Kansas City Star: Nation

Police: Man kills woman in Ark., then is shot dead

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:20 CDT

A fugitive on a two-day rampage across Arkansas who police said had just fatally shot his pregnant former girlfriend was killed by a sheriff's sniper Friday as he tried to escape from authorities.

GLAAD: `Bruno' reinforces negative gay stereotypes

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:10 CDT

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said Friday that "Bruno," the new film starring Sacha Baron Cohen, reinforces negative stereotypes and "decreases the public's comfort with gay people."

Clinton says reporters held in NKorea sorry

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:52 CDT

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday urged North Korea to grant amnesty to two American reporters sentenced to 12 years of hard labor last month for illegally entering North Korea.

Prosecutors: Jailed evangelist 'married' girls

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:42 CDT

Jailed evangelist Tony Alamo "married" the underage girls he allegedly forced into sex, exchanging wedding vows and rings, prosecutors said.

Pa. swim club defends self against race accusation

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:32 CDT

The head of a private suburban Philadelphia swim club on Friday defended its cancellation of the memberships of dozens of minority children, saying safety, not racism, was the reason.

More cases of disturbed graves at Ill. cemetery

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:57 CDT

Authorities say more than a dozen more cases of disturbed graves have turned up at a historic black cemetery in Illinois where four people are accused of unearthing hundreds of corpses in a scheme to resell burial plots.

Driver in car-train crash had suspended license

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:02 CDT

The car carrying five young people never slows as it approaches a rail crossing near Detroit, and drives right past a car that had been stopped there for several seconds - just before an Amtrak train rushes through the crossing.

Madoff won't appeal 150-year sentence

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:57 CDT

Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff will not appeal his 150-year sentence for a fraud that unraveled overnight last December when Madoff confessed to his sons that nearly $65 billion he promised investors was safe was actually only worth a few hundred million dollars.

Bail denied for surgery tech in hepatitis C scare

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:32 CDT

A judge denied bail Thursday for a surgery technician accused of swapping out her dirty syringes for ones filled with a painkiller meant for patients - even though she knew she had hepatitis C.

NH tax evaders guilty on all weapons counts

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:27 CDT

Tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown were convicted Thursday of amassing weapons, explosives and booby traps and plotting to kill federal agents during a nine-month standoff in 2007 at their fort-like home in rural New Hampshire.

Bush administration's domestic surveillance was massive

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

W ASHINGTON | The Bush administration built an unprecedented surveillance operation to pull in mountains of information far beyond the warrantless wiretapping previously acknowledged, a team of federal inspectors general reported Friday. In issuing the report, the inspectors general questioned the legal basis for the effort but shielded almost all details on grounds they’re still too secret to reveal.

Gary, Ind., says goodbye to Michael Jackson

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

GARY, Ind. | The city where Michael Jackson spent his first 11 years bade him farewell Friday as several thousand people showed up to watch performers sing and dance to his hits. The biggest applause from the crowd of more than 6,000 gathered at Gary’s minor league baseball park came before the two-hour event, when Jackson’s hits played and people mimicked his dance moves.

Swine flu vaccination program is considered

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

WASHINGTON | The Obama administration said Thursday that it had billions of dollars available to help pay for a national H1N1 flu vaccine program that could be ready in mid-October. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made the announcement at a summit on the outbreak of what is more commonly known as swine flu. One purpose of the gathering, officials said, is to restore a sense of urgency to the worldwide response to the epidemic.

Man dies in vat of chocolate

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

CAMDEN, N.J. | A man died after falling into a vat of melted chocolate in a New Jersey processing plant, authorities said Wednesday. The Camden County prosecutor’s office identified the victim as 29-year-old Vincent Smith II of Camden. He was a temporary worker at the Cocoa Services Inc. plant.

Levi: I know why Palin is resigning

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska | The former fiance of Gov. Sarah Palin’s 18-year-old daughter says he thinks he knows why the Alaska governor is resigning — concerns over money. Levi Johnston, 19, whose wedding to Bristol Palin was called off earlier this year, says he lived with the Palin family from early December to the second week in January. He claims he heard the governor say several times how nice it would be to take advantage of the lucrative deals that were being offered, including a reality show and a book.

Suburban Philadelphia pool asks minority children not to return

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa. | Parents of minority children who were asked not to return to a suburban private pool are considering legal action, according to a Philadelphia day camp director. The Creative Steps camp in northeast Philadelphia had paid $1,950 for 65 children to go each Monday afternoon this summer to The Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley. But after the first outing on June 29, the money was refunded with no explanation.

World leaders fight competing financial urges

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

L’AQUILA, Italy | Leaders of the exclusive club of eight industrialized nations plus five of the fastest-developing nations are calling for open markets and a battle against protectionism as the answer to the world’s economic meltdown. But the need to save jobs back home is pulling them the opposite direction. How can the goal set by the leaders — completing a long-stalled world trade deal by next year — be reconciled with pressures to protect local industries?

Man abducts estranged wife in Connecticut

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

SOUTH WINDSOR, Conn. | A woman held hostage for hours by her estranged husband got out safely Tuesday, said police who surrounded their former home as it was engulfed in flames with the defiant man still inside. A fire truck crew sprayed water on the home as the standoff continued Tuesday night, although other firefighters were being held back as gunshots echoed through the neighborhood.

Obama taps genetics pioneer

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

W ASHINGTON | President Barack Obama on Wednesday nominated genetics pioneer Francis Collins to be the next director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Collins, 59, helped unravel the human genetic code and has discovered numerous genes important for diseases, including the one that leads to cystic fibrosis.

Palin gives answers about her pending resignation

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

K OTZEBUE, Alaska | Gov. Sarah Palin returned to the spotlight Tuesday. Palin, at a remote Arctic village, stood by her perplexing decision to resign just as she tries to elevate her national profile ahead of a possible 2012 presidential run.

World powers disagree on emissions at G8 summit

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

L ’AQUILA, Italy | The failure to agree on swift, concrete steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the summit meeting of the world’s most advanced economies pointed to hard bargaining ahead on global warming — especially on the politically sensitive issue of who should go first. President Barack Obama and his counterparts in the Group of Eight, who on Wednesday began two days of meetings in this central Italian mountain town, announced broad agreements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat rising global temperatures over the next four decades.

Health care plan would raise taxes on wealthy

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

WASHINGTON | A plan to raise taxes on the wealthy is emerging as the leading option among House Democrats looking to finance health-care legislation that President Barack Obama wants. Numerous officials say that under the proposal, an income tax surcharge would be imposed on individuals earning more than $200,000, with a higher threshold for couples.

Obama appeals to Russians

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

MOSCOW | After reaching out to the Islamic world in speeches in Turkey and Egypt, President Barack Obama on Tuesday sought once more to speak directly to a hostile audience — the Russian public. Obama said Tuesday that America and Russia “share common interests” in building a secure, free and flourishing world.

Progress on arms control may set the tone at Moscow summit

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

As President Barack Obama arrives in Moscow for meetings with Kremlin leadership, at the top of his agenda is reducing the number of strategic nuclear weapons capable of destroying life on Earth. And that might be the easy part.

Obama's regulatory plan would rein in financial institutions

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

W ASHINGTON | They are the biggest of the big — the Citigroups, the Goldman Sachses, the AIGs and other financial behemoths. The Obama administration doesn’t want so many around anymore. Around Washington and Wall Street they have come to be known as TBTF — too big to fail. It’s not just size, though. These companies are so far-flung, so intertwined and so precariously leveraged that a single one’s collapse can create systemwide tremors that imperil the finances of millions of Americans.

Vietnam War architect Robert McNamara dies

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

WASHINGTON | Robert S. McNamara, the brainy Pentagon chief who directed the escalation of the Vietnam War despite private doubts the war was winnable or worth fighting, died Monday at 93. McNamara revealed his misgivings three decades after the American defeat in what some called “McNamara’s war.”

Former mayor of Washington is charged with stalking

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

WASHINGTON | Police say Marion Barry, a former mayor of Washington, was arrested and charged with stalking a woman. The United States Park Police said Barry, a current District of Columbia council member, was arrested Saturday. Barry was released.

Obama, Medvedev approve missile cuts

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

MOSCOW | Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev on Monday agreed to cut up to a third of the nuclear warheads in their strategic arsenals but acknowledged that disagreements linger about a proposed U.S. missile defense shield. Obama and Medvedev stressed that the proposal marked a turn away from post-Cold War lows of the past few years.

Jackson's big tribute arrives today as legal wrangling continues

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

LOS ANGELES | The stage was set Monday for Michael Jackson’s final act. Ecstatic fans who won the lottery for seats at today’s all-star memorial beginning at noon Central time received the tickets and spangly wristbands that will get them into the 20,000-seat Staples Center. The family announced the participants will include Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Usher, Lionel Richie, Kobe Bryant, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Martin Luther King III.

Guests on today's TV news shows

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

Guests on today’s TV news shows: •ABC’s “This Week,” 9:30 a.m. on Channel 9, 9 a.m. on Channel 49 — Guest: Vice President Joe Biden.

Your spouse can help stall dementia, new study finds

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:15 CDT

Does your spouse sometimes drive you crazy? Think again: A study published in the current edition of the British Medical Journal finds that people who lived with a partner during middle age had much lower odds of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

Hundreds evacuated from 747 at Phoenix airport

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:50 CDT

Hundreds of passengers aboard a British Airways Boeing 747 preparing to depart for London from the airport in Phoenix were forced to use slides to evacuate the jet on Friday night after fumes filled the cabin.

Pilot dies in crash practicing for Mo. air show

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:40 CDT

A pilot has died after her propeller plane crashed into a bean field in far northwest Missouri while she practiced acrobatics for an air show.

RI debates changing state name linked to slavery

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:05 CDT

George Lima is offended by his state's full official name, and he wants it shortened.

Missouri man charged in quadruple homicide

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:20 CDT

A Kansas City, Mo., man has been indicted in the March killing of his ex-girlfriend, her boyfriend and her two young nephews. Their bodies were found in an apartment with the woman's toddler wandering among the corpses.

Prosecutor says foreign students neglected in Pa.

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:42 CDT

A California nonprofit placed foreign exchange students in deplorable conditions in Pennsylvania, with some becoming malnourished or living in homes strewn with dog feces, and a prosecutor said the neglect merits criminal charges.

More bones found, Ill. cemetery closed to public

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:32 CDT

Some horrified relatives who searched Friday for loved ones' plots at a historic black cemetery at the center of a gravedigging scheme near Chicago instead found more human bones on the grounds, prompting authorities to close the cemetery and treat it as an expanding crime scene.

Iranian-American academic detained in Tehran

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:52 CDT

An Iranian-American scholar whom Iran once accused of fomenting political unrest has been arrested by authorities there for the second time in two years, his family said Friday.

Obama lands in Ghana on historic Africa trip

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:45 CDT

President Barack Obama has landed in Ghana on his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa since taking office.

House boosts funding for veterans programs

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:57 CDT

Veterans health care programs would receive another big boost under a $132.4 billion measure passed by the House on Friday.

One week delay in Jackson guardianship case

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:15 CDT

A guardianship hearing for Michael Jackson's three children has been delayed for a week to give the singer's mother and ex-wife time to reach an agreement, an attorney said Friday.

Correction: Florida Plane Crash story

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:25 CDT

In a July 9 story about a plane that crashed with five people aboard off Florida's Gulf Coast, The Associated Press erroneously reported that family members of two Quality Powder Coating LP employees were among those on the plane. No relatives of the employees of the Carrolton, Texas, company were on the flight.

University chief proposes furloughs to cut costs

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:27 CDT

Tens of thousands of University of California employees would be forced to take furloughs and lose pay under a plan proposed Friday to offset deep funding cuts to the 10-campus system.

Calif. furloughs prompt strike threat from union

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:00 CDT

Furloughed and fired up, California's largest state employee union announced on Friday it would ask its 95,000 members to authorize a potential strike.

Coast Guard cutter makes drug bust off Guatemala

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:55 CDT

The Coast Guard says a cutter based in Alameda has seized two speedboats, recovered a bale of cocaine and detained four suspected smugglers off the coast of Guatemala.

Poor leave Calif. at higher rate than rich

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:05 CDT

The poor are more likely to leave California than the rich, despite concerns that the state's relatively high income tax rate is driving away the wealthy, a new study shows.

4-day workweek creates new volunteers in Utah

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:20 CDT

Utah, a state that has always been a leader in the percentage of residents who volunteer, appears to have inadvertently found a way to boost volunteerism: a four-day workweek.

Cocoa plant where worked died didn't have license

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:17 CDT

Officials say a cocoa processing center in New Jersey was operating illegally when a worker fell into a vat of melting chocolate and died.

Plea deal in Conn. millionaire slaying case

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:05 CDT

A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty Friday to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit murder in the 2006 stabbing death of a millionaire Connecticut developer accused of real estate fraud.

LA wants reports on Jackson memorial cost, revenue

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:47 CDT

The financial fallout from the Michael Jackson memorial service continues, with Los Angeles city officials calling for reviews on who should pick up the tab for municipal services related to the event.

Pentagon criticized over flyover flap in Idaho

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:47 CDT

Idaho Lt. Gov. Brad Little said Friday military officials made a mistake by denying a flyover at the annual God and Country Family Festival earlier this month.

Cop shoots person to death in Spokane

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:15 CDT

Police fatally shot a man after he allegedly beat a woman with a skateboard and stabbed a pit bull during a rampage Friday morning.

NY ROTC cadet dies at Fort Lewis, Wash., training

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:00 CDT

An ROTC cadet has died in a night ground navigation exercise at Fort Lewis in Washington.

DC Council to probe Marion Barry contract

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:30 CDT

The head of the District of Columbia Council says a former federal prosecutor will look into a contract between former mayor Marion Barry and his ex-girlfriend.

Fourth person pleads guilty to passport peeking

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:25 CDT

The investigation into who snooped into confidential passport files of famous Americans has resulted in a fourth criminal conviction.

Jackson's hometown holds a memorial for pop icon

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:55 CDT

Michael Jackson's boyhood hometown bade farewell to the King of Pop on Friday with a celebration of his life and music.