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SW Missouri artist embraces her great sketching talents
SHELDON, Mo. -- Scherry Talbott is gifted. She sits in her small, simply decorated art room, at her kitchen table or on the back deck of her house with her sketch pad, a look of tranquility on her face, as she sketches out plans for new art projects. This is right where she wants to be. "I just believe that God put me here to be an artist," Talbott said. "I'm happiest when I'm sitting here painting. I couldn't imagine doing anything else." Ta...
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Spot nonferrous metal prices today
NEW YORK (AP) -- Spot nonferrous metal prices today. Aluminum -$1.3350 per lb., N.Y. Merc spot Mon. Copper -$3.6815 Cathode full plate, U.S. destinations. Copper $3.6690 N.Y. Merc spot Mon. Lead - $1932.00 metric ton, London Metal Exch. Zinc - $0.9166 per lb., delivered. Gold - $878.00 Handy & Harman (only daily quote). Gold - $894.70 troy oz., NY Merc spot Mon. Silver - $16.585 Handy & Harman (only daily quote). Silver - $1...
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ChiSox complete 4-game sweep
CHICAGO (AP) -- Switch-hitter Nick Swisher homered from both sides of the plate Monday and the Chicago White Sox completed a dominant four-game sweep, beating the Minnesota Twins 7-5 for their seventh straight victory. Paul Konerko hit a go-ahead home run as Chicago sent Minnesota to its fifth loss in a row. The White Sox outscored the Twins 40-15 in the series. The White Sox went 7-0 on their homestand and increased their AL Central lead to ...
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R. Kelly defense rests case
CHICAGO (AP) -- R. Kelly's defense lawyers rested their case Monday after calling about half the number of witnesses as prosecutors in less than half the time. Kelly's lawyers called 12 witnesses over two days last week at his child pornography trial, including three relatives of the alleged victim who testified they did not recognize the female who appears in a sex tape at the heart of the case. The prosecution called 22 witnesses over seven...
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Kansas schools install wind turbines
TOPEKA -- Kansas public schools are preparing to teach students and their parents about wind as an energy source through a national initiative from the U.S. Department of Energy. Five Kansas school districts -- Fairfield, Newton, Brookville, Sterling and Concordia -- are installing small wind turbines on their campuses this summer. The units, which will produce limited power, are expected to serve as teaching tools. The directive for the proj...
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Jenkins, Ryun file for 2nd District seat
TOPEKA (AP) -- Jim Ryun is promising voters a familiar brand of Republican politics if they return him to Congress after a two-year absence, but GOP rival Lynn Jenkins believes they're looking for a new face. Jenkins, the state treasurer, and Ryun, who served in the House for 10 years before losing his seat, both filed Monday for the 2nd District of eastern Kansas. They have been campaigning for the Republican nomination for more than a year,...
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Bomb survivor builds a new life and is now working to help others service to others
KANSAS CITY (AP) -- At exactly 1 p.m. Rosemary Bichage walks into her second-floor downtown Kansas City office and turns on her computer, just as she did 10 years ago in a similar office in downtown Nairobi, Kenya. On this day, however, unlike that day in Kenya, there is no explosion. And unless you look closely, you do not notice scars on her face or her slight limp. Bichage sits down behind a desk full of files at the Jewish Vocational Serv...
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Dam collapses in Wisconsin LAKE DELTON, Wis
Dam collapses in Wisconsin LAKE DELTON, Wis. -- Engineers kept watch over this rain-deluged state's dams today after a major collapse nearly emptied Lake Delton in a torrent that washed away houses and a highway. The Lake Delton breach was caused by violent, drenching weekend thunderstorms that threatened the survival of the tiny Wisconsin town of Gays Mills and displaced thousands of Indiana residents. The stormy weather was blamed for 15 de...
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Man dies in shootout ROSALIA -- A Kansas sheriff says one man is dead after getting into a shootout in a rural farmhouse
Man dies in shootout ROSALIA -- A Kansas sheriff says one man is dead after getting into a shootout in a rural farmhouse. Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy says a man with a shotgun entered the house near Rosalia at 11:40 p.m. Monday and started shooting. Murphy said a second man fired a handgun and hit the other man, then tried unsuccessfully to revive him. Deputies believe that several shots were fired from both guns. The surviving man is ...
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Israel kills three militants GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Gaza militants bombarded southern Israel with 20 mortar rounds in the space of an hour midday today, provoking Israeli ground strikes that killed three militants from the territory's ruling Hamas group
Israel kills three militants GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Gaza militants bombarded southern Israel with 20 mortar rounds in the space of an hour midday today, provoking Israeli ground strikes that killed three militants from the territory's ruling Hamas group. The violence flared in northeast Gaza just as Israel's top leadership was debating whether to pursue a truce with the Islamic Hamas or embark on a broad military operation against it. Th...
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Junior joins elite company
MIAMI (AP) -- Ken Griffey Jr. insisted he never dreamed of joining baseball's ultimate group of power hitters when he reached the majors 19 years ago. "My father hit 152 home runs, and that's who I wanted to be like," said Griffey, who hit his 600th career homer Monday night to join Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa as the only players to do so. Griffey connected off Mark Hendrickson in the first inning of the ...
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Lesser prairie chicken sees drop in numbers
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Lesser prairie chickens have been reduced to just a fraction of their once booming population across a handful of states, prompting a group of Western conservationists to crank up the pressure on the federal government to provide more protection for the rare bird. Monday marked the 10th anniversary of the lesser prairie chicken's designation as a candidate for possible protection under the Endangered Species Act. W...
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Guillen's blast paces KC again
NEW YORK (AP) -- Jose Guillen finished off his big series against the New York Yankees in style, hitting a tiebreaking solo home run off Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning Monday to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 3-2 victory. Guillen went deep on an 0-2 pitch from Rivera (2-2), pumping his right arm as he watched the ball sail over the fence while rounding first base. Rivera turned around and shouted several times after the drive -- a rare ...
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Mississippi River was shaped with human progress in mind
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) -- In his nostalgic look back at his career as a steamboat pilot in "Life on the Mississippi," Mark Twain described the difficult task of navigating the river in the pre-Civil War era. "Piloting becomes another matter when you apply it to vast streams like the Mississippi and the Missouri, whose alluvial banks cave and change constantly, whose snags are always hunting up new quarters, whose sandbars are never at rest,...
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Stores, eateries remove tomatoes
CHICAGO (AP) -- Federal officials hunted for the source of a 17-state salmonella outbreak linked to three types of raw tomatoes, while the list of supermarkets and restaurants yanking those varieties from shelves and menus grew. McDonald's, Wal-Mart, Burger King, Kroger, Outback Steakhouse, Winn-Dixie and Taco Bell were among the companies that voluntarily withdrew red plum, red Roma or round red tomatoes unless they were grown in certain sta...
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No. 4 seed Fresno State stuns ASU
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- Steve Susdorf's two-run homer Monday night capped Fresno State's six-run seventh inning as the Bulldogs stunned Arizona State 12-9 to advance to the College World Series for the first time since 1991. Fresno State (42-29) became the first No. 4 seed to reach Omaha since the NCAA expanded the tournament field to 64 teams in 1999. The Bulldogs will open Sunday against Rice (47-13). The Sun Devils (49-13), the No. 3 national...
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Senate GOP blocks taxes on oil profits
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Republicans blocked a proposal today to tax the windfall profits of the largest oil companies, despite pleas by Democratic leaders to use the measure to address America's anger over $4 a gallon gasoline. The Democratic energy package would have imposed a tax on any "unreasonable" profits of the five largest U.S. oil companies and given the federal government more power to address oil market speculation that the bill'...
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No winner in Kansas Cash TOPEKA (AP) -- Here are the winning numbers selected Monday in the Kansas Lottery: SUPER KANSAS CASH: 1-2-9-17-21; the Cashball was 17; there was no winner of the jackpot worth an estimated $980,000; two players matched five of the first set, with each ticket worth $2,000; four players matched four plus the Super Cashball, with each ticket worth $250; 144 players matched four of the first set, with each ticket worth $25; 142 players matched three plus Super Cashball, with each ticket worth $25; the next drawing will be worth an estimated $1,014,000
No winner in Kansas Cash TOPEKA (AP) -- Here are the winning numbers selected Monday in the Kansas Lottery: SUPER KANSAS CASH: 1-2-9-17-21; the Cashball was 17; there was no winner of the jackpot worth an estimated $980,000; two players matched five of the first set, with each ticket worth $2,000; four players matched four plus the Super Cashball, with each ticket worth $250; 144 players matched four of the first set, with each ticket worth...
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Spotty rules govern U.S. crane industry
NEW YORK (AP) -- Dan Mooney has no idea what it will take for his construction cranes to pass inspection. The crane company owner recently asked New York City officials for a list of safety hazards that inspectors look for. He was told that information wasn't public. "How am I supposed to know what I need if you won't tell me?" Mooney asked. "It's like not posting the speed limit." In 35 other states, crane companies face a different prob...
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Topekans opt to build a circular home
TOPEKA (AP) -- Ruth and Henry Blake III were ready to downsize when they saw a round house on one of the home-improvement shows on television. "We just knew this is what we wanted," Ruth Blake said. So they are trading in their conventional two-story, 2,400-square-foot house at 4300 S.E. Michigan for a one-story 1,600-square-foot circular house. It recently arrived. Most of it, anyway. The house from Deltec Homes is prefabricated. The walls -...
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