Wire
Offutt gets new Air Force unit
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- Nebraska officials hope to convince the Air Force that the best location for its new Cyber Command headquarters is Offutt Air Force Base on the south edge of Omaha. Nebraska, along with the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, responded to the Air Force's request for information ahead of this week's July 1 deadline. To bolster the case for Offutt, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman solicited letters of support from th...
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Man wrongly jailed can't sue
WICHITA -- A man mistakenly jailed in Colorado and Kansas for a month can't sue Sedgwick County or its sheriff, a federal judge has ruled. Francisco J. Reyes, of Kansas City, Kan., was held for a month in 2005 after authorities mistakenly matched him to a man wanted in a baby's rape. In dismissing Reyes' lawsuit on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil of Kansas City, Kan., said Reyes can't sue Sedgwick County commissioners or Sheriff...
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Sentencing delayed for Braden
KINGMAN -- The former police chief of Kingman will have to wait two more weeks before hearing his sentence for domestic violence. A sentencing hearing for John Braden was scheduled for Thursday in Kingman County District Court, but had to be postponed until July 18 because of a scheduling conflict. Braden pleaded guilty May 30 to felony criminal threat and misdemeanor battery following a fight with his girlfriend in April. He resigned as poli...
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Beasley cracked sternum
MIAMI (AP) -- Michael Beasley slightly cracked his sternum in a collision with a teammate earlier this week, yet still could be with the Miami Heat when the team opens summer league play Monday. Daequan Cook won't be so lucky. The Heat announced Friday that Cook has separated his left, non-shooting, shoulder, meaning he won't be available for the five-games-in-five-days summer league schedule starting Monday in Orlando. Cook -- who suffered t...
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Betancourt cries with joy upon arriving in France after 6 years as hostage in Colombia
PARIS (AP) -- "I cry with joy," Ingrid Betancourt said. And she did. After six years as a hostage in the Colombian jungle, the former Colombian presidential candidate and French citizen flew back to her beloved France to be embraced Friday as an icon by the country that raised her. A hero's welcome -- led by President Nicolas Sarkozy -- greeted Betancourt from the moment she descended from the plane at the Villacoublay air base southwest of P...
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KU student dies in shooting
LAWRENCE -- Lawrence police are searching for a 46-year-old man charged with second-degree murder in the off-campus death of a University of Kansas student. Twenty-five-year-year-old Jana Lynne Mackey was found dead Thursday in a home near Lawrence Memorial Hospital. According to police, Mackey was reported missing around 4:30 p.m. Her car was subsequently found in the hospital parking lot, and her body was found later. Police have issued an ...
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Big Sur, Los Padres National Forest fires raging along California coast
By The Associated Press BIG SUR, Calif. -- A pair of out-of-control wildfires roared along California's central coast Friday, chewing through opposite ends of a parched forest and threatening a total of more than 4,500 homes. While flames from the stubborn fire in the northern flank of the Los Padres National Forest inched closer to Big Sur's historic vacation retreats, state emergency officials said hot winds had caused a newer blaze 200 ...
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Vacation Bible school gets a pricey facelift
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- It's a wonder vacation Bible school made it out of the 1960s. Back in the days of black-and-white TV, churches offered kids lemonade, cookies and flannel-board stories about Jesus, all set to a clanging piano. Children sat in short wooden chairs and listened to the tales for what seemed like an eternity. Things are different in 2008. DVDs and video screens are everywhere, along with professionally recorded music, d...
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Jesse Helms dies at 86
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Former Sen. Jesse Helms, who built a career along the fault lines of racial politics and battled liberals, Communists and the occasional fellow Republican during 30 conservative years in Congress, died on the Fourth of July. He was 86. "It's just incredible that he would die on July 4, the same day of the Declaration of Independence and the same day that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died, and he certainly is a patriot in t...
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Companies begin quest for oil, gas near Florida
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) -- Oil companies once viewed drilling in the deep waters off Florida as cost prohibitive. Politicians feared even the slightest sign of support would be career suicide. No more. Record crude oil prices are fueling support for oil and natural gas exploration off the nation's shores. In Florida, movement was underway even before President Bush called on Congress last month to lift a federal moratorium that's barred new offs...
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BoSox pop Yankees
NEW YORK (AP) -- Mike Lowell hit a go-ahead, three-run homer Friday helping spark the Red Sox to a soggy come-from-behind 6-4 victory over the New York Yankees. Lowell's homer came two innings after Kevin Youkilis' shot squirted out of Johnny Damon's glove, bounced off the top of the left-field wall three times, and sat on the fence for several tantalizing seconds. Youkilis' ball rolled back to the field for a tying, two-run triple, Damon...
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Sheets picks up 10th win for Brewers
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- J.J. Hardy and Bill Hall hit two-run homers, Ben Sheets worked out of several jams to earn his 10th win and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1 on Friday. Sheets (10-2) stranded eight runners in the first five innings, allowing one run and eight hits before departing with two outs in the sixth after throwing 120 pitches. He became the sixth 10-game winner in the NL this season. Carlos Villanueva picked up h...
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SAPPORO, Japan (AP) -- Between surging oil prices, food inflation and a credit crunch that's depressed global growth, leaders from the Group of Eight economic powers face the gravest combination of economic woes in at least a decade when they gather next week
SAPPORO, Japan (AP) -- Between surging oil prices, food inflation and a credit crunch that's depressed global growth, leaders from the Group of Eight economic powers face the gravest combination of economic woes in at least a decade when they gather next week. The outlook has darkened dramatically since last year's summit in Germany, when the leaders declared the global economy was in "good condition" and oil cost $70 a barrel -- which seemed...
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The Weather Elsewhere Temperatures indicate Friday's high and overnight low to 7 p
The Weather Elsewhere Temperatures indicate Friday's high and overnight low to 7 p.m. Friday. Hi Lo Prc Otlk Albany,N.Y. 80 60 .02 cdy Albuquerque 90 65 .01 cdy Amarillo 92 59 cdy Anchorage 69 53 .11 cdy Asheville 84 59 .62 rn Atlanta 90 71 .01 cdy Atlantic City 90 66 .01 rn Austin 92 66 cdy Baltimore 85 69 .01 rn Billings 102 66 cdy Birmingham 95 74 .25 rn Bismarck 84 49 cdy Boise 93 70 clr Boston 67 63 .20 rn Brow...
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Students study bees
LAWRENCE (AP) -- Bees. They can be a nuisance, hovering around picnics and menacing pets and children. But researchers at the University of Kansas think they might be the key to harnessing new types of engineering technology. Rudolf Jander, professor of animal behavior, and two students, Jason Palikij and Daniel Najera, are studying how European honeybees find their way back to their hives when disoriented. It's research that could produce ...
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LAWRENCE -- New exit signs along Interstate 70 east of Lawrence tout recent athletic and academic successes at the University of Kansas
I-70 signs tout KU LAWRENCE -- New exit signs along Interstate 70 east of Lawrence tout recent athletic and academic successes at the University of Kansas. Kansas Turnpike Authority workers Wednesday raised the new signs showing a Jayhawk followed by the exit number and three of KU's recent accomplishments: "An International Research University," "2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Champions" and "2008 Orange Bowl Champions." It replaces a sign t...
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Afghanistan to get more troops WASHINGTON -- Grappling with a record death toll in an overshadowed war, President Bush promised Wednesday to send more U
Afghanistan to get more troops WASHINGTON -- Grappling with a record death toll in an overshadowed war, President Bush promised Wednesday to send more U.S. troops into Afghanistan by year's end. He conceded that June was a "tough month" in the nearly seven-year-old war. In fact, it was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the conflict began. "One reason why there have been more deaths is because our troops are taking t...
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Lawsuit filed against Wiz KANSAS CITY, Mo
Lawsuit filed against Wiz KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A former Kansas City Wizards employee has filed a lawsuit alleging she and other female workers were subjected to regular sexual harassment. Kathryn Carver filed the lawsuit Monday in Jackson County Circuit Court against OnGoal LLC, the Major League Soccer team's ownership group; Greg Cotton, executive vice president and general counsel for OnGoal; and Robert Thomson Jr., the company's vice p...
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High and low temperatures and precipitation for the 24 hours ending at 7 p
Kansas temperatures High and low temperatures and precipitation for the 24 hours ending at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Hi Lo Prec. Chanute 90 71 0.00 Coffeyville 91 71 0.00 Concordia 94 68 0.00 Dodge City 100 71 T Elkhart 99 67 0.00 Emporia 93 72 0.52 Garden City 97 66 0.00 Goodland 94 58 T Hays 95 70 0.00 Hill City 96 63 0.00 Hutchinson 95 73 0.00 Lawrence 93 72 0.16 Liberal 100 70 0.00 Manhattan 92 75 0.03 Medicine Lodge 98 71 0.29 Olathe 89 73 T...
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Colombian hostages released
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Colombia freed Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. military contractors from leftist guerrillas on Wednesday, saying military spies tricked rebels into giving them up without a single shot fired. Betancourt, who was seized while campaigning for president six long years ago, appeared thin but healthy as she strode down the stairs of a military plane and held her mother in a long embrace. She called the operation that resc...
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