Wire
Lawsuit claims KC-area company backdated options to maximize returns
Suit alleges false reporting to SEC since 1997 KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A shareholder lawsuit accuses a Kansas City, Kan., company of changing the dates on which it awarded executive stock options to maximize their returns and then attempting to cover it up. The Alaska Electrical Pension Fund filed the lawsuit this week in Kansas City, Kan., federal court against Epiq Systems Inc., which provides technology-based services to the legal indu...
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Jews find common ground with Latino Pentecostals
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When Randy Brown visited Hispanic Pentecostal congregations in Southern California, he was stunned by displays of Star-of-David flags, fervent prayers for peace in Israel and Hebrew words in their church names. Brown, an executive with the American Jewish Committee, saw an opportunity to build Jewish-Latino relations and combat anti-Semitism among the immigrants, who generally have little exposure to Jews in their predomi...
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Celebrities
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The producer of hit reality series “Survivor” and “The Apprentice” has countersued his longtime business partner. Mark Burnett filed the lawsuit against Conrad Riggs on Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. In the lawsuit, Burnett claims that he paid Riggs their agreed-upon 10 percent of net earnings on television projects. But the lawsuit says $25 million in payments wasn’t enough for Riggs. Riggs is trying to...
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DA known for abortion probes fights for job
John Hanna AP Political Writer OVERLAND PARK (AP) — Investigations of abortion clinics brought Phill Kline national attention, but he hopes to remain district attorney in Kansas’ most populous county by persuading voters that he worries about far more than a single, hot-button issue. Kline is seeking a full, four-year term in Johnson County after being named by fellow Republicans in December 2006 to fill a vacancy. In Tuesday’s GOP primar...
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Union recommends strike at Hawker Beechcraft
WICHITA (AP) — The Machinists union at Hawker Beechcraft is recommending its members vote against a proposed three-year labor offer this weekend and strike. The decision came after days of negotiations between the two sides and even the efforts of a federal mediator brought in Wednesday evening to help find common ground. “In the end, it just wasn’t there,” said union spokesman Bob Wood. He said the members “asked us not to bring back and...
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Feds hold hearing on biodefense facility
MANHATTAN (AP) — Federal officials are holding a public hearing to determine support in Kansas for putting the new National Bio- and Agro Defense Facility there. A site at the Kansas State University campus is among those being considered by the Department of Homeland Security. A decision is expected later this year on where to put the $451 million project. Among supporters of the Kansas bid expected to speak at the hearing in Manhattan o...
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Oddities
Doorman who won $5M, who said he’d stay at job gets ax NEW YORK (AP) — New York City doorman Richie Randazzo had said he wouldn’t quit his day job after winning a $5 million lottery, and he didn’t. He got fired. A spokesman for the union representing apartment building workers says Randazzo notified the union’s grievance center on Tuesday that he had been shown the door. The exclusive Park Avenue apartment building where Randazzo worked i...
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Kline a factor in two other races
TOPEKA (AP) — Phill Kline is an issue in two other races outside his bid to win a full four-year term as Johnson County District Attorney. Kline’s critics portray him as an extremist whose anti-abortion politics have pushed him into investigating clinics. Kline contends he’s tried to enforce Kansas law. In Shawnee County, two-term District Attorney Robert Hecht faces Eric Rucker, Kline’s chief deputy in Johnson County, in Tuesday’s Republican...
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Man killed by deer through windshield
SCOTT CITY (AP) — A Scott City man was killed in western Kansas when a deer careened off another car and smashed through his windshield. Thirty-one-year-old Jason Kanak died Wednesday night after a deer hit by another vehicle flew into the windshield of his pickup truck on Highway 4 in Scott County. The State Highway Patrol says the deer went completely through the truck and out the back window. Kanak’s wife, Lisa, was able to grab the ste...
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World Briefly
Structurally deficient bridges largely unfixed in year after bridge collapse in Minnesota MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A year after the worst U.S. bridge collapse in a generation brought calls for immediate repairs to other spans, two of every three of the busiest problem bridges in each state — carrying nearly 40 million vehicles a day — have had no work beyond regular maintenance. An Associated Press review of repairs on each state’s 20 most-tr...
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Ask Amy
Dear Amy: I am a 16-year-old girl, and I live with my parents and my 14-year-old brother. I’m worried about my father. He has a very stressful job in the car business. But because of gas prices, he isn’t doing so well right now, and he handles his stress by exploding in anger. For example, we were recently on a 13-hour drive home from visiting my grandparents. At a rest stop, my mother gently teased him and he started yelling at everyone. ...
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Heloise
Dear Heloise: Is there an easy way to clean chandeliers without taking them down? They have so many intricate pieces, they are very hard to clean. -- Denise, via e-mail You bet there is! It’s as easy as using soft cleaning cloths and glass cleaner or vinegar and water to clean each prism individually. Spray the cloth, not the glass, wipe each piece and then wipe with another dry cloth. Another hint: Use baby towelettes, without lotion, or ...
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Another guilty plea before tribe’s trial
Roxana Hegeman Associated Press Writer WICHITA (AP) — A Guatemalan national who volunteered to help with chores at the Kaweah Indian Nation became the sixth defendant to plead guilty in the prosecution of the unrecognized tribe that authorities say defrauded immigrants by falsely claiming membership gave them U.S. citizenship. Angel Zamora, 39, pleaded guilty Wednesday to not telling authorities about the scam at the Wichita tribal offices wh...
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Judge refuses to free jailed Kansas nurse
Roxana Hegeman Associated Press Writer WICHITA (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday refused to free a nurse jailed accused of running a “pill mill” linked to dozens of overdose deaths, saying the woman is a flight risk. In a written ruling, U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Bostwick ordered Linda Schneider held until her Feb. 2 trial on charges of conspiracy, unlawful distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death, health care fraud, ill...
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Boyfriend of woman stuck to toilet gets probation
NESS CITY (AP) — A western Kansas man whose girlfriend became physically stuck to the toilet after refusing to leave their bathroom for two years will spend six months on probation. Kory McFarren pleaded no contest last month to a misdemeanor count of mistreatment of a dependent adult. Ness County District Court Magistrate James Kepple sentenced McFarren on Tuesday to six months in jail, but granted the probation after the victim, Pam Babc...
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Celebrities
WASHINGTON (AP) — Now that their feud is up in smoke, Cheech and Chong are high on plans to reunite for their first comedy tour in more than 25 years. Cheech Marin told AP Radio that he and Tommy Chong “looked at each other going, ‘If we’re ever going to do something it has to be now because you’re not getting any younger and neither am I.”’ They tossed around some ideas and figured a comedy tour would be “the most fun” and “the least hass...
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Oddities
44-pound cat needs a new home in New Jersey BLACKWOOD, N.J. (AP) — Talk about New Jersey’s fat cats. A 44-pound feline was found waddling around Saturday without a collar in Voorhees, and officials at the Camden County Animal Shelter hope she gets a nice — hopefully, diet-friendly — home. “She’s built like a quarterback,” said Deborah Wright, a shelter volunteer and current foster owner of the kitty. “I mean, how do you lose a 44-pound ca...
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House bans lead from toys and kids’ goods
New legislation would double budget for Consumer Products Safety division Jim Abrams Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Alarmed by a year of recalls targeting millions of tainted toys, the House voted overwhelming Wednesday to ban lead and other dangerous chemicals from items such as jewelry and rubber ducks that could end up in kids’ mouths. The legislation also would toughen rules for testing children’s products and take steps t...
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Celebrities
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mario Lopez may be doing a happy dance after being picked as the new solo host of “Extra.” Lopez, 34, who’s served as a correspondent for the syndicated entertainment newsmagazine and co-hosted its weekend edition since January 2007, will take over from co-hosts Mark McGrath and Dayna Devon, the producers of “Extra” announced Monday. McGrath asked to released from his contract to focus on his band, Sugar Ray, which is recor...
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Judge: Six jurors OK in abortion provider’s trial
Roxana Hegeman Associated Press Writer WICHITA (AP) — A judge ruled Tuesday that a state statute allowing six jurors for misdemeanor trials is constitutional, turning aside a defense motion to impanel a 12-person jury in the criminal case against one of the nation’s few late-term abortion providers. Ruling from the bench, Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens said that while Kansas does not have a case that directly addressed the iss...
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