Wire
Oklahoma’s Bradford: AP Player of the Year
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Sam Bradford of Oklahoma was voted The Associated Press college football player of the year Monday. He beat out the same two quarterbacks he did in capturing the Heisman Trophy — Colt McCoy of Texas and Tim Tebow of Florida. Bradford received 27 votes from the AP media panel that votes in the weekly poll. The sophomore quarterback was followed by McCoy with 17 votes. Tebow won the award last year and had 16 votes this t...
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Dolphins move within one win of AFC East title
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — There’s never been a turnaround season like the one Miami is having. With a come-from-behind 38-31 victory over Kansas City, Chad Pennington and his mates became the first team to win 10 games following a 1-15 season. With a victory this week at the New York Jets, the Dolphins (10-5) will win the AFC East and tie the 1999 Colts, who went from 3-13 to 13-3, for the only 10-game improvements ever in the NFL. And to t...
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Celebrities
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kirsten Dunst has won a court’s protection from a man who she says has recently trespassed at her home. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard E. Rico granted Dunst’s request to order 25-year-old Christopher R. Smith to stay away from the actress, her personal assistant and any place they work. Dunst did not appear during Monday’s court hearing. The request was granted without her attorney or witnesses having to make a...
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Ground broken for Dodge City casino
TOPEKA (AP) — Work began Monday on a western-themed, hotel-and-gambling complex in Dodge City, the only one of four proposed state-owned casinos that hasn’t been delayed by financial problems. The project started by Olathe-based Butler National Corp. is the smallest casino authorized by the Legislature last year. But developers in southeast Kansas and the Wichita and Kansas City areas withdrew after being awarded contracts with the Kansas Lot...
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Study of Greensburg tornado uncovers new details of storms
WICHITA (AP) — A study of the Greensburg tornado has found that the state saw more twisters that night than initially thought and that some of the tornadoes were unusually strong. The twister that nearly wiped out Greensburg was one of 22 that touched down in southern and central Kansas from the same thunderstorm complex the night of May 4, 2007, and early the next morning. That’s more tornadoes than initially thought, said Mike Umscheid, co-...
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Missouri woman pleads guilty in video sex case
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City woman on Monday wrapped up one of three sets of charges in a crime spree involving the videotaped sexual torture and slaying of another woman. Dena D. Riley, 42, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, kidnapping, sodomy and sex abuse in the May 2006 attack on Marsha Spicer, who was suffocated during sex at an Independence apartment that Riley shared with her boyfriend. Riley also pleaded guilt...
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Collins gets 19 in KU’s 71-59 win over Temple
LAWRENCE (AP) — Sherron Collins was criticized for everything from shot selection to his mohawk-and-star haircut his last game. Didn’t matter that he had the flu, needed an IV at halftime. Collins is supposed to lead this young Kansas team and he couldn’t do it against Massachusetts. He heard the criticism — and made the appropriate changes. Collins scored all of his 19 points within the flow of the offense and keyed a big second-half ru...
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Kent scores 24, leads K-State past Centenary
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Years of hard work are paying off for Darren Kent, who scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Kansas State past road-weary Centenary 73-51 on Saturday. It was the third career double-double for Kent, a 6-foot-11 senior. “Darren is going to continue to gain confidence in himself,” said Kansas State coach Frank Martin. “He’s put in almost three years’ worth of work to give himself a chance to su...
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Lawmakers to revisit immigration issue
TOPEKA (AP) — Legislators who want to crack down on illegal immigration are changing their strategy for getting something passed. Lawmakers spent a lot of time earlier this year debating an immigration mega-bill but failed to pass it. Next year, supporters have decided, smaller might be better after lawmakers reconvene Jan. 12, especially with a looming budget crisis likely to dominate the 2009 session. Rep. Lance Kinzer, who pushed this y...
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Wichita couple share love for the vine
WICHITA (AP) — Before Wichitans Dave and Natalie Sollo went to a land auction in March 2003, “Dave told me he just wanted some property in the country that he could mess around on.” Until they were driving away from the 160 acres they’d just bought, he didn’t mention that he’d also wanted to start a vineyard for 10 or 15 years. It’s grown into Grace Hill Winery, and with their first wine sales earlier this year, the two physicians — he’s a...
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Great Bend Zoo going to the birds
GREAT BEND (AP) — Improvements to the Great Bend Zoo and the development of the Central Kansas Raptor Center aren’t going to be cheap, but it was reported this week that the city staff have worked to save thousands of dollars from the original plans. In fact, for the time being at least, they have cut more than $100,000, city officials explained to the Great Bend City Council this week. City Administrator Howard Partington, City Clerk Wayn...
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Heloise
Dear Heloise: Our beautiful golden retriever has a full life on our farm, taking care of horses, helping with all the chores and generally enjoying life. However, she comes in with her coat full of burrs. I’ve found that if I keep handy a bottle of after-shampoo conditioner and rub it into the burrs, they practically dissolve. Then a good bath, and she is ready for her next adventure. The burrs are much easier to remove this way, even if I...
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Celebrities
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — So you fancy yourself a singer, eh ... alone, in your car, with the windows up, when no one’s looking. Well, now you can test your pipes against Martina McBride and Elvis Presley in private, and if you like what you hear, you can share them with your friends via email. As a promotion for “Elvis Presley Christmas Duets” album, Sony BMG Music Entertainment has created a Web site that allows you to record “Blue Christmas”...
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State sees another spike in jobless claims in Nov.
John Hanna Associated Press Writer TOPEKA (AP) — Claims from Kansans who wanted to start collecting unemployment benefits went up again in November, the Department of Labor reported Friday. The department said about 16,000 people filed their initial claims in November, compared to only 9,600 in November 2007. Such claims in October also were 67 percent higher than they were in October 2007. “The claims that we’re seeing are sort of refle...
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Ask Amy
Dear Amy: My husband and I are very friendly with a couple that we enjoy very much. We vacation with them and spend time with them in social gatherings. We love to entertain and are very good cooks. Whenever my friend and her husband come to our home, they always eat everything, and they usually have second helpings. My friend loves to entertain as well and does it well. You always feel very relaxed at their home. Our problem is that she...
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Brownback: He won’t seek a third 6-year Senate term
John Milburn Associated Press Writer TOPEKA (AP) — Kansas Republican Sam Brownback announced Thursday that he will not seek a third, six-year term in the Senate, saying he owed it to the state’s residents to keep his word and retire more than keeping seniority in the chamber. “This is something that I need to do,” he said during a news conference at the Statehouse. “I would lose a lot more and the people of Kansas would lose a lot more if...
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Oddities
Claws for celebration: Ohio cat home after 7 weeks CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio woman has found her Hope. That’s Norma Meece’s three-legged cat. The cat went missing nearly seven weeks ago in the Cincinnati area, prompting Meece to hire a pet detective and plaster her neighborhood with “missing” posters. Meece says Hope turned up Sunday in a humane trap set near her home. The cat is a former stray whose left front leg had been amputated. Meece s...
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Carrey’s ‘Yes Man’ a no, man
David Germain AP Movie Writer Someone should have butted in with an emphatic “No” before the cameras rolled for Jim Carrey’s “Yes Man,” whose makers said yes to a commonplace screenplay that lacks the wit or heart to lift the movie above its formulaic premise. The movie’s an amiable trifle, and audiences looking for lighthearted respite from these gloomy times could do worse than say OK to this well-meaning comedy, a fictionalized tale in...
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Election dominates list of top’08 religion stories for ’08 WESTERVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Controversial pastors, Democrats finding faith and a new darling of the Christian right
Election dominates list of top’08 religion stories for ’08 WESTERVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Controversial pastors, Democrats finding faith and a new darling of the Christian right. Those story lines from the U.S. presidential election led the list of top religion stories in 2008, according to a Religion Newswriters Association survey of more than 100 beat specialists. President-elect Barack Obama was voted the top religion newsmaker of 2008. Ob...
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The Associated Press TELEVISION 1
The Associated Press TELEVISION 1. “Sunday Night Football: N.Y. Giants vs. Dallas,” NBC. 2. “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS. 3. “60 Minutes,” CBS. 4. “Two And a Half Men,” CBS. 5. “Criminal Minds,” CBS. FILM 1. “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” Fox. 2. “Four Christmases,” Warner Bros. 3. “Twilight,” Summit Entertainment. 4. “Bolt,” Disney. 5. “Australia,” Fox. HOT FIVE 1. “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It),” Beyonce. Music ...
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