Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 112
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma zookeeper at an exotic animal park and candidate for governor earlier this year has been charged in a murder-for-hire scheme alleging he tried to hire someone to kill a Florida woman, federal prosecutors announced on Friday. Joseph Maldonado-Passage, 55, also known as "Joe Exotic," was indicted on two counts of hiring a person to commit murder in federal court in Oklahoma City. Prosecutors allege Maldonado-Passage tried to hire two separate people to kill the woman, who wasn't harmed. One of the unidentified p...
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A jury ruled that a Sedgwick County community mental health agency and one a psychiatrist were not at fault in the death of a patient who set himself on fire. The 55-year-old Wichita man, Allen Rouse, died in April 2015 after he drove through a security gate at the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma, doused himself with a flammable liquid and burned to death. The Wichita Eagle reports the Sedgwick County jury reached its verdict Friday in a lawsuit against Comcare, the county community mental health agency, and R...
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The first phase of what will be one of the biggest parks in the U.S. is set to open this weekend in Tulsa. A Saturday parade and concerts will mark the opening of the $465 million Gathering Place. The 100-acre stretch along the Arkansas River will include bike and walking trails and sports courts. Admission is free, but equipment rental will cost. The public park has been built with private money, led by billionaire philanthropist George Kaiser. Funders and city leaders say the park will be a space for recreation and c...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An influx of applications to the agency that regulates Oklahoma's alcohol sales could slow the start of expanded sales in the state. The Oklahoman reports business applications are pouring in with Oct. 1 approaching. That's the start date for a new law that will allow grocery and convenience stores to sell wine and beer stronger than 3.2 percent by volume. State law currently allows the sale of wine and strong beer at liquor stores. An Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission attorney says companies could s...
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 33-year-old man who left a loaded semi-automatic handgun within reach of toddlers pleaded no contest to charge resulting from his daughter's death. In exchange for the plea to two counts of aggravated child endangerment, prosecutors dropped an involuntary manslaughter charge Friday against Chance Smith, of Lawrence. He will be sentenced Nov. 7. Smith's 1-year-old daughter, Autumn Grace Smith, was hit by a bullet and died in September 2017 at the family's home. Smith told police that he was outside for five or 10 m...
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Former Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle has been arrested in Kansas on suspicion of rape. Records show that Randle was booked into Sedgwick County Jail at around 3:40 a.m. Friday. The prosecutor's office wasn't releasing information, and a police spokesman and Randle's attorney in previous cases didn't immediately reply to phone messages seeking details about his latest arrest. Randle was released on probation in June under a plea deal that allows prosecutors to seek to have him put in prison if he gets into t...
PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. (AP) — A school janitor who subdued a 13-year-old girl with chloroform more than 40 years ago as she walked home from a suburban Kansas City pool and then killed her is set to go before a parole board later this month. The Kansas City Star reports that John Henry Horton was arrested in 2003 for the 1974 death of Liz Wilson. She vanished while cutting through the parking lot of Shawnee Mission East High School. Horton was sentenced to life in prison. But life, under Kansas law in force at the time of Liz's death, meant s...
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas utility regulators have rejected environmentalists' request that more than 2,100 permits for injection wells be revoked because some of them did not follow regulations on the amount of time the public has to protest the projects. The Kansas Corporation Commission on Thursday said in an order that such a small percentage of the permits had incorrect legal notices that it had an insignificant effect. The commission said less than 3 percent of the legal notices incorrectly showed 15-day public protest periods instead o...
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Soon after Gene Taylor arrived at Kansas State, the new athletic director began quietly speaking with coaches, staff and athletes to ascertain what they needed to remain competitive in the Big 12. In terms of facilities, the result is a $200 million-plus master plan unveiled Friday. The school partnered with architectural firm HOK to develop the plan, which is highlighted by a new football training complex and extensive renovations to Bramlage Coliseum. The plan will touch each of the school's 16 sports programs, ranging...
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Court procedures are likely to delay a Douglas County grand jury investigation into Secretary of State Kris Kobach's office until well after the fall election. A Lawrence man, Steven Davis, who gathered enough signatures to force the investigation, contends Kobach's office didn't register some people who tried to register online. Kobach denies that claim. The Kansas Supreme Court last week declined to consider the issue, meaning an appeals court ruling approving the grand jury stands. Supreme Court spokeswoman Lisa T...
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating a report that a University of Kansas student sexually assaulted four female dormmates during the first few weeks of classes. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the 18-year-old man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of aggravated criminal sodomy and sexual battery, but was released from jail later that day without being charged. The Douglas County District Attorney's Office sent the case back to police with a request for additional investigation. Police say the women reported being t...
LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — Lenexa police say a call to a crisis line reporting that someone had shot one of his parents apparently was a swatting call. Police spokesman Danny Chavez says police were notified Thursday by a suicide crisis line from New York that someone was sending texts saying he had shot one of his parents, was suicidal and would kill anyone who came in. Chavez told The Kansas City Star that police had contact only with the crisis line and never contacted the supposed shooter. Police say investigators who went to the home found no e...
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The suspension of 28 players for fighting at an Arkansas high school football game is being upheld. The Arkansas Activities Association has ruled that 11 athletes from Drew Central High School and 17 from Hampton High School must sit out the next four consecutive quarters of varsity competition. Association spokesman Derek Walter tells the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that "emotions after a play" caused the on-field brawl between players at Drew Central stadium in Monticello during the second quarter of Friday night's g...
BASRA, Iraq (AP) — Angry protesters stormed the Iranian consulate in the southern city of Basra on Friday, setting a fire inside amid a wave of demonstrations that have turned deadly in the past few days, a security official and eyewitnesses said. At least 10 protesters have died in clashes with security forces since Monday, including three who were shot dead by security forces on Thursday night as protesters lobbed Molotov cocktails and set fire to a government building and offices of Shiite militias in the city. The protests in Basra and othe...
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Australia and New Zealand said Friday they are sending three maritime patrol planes to Japan as part of the effort to enforce U.N. sanctions against North Korea. Japan has been monitoring offshore ship-to-ship transfers of oil allegedly involving North Korean ships, which would violate U.N. sanctions imposed over the North's nuclear and missile programs. New Zealand Defense Minister Ron Mark said in a statement it would coordinate efforts with partners to counter North Korean activities that breach sanctions, i...
DURANGO, Colo. (AP) — Millions of pounds of produce are ripening in the fields this fall across Montezuma and La Plata counties, and The Good Food Collective wants to make sure the nutritious harvest is delivered to those who need it. The collective is in its first year, and it is focused on reducing food waste, eliminating fruit that will attract bears, bolstering the local food economy and providing fresh food to residents in need, said Rachel Landis, director of the collective. The efforts are focused on answering the question: "How do we c...
WASHINGTON (AP) — After two years of double-digit premium hikes, millions of people covered under the Affordable Care Act will see only modest increases next year, according to an exclusive analysis that highlights the changing politics of health care heading into the midterm elections. The consulting firm Avalere Health and The Associated Press crunched available state data, finding that "Obamacare's" health insurance marketplaces seem to be stabilizing. Customers in some states will get price cuts. And the exodus of insurers from the p...
UPHAM, N.M. (AP) — NASA technology designed to protect spacecraft from heat and pressure when entering a planet's atmosphere will be launched from Spaceport America in New Mexico as part of testing. NASA said Friday the system will be aboard a suborbital rocket being launched Sept. 12 by UP Aerospace. Once the rocket reaches space, the umbrella-like shield will deploy. The shield is made from woven carbon fabric and supported by semi-rigid ribs. NASA says it would allow exploratory spacecraft larger than the Curiosity rover to successfully l...
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has snapped a dusty but cool selfie. NASA released the panorama this week. A thin layer of dust is visible on Curiosity , the result of a storm that enveloped Mars this summer. The darkish sky indicates dust still clogging the atmosphere in August, when the panorama was shot by Curiosity's mast camera. The rover had just drilled for a new rock sample. Curiosity is nuclear-powered and therefore unaffected by the lack of sunlight. NASA's older rover Opportunity, however, relies on solar p...
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twenty years after Larry Page and Sergey Brin set out to organize all of the internet's information, the search engine they named Google has morphed into a dominating force in smartphones, online video, email, maps and much more. That resounding success now has regulators and lawmakers around the world questioning whether the company has become too powerful as its ubiquitous services vacuum up sensitive information about billions of people hooked on its products. Google's search engine remains entrenched as the i...
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is vowing to root out the leakers who contributed to the White House insider accounts that contend some on his team question his judgment, competence and even rationality. A book by presidential author Bob Woodward and an anonymous New York Times op-ed article, Trump has said, are fiction and lies. But the president nonetheless finds them compelling enough to seek out the leakers of behind-the-scenes stories and quotes. On Friday, Trump said the U.S. Justice Department should investigate the identity o...
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Ten years! Ten years since the start of operations for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), one of the most complex machines ever created. The LHC is the world’s largest particle accelerator, buried 100 meters under the French and Swiss countryside with a 17-mile circumference. On Sept. 10, 2008, protons, the center of a hydrogen atom, were circulated around the LHC accelerator for the first time. However, the e...
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Imagine the thrill of discovery when more than 10 years of research on the origin of a common genetic disease, cystic fibrosis (CF), results in tracing it to a group of distinct but mysterious Europeans who lived about 5,000 years ago. CF is the most common, potentially lethal, inherited disease among Caucasians – about one in 40 carry the so-called F508del mutation. Typically only beneficial mutations, which p...
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) As a new academic year begins after a summer of deadly heat waves, wildfires, droughts and floods, many college students and faculty are debating whether and how to get involved in climate politics. Climate advocacy has become well established on U.S. campuses over the past decade, in diverse forms. More than 600 colleges and universities have signed the American College and University President’s Climate C...
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A woman was in for a huge surprise when Miami Beach police pulled her over. She and her boyfriend got out of the car. An officer asked the boyfriend if he had anything to say. And that's when the man, identified as Kenneth, got down on one knee, held out a ring and said, "I just want you to marry me." A video tweeted by Miami Beach Police shows her covering her face, saying "Oh my God ... crazy." She tells the officer she doesn't know what to say. She looks back at her boyfriend, waiting on bended knee, and looks c...
