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Court refuses to stay ruling SAN FRANCISCO -- California's highest court today refused to stay its decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, clearing the final hurdle for gay couples to start tying the knot this month
Court refuses to stay ruling SAN FRANCISCO -- California's highest court today refused to stay its decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, clearing the final hurdle for gay couples to start tying the knot this month. Conservative religious and legal groups had asked the California Supreme Court to stop its May 15 order requiring state and local officials to sanction same-sex unions from becoming effective until voters have the cha...
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Rock, Chalk
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nice comeback, Kansas. Pretty sweet welcome back, too. In a Rose Garden ceremony and an Oval Office tour, President Bush honored the University of Kansas as the 2008 NCAA basketball champions on Tuesday. With a remarkable flourish in the final game, KU pulled out the title for the first time since 1988, when the team was last lauded at the White House. "You brought new glory to one of our nation's most storied basketball pr...
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Grand jury lacks records
WICHITA (AP) -- With time running out, the grand jury investigating abortion provider George Tiller has yet to see any medical records subpoenaed directly from the doctor, the judge overseeing the panel said Tuesday. District Judge Paul Buchanan told The Associated Press that independent experts reviewing the records have gotten fewer than 20 redacted medical files so far in the first installment from Tiller. Jurors have not yet received them...
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National Hockey League Playoffs By The Associated Press STANLEY CUP FINALS Saturday, May 24 Detroit 4, Pittsburgh 0 Monday, May 26 Detroit 3, Pittsburgh 0 Wednesday, May 28 Pittsburgh 3, Detroit 2 Saturday's Game Detroit 2, Pittsburgh 1 Monday's Game Pittsburgh 4, Detroit 3, 3OT, Detroit leads series 3-1 Today's Game Detroit at Pittsburgh, 7 p
National Hockey League Playoffs By The Associated Press STANLEY CUP FINALS Saturday, May 24 Detroit 4, Pittsburgh 0 Monday, May 26 Detroit 3, Pittsburgh 0 Wednesday, May 28 Pittsburgh 3, Detroit 2 Saturday's Game Detroit 2, Pittsburgh 1 Monday's Game Pittsburgh 4, Detroit 3, 3OT, Detroit leads series 3-1 Today's Game Detroit at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m., if necessary Saturday, June 7 Pittsburgh at Detro...
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U.N. discusses biofuels deal ROME -- U
U.N. discusses biofuels deal ROME -- U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said today that progress is being made at a U.N. summit on determining the role that biofuels are playing in driving up food prices to the point of provoking riots in some countries. Fuels made from sugar cane, corn and other crops have been seen as a way to combat climate change and rising oil prices. The United States has been heavily subsidizing corn-based ethanol p...
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Fuel tank fire burns itself out KANSAS CITY, Kan
Fuel tank fire burns itself out KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Firefighters remain at the scene of a massive fire in a Kansas City, Kan., gasoline storage tank that erupted in flames during an electrical storm. Flames and dark smoke billowing from the tank at Magellan Pipeline terminal could be seen for miles this morning, more than 12 hours after the fire started. Magellan spokesman Jon Jacobs said the burning tank contained about 1.2 million gallons ...
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Beasley doesn't measure up
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) -- Turns out, Michael Beasley is not 6-foot-10, as he was listed by Kansas State. He also isn't 6-7, as some of his detractors have suggested in recent weeks, either. The truth was almost exactly in the middle. The Kansas State star who left college after one year for the lure of pro riches officially is 6 feet, 8 1/4 inches tall with basketball shoes on, according to measurements taken at last week's NBA predraft camp ne...
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Police drag parents from protest DUJIANGYAN, China -- Chinese police forcefully pulled away more than 100 parents protesting the deaths of their children in a poorly constructed school that collapsed in last month's earthquake
Police drag parents from protest DUJIANGYAN, China -- Chinese police forcefully pulled away more than 100 parents protesting the deaths of their children in a poorly constructed school that collapsed in last month's earthquake. Police grabbed the parents, many holding pictures of their children, by the arms and lifted resisters off the ground today outside the courthouse in Dujiangyan, a resort town northwest of the Sichuan provincial capital...
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Manny bangs No. 502 but BoSox fall
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Adam Jones broke a tie with a three-run double in the eighth inning Monday, and the Baltimore Orioles overcame another home run by Manny Ramirez to beat the Boston Red Sox 6-3, avoiding a four-game sweep. Baltimore blew a 2-0 lead, then rallied with a four-run eighth against Hideki Okajima (1-1). After a sacrifice fly by Kevin Millar tied it, the Orioles loaded the bases with two out for Jones, who lined a shot off the lef...
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Commodities are risky for pension funds
NEW YORK -- Next time you face sticker shock at the gas pump over a $4 gallon of gas, check out your pension fund's investments. They may explain much about the surge in oil prices. Institutional investors such as pension funds, university endowments and sovereign wealth funds have ramped up investing in commodities as a hedge against inflation and to seek out higher returns versus stocks and bonds. The strategy has worked -- if you gauge suc...
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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: 12-17-25-27-32; the Cashball was 21; there was no winner of the jackpot worth an estimated $875,000; two players matched five of the first set, with each ticket worth $2,000; five players matched four plus the Super Cashball, with each ticket worth $250; 118 players matched four of the first set, with each ticket worth $25; 137 players matched three plus the Super Cashball, with each ticket worth $25; the next drawing will be worth an estimated $910,000
No winner in Kansas Cash TOPEKA (AP) -- Here are the winning numbers selected Monday in the Kansas Lottery: SUPER KANSAS CASH: 12-17-25-27-32; the Cashball was 21; there was no winner of the jackpot worth an estimated $875,000; two players matched five of the first set, with each ticket worth $2,000; five players matched four plus the Super Cashball, with each ticket worth $250; 118 players matched four of the first set, with each ticket wo...
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Back to the Igloo
DETROIT (AP) -- The Stanley Cup and cases of champagne were put in place for the Detroit Red Wings' celebration. Oops. Pittsburgh spoiled the party plans when Maxime Talbot scored with 35 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and Petr Sykora notched the winner 9:57 into the third extra session to lift the Penguins to a 4-3 win over Detroit on Monday night in Game 5 and send the series back to the Igloo. Suddenly, it doesn't seem like ...
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Nonprofit offering New Age teachings to help people
TOPEKA (AP) -- Long before it was cool for religious folks to be caught going green, the Learning for Life Center was gently beating the drum for taking care of Mother Earth as a natural outgrowth of a person's spirituality. The center didn't stop there, offering classes on meditation, yoga and drumming as a way for people to get in touch with their inner person and integrate mind, body and soul. Today, the Learning for Life Center, a nonprof...
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Spot nonferrous metal prices today
NEW YORK (AP) -- Spot nonferrous metal prices today. Aluminum -$1.325 per lb., N.Y. Merc spot Mon. Copper -$3.6665 Cathode full plate, U.S. destinations. Copper $3.6090 N.Y. Merc spot Mon. Lead - $1955.00 metric ton, London Metal Exch. Zinc - $0.9148 per lb., delivered. Gold - $879.25 Handy & Harman (only daily quote). Gold - $892.90 troy oz., NY Merc spot Mon. Silver - $16.775 Handy & Harman (only daily quote). Silver - $16...
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Bus fire destroys team gear
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) -- Members of an Iowa college summer baseball team escaped injury but lost all of their equipment and some personal items after the team bus caught fire early Monday. The Clarinda A's were on their way back to Iowa after a weekend road trip in Kansas when one of the bus' inside tires blew out and started a fire on Interstate 29 near Faucett. A fire extinguisher failed to put out the fire, which quickly spread and destroye...
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Astronauts begin spacewalk HOUSTON -- Spacewalking astronauts floated outside the international space station today to help install the orbiting outpost's newest room, a bus-sized Japanese laboratory
Astronauts begin spacewalk HOUSTON -- Spacewalking astronauts floated outside the international space station today to help install the orbiting outpost's newest room, a bus-sized Japanese laboratory. During a scheduled 6 1/2-hour spacewalk, astronauts Michael Fossum and Ronald Garan Jr. will prep the $1 billion lab, named Kibo -- Japanese for hope -- for installation by removing power and heating cables and various restraints that connect...
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Child pornographer pleads KANSAS CITY, Kan
Child pornographer pleads KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Prosecutors say an Overland Park man who pleaded guilty to child porn charges had photos of abuse victims who are listed by the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Brian D. Harris pleaded guilty Monday to one count of distribution of child pornography. The U.S. attorney's office said Harris' computer contained a collection of child porn images from all over the world that Harris circulated...
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Ivanovic reaches semis
PARIS (AP) -- When Ana Ivanovic hits an especially good shot, she celebrates with a combination leg-kick fist-pump, and she's doing it a lot at the French Open. The No. 2-seeded Ivanovic beat No. 10 Patty Schnyder 6-3, 6-2 today to become the first semifinalist at Roland Garros. Ivanovic's opponent Thursday will be the winner of the later match between No. 3 Jelena Jankovic and unseeded Carla Suarez Navarro. Ivanovic has reached the semifinal...
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Man rediscovers his love for singing
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) -- Eighty-year-old "Downtown" Jerry Brown is sitting at a table at Legend's, waiting for karaoke to begin. On the table sits a book full of CDs, his CDs, the ones he has recorded at home. He takes one out and cleans it, wiping it down before giving it to the DJ to play. After a few other fellow karaoke singers take the stage, including Brown's girlfriend, Pat Smith, singing "These Boots Were Made for Walking," it's Brown'...
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Utley hammers 21st homer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Ken Griffey Jr. remained one shy of 600 home runs after getting Monday night off, but Philadelphia's Chase Utley hit his major league-leading 21st homer to help the Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-4. Utley went deep for the fifth straight game, tying a club record he shares with Dick Allen, Mike Schmidt and Bobby Abreu. Utley also homered in five consecutive games earlier this season. Pedro Feliz and Chris Coste also ...
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