Riley wins Army award for quality of life
John Milburn Associated Press Writer TOPEKA (AP) — The Army has recognized Fort Riley’s efforts to improve the quality of life for soldiers and families. During the 2008 Association of the United States Army annual meeting on Tuesday, the Army presented Fort Riley with the Quality of Life Partnership Award. The honor recognizes Fort Riley’s efforts to reach out to the surrounding communities to address housing, education, health care, employm...
full story
Senate candidate outlines tuition proposal
John Hanna AP Political Writer TOPEKA (AP) — Democratic Senate candidate Jim Slattery has proposed greater income tax credits to help families offset college tuition costs, but Republican incumbent Pat Roberts’ re-election campaign criticized how Slattery would pay for the plan. Slattery’s proposal, announced this week, would provide a credit of up to $5,000 each year for up to four years to each student in a family earning less than $200...
full story
Heloise
Dear Heloise: One recent Sunday, a lady in our group brought a container of potato salad from the store for a potluck. It sat out on our kitchen counter for probably a couple of hours, and about a fourth of it was eaten. She said she would put it back in our refrigerator and serve it again the following Sunday. I said that potato salad has a reputation for being really perishable, and I didn’t think it should be kept for a whole week. She wa...
full story
Ask Amy
Dear Amy: Should I be worried if my 12-year-old son in middle school is not as socially active as he has always been? He goes to school dances and football games; he plays sports on teams; he does great in school in all advanced classes; but his social life has changed dramatically over the last few months. A number of his best friends play football, and my son plays soccer. A lot of his old friends are maturing and going through puberty, a...
full story
Udall donates trees to Greensburg UDALL (AP) — Members of the Udall Community Historical Society are returning to Greensburg this weekend to plant trees
Udall donates trees to Greensburg UDALL (AP) — Members of the Udall Community Historical Society are returning to Greensburg this weekend to plant trees. The members, along with Westar Energy’s Green Team, will arrive Saturday in Greensburg, which was nearly destroyed by a tornado last year. Historical society spokesman Jerrold Hoffman said it’s the third trip for the group, which started the project a year ago. Udall was the victim of t...
full story
Celebrities
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Misty May-Treanor is too hurt to keep dancing. The 31-year-old “Dancing with the Stars” contestant and Olympic gold medalist volleyball player appeared at the conclusion of Monday’s show on crutches and with a cast on her left leg to announce that she’s out of the popular ABC dancing competition after injuring herself while rehearsing Friday. “I heard a pop,” said May-Treanor, who was practicing the jive on the show’s ballr...
full story
World Briefly
Asian markets plunge as bailouts in U.S., Europe fail to ease fears of global financial crisis SINGAPORE (AP) — Asian stock markets plunged Monday as government bank bailouts in the U.S. and Europe failed to alleviate fears of a global financial crisis that would depress world economic growth. Investors took scant comfort from Washington’s passage of a $700 billion bank bailout on Friday, focusing instead on a dismal U.S. jobs report t...
full story
Oddities
Woof and worship: church welcomes pious pets WEYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — The Pilgrim Congregational Church is going to the dogs, and that’s just fine with the Rev. Rachel Bickford. The church launched what Bickford hopes will be weekly “Woof ’n’ Worship” services Sunday when parishioners can bring their pious pooches. Bickford got the idea from reading the Bible. She came across a Psalm that talks about “letting all living things praise the L...
full story
Celebrities
Lohan’s estranged father to jump into boxing ring NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Lohan isn’t the type to back down from a fight. The estranged father of Lindsay Lohan has publicly feuded with the actress, her girlfriend Samantha Ronson and her mother Dina Lohan. For his next battle, Lohan will use his fists rather than his mouth: He’s auctioning off the chance to knock him out in a charity boxing match Nov. 24 at the Hilton Long Island in Melvil...
full story
Southeast Kansas casino applications due Jan. 21
TOPEKA (AP) — The Kansas Lottery Commission has set a deadline of Jan. 21 for submitting applications to manage a state-owned casino in southeast Kansas. Ed Van Petten, executive director of the Kansas Lottery, said he expects some applicants after Penn National Gaming Inc., last month walked away from its Cherokee County contract. Penn, the sole applicant for the southeast Kansas zone, said it couldn’t compete with an Oklahoma tribal casin...
full story
Bailout an issue in 3rd District race
TOPEKA (AP) — Rep. Dennis Moore is the only member of the state’s congressional delegation to have voted for a financial industry bailout, and it’s become an issue as the Democrat seeks re-election in the 3rd District. Republican challenger Nick Jordan opposed the $700 billion measure that Moore supported. Jordan said he supports free market solutions, which could include a temporary suspension of the federal tax on capital gains. Moore sa...
full story
Searchers find Fossett’s plane but not his body
MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. (AP) — More than a year after the mysterious disappearance of millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, searchers have found the wreckage of his plane in the rugged Sierra Nevada along with enough human remains for DNA testing. The remains were found amid a field of debris that stretched 400 feet long and 150 feet wide in a steep section of the mountain range, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday at a pre...
full story
Celebrities
ATLANTA (AP) — Bow Wow once thought that politics was only for “old folks,” but the 21-year-old platinum-selling rapper said he’s had a change of heart and wants other young people to vote. “I used to think going to the mall and hollering at girls (was) more important,” he said. “But in reality, we are in a different time now. My focus now is to take it a step further to make a change and vote.” On Wednesday he kicked off a 15-city tour ur...
full story