Camp helps autistic kids make big strides
Singing the welcoming song to the full audience, the kids at the Flint Hills Summer Fun Camp weren't just showing off what they'd been practicing for months at their final performance Thursday. For |
MHA wraps up stimulus projects
The Manhattan Housing Authority's capital construction projects, which used stimulus funding, came to a close this week. A warranty inspection Wednesday on the new roof at Carlson Plaza was the fin |
Economy slows in 2nd quarter
A new government report Friday showed that U.S. economic growth slowed sharply in the spring, providing more evidence that the fragile recovery is losing momentum and is unlikely to generate many jobs |
Study: Riley Co. not a big spender
Brad Dornes bdornes@themercury.com
A study released Thursday by the Kansas Policy Institute found that Riley County government generally spent less per capita than similar Kansas counties in its s |
ENTERTAINMENT Ramona too gentle, but fair to books
Moviegoers might have wished for a little rowdier Ramona. Her wildest behavior in the film isn't dramatic enough for "Leave It To Beaver." But the movie is wild enough to be fair to the books. |
NATION Ariz. sheriff to continue sweeps
Maricopa County (Ariz.) Sheriff Joe Arpaio's tactics have made him the undisputed poster boy for local immigration enforcement and the anger that so many authorities possess on the that so issue. |
WASHINGTON Arlington official takes the Fifth
Invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, former Arlington National Cemetery deputy superintendent Thurman Higginbotham refused Thursday to answer U.S. senators' questions abou |
Swiss native studies in Kansas
Swiss native Matthias Gfeller is living on a farm near Victoria for three weeks as a participant in IFYE, an international program in which young adults travel to other countries to learn
about thei |
STATE Garden City CC teams with FHSU
Students at Garden City Community College will be able to earn bachelor's degrees in certain fields from Fort Hays State University without traveling to northwest Kansas. |
FOCUS Sec. of State race about Kobach
It's all about Kris Kobach. The law professor who helped write Arizona's tough new immigration law is running for Kansas secretary of state. He promises to turn the state's top elections job -generall |
Chance to sharpen skills
The house on Oak Street may have had fake smoke billowing out of it, but the firefighters with the Manhattan Fire Department went to work as if it were real. It was a rare opportunity to use a hous |
Franklin, though frugal, was no enemy of luxury
In 1784 -226 years ago -Benjamin
Franklin considered whether society was in need of a ''remedy for luxury'' in a letter to his trusted adviser, Benjamin Vaughn. In it, Franklin methodically argued a |
Afghanistan is a maze the U.S. has become lost in
The waterfall of leaks on Afghanistan underlines leaks on Afghanistan underlines the awful truth: We're not in control. Not since Theseus fought the Minotaur in his maze has a fight been so confou |
ADVICE Solitary man now is lonely in a crowd
DEAR ABBY: I'm a gay 44year-old man with self-esteem problems. I have never seen myself as worthy of affection, and I don't consider myself attractive. I have never been in a relationship, and no one |
Arlington official takes the Fifth
Invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, former Arlington National Cemetery deputy superintendent Thurman Higginbotham refused Thursday to answer U.S. senators' questions about h |
Sales-tax revenue down sharply
Sales tax receipts took a turn for the worse in July after two positive months, according to the city's report released Wednesday afternoon. Adjusted receipts, which don't include money collected f |
WORLD
Families join search for dead
Relatives desperate to find the bodies of loved ones joined emergency teams Thursday at the scene of Pakistan's worst-ever plane crash, but recovery efforts were hampered by thick mud, rain and slippe |
REGION GOP races to fill insurance post
Experience and support for the new federal health care reform law are the defining issues in a Republican primary for Kansas insurance commissioner that will determine who holds the
office for the n |
OPINION When will we get our mojo back?
The real test for the U.S. economy starts once we get past the fallout from the burst housing and banking bubbles that triggered the Great Recession. And when it comes to that challenge -which involve |
WASHINGTON
House to review Rangel's case
A jury of Rep. Charles Rangel's congressional peers is ready to publicly discuss charges of ethical misdeeds.
But the political discussions outside the room will be far more significant.
Page A5 |
ENTERTAINMENT Spanish region bans bullfighting
Lawmakers in Catalonia outlawed bullfighting, making it Spain's first major region to ban the deadly, centuries-old ballet between matador and beast after heated debate that pitted animal rights again |
FLUSH PICNIC Worth the wait
Picnic-goers rewarded with chicken dinner, fun
FLUSH -The line for the Flush Picnic Wednesday was long not camp-out-for-the-KU-game long, but long enough that you couldn't see where it ended. Fortunately, there were plenty of distra |
President pushes back on education
-Challenging
civil rights organizations and teachers' unions that have criticized his education policies, President Barack Obama said Thursday that minority students have the most to gain from overh |
PLANYOUR WEEKEND
Cool off with music and movie
A couple Manhattan shopping districts will be hosting ways to beat the heat this weekend with some fun activities. Tonight, Grand Mere Village presents Thursday Night Live featuring Los
Habaneros |
Biden: We're hurting al-Qaida
Vice President Joe Biden says U.S. forces are inflicting ''significant damage'' on the al-Qaida terrorist network in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Rejecting suggestions that alQaida is becoming entrenc |
States rights, a 19th century concept, is resurrected
Atractions that few realize their country has been gripped by a critical debate over states' rights that parallels the pre-Civil War argument over preserving the Union. That's not to say people are |
State's GOP eyeing sweep of Congress
While
Associated Press OVERLAND PARK - While nearly 100 members of the Johnson County Republican Elephant Club dined on chicken, potatoes and vegetables, candidates for the 3rd Congressional Distri |
DEAR ABBY ADVICE If the music's loud and the food's late, see ya
DEAR ABBY: ''Lost My Appetite in South Carolina'' (June 1) walked out of a wedding reception after waiting for a delayed dinner and suffering through the DJ's ''loud, deafening rock 'n' roll music.'' |
It's about time for something like a black tea party
I party'' demonstration or rally. Nor do I think I ever will. The reason is simple: I am black and I am proud and no self-respecting black American would ever openly join that conservative movement |
What if Obama truly focused on long-term growth?
I was a liberal Democrat when I was young. I used to wear a green Army jacket with political buttons on it -for Hubert Humphrey, Birch Bayh, John F.
Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt. I even wore |
The real Adams or a bunch of phonies?
It's
an antique collector's dream: buying an old box at a garage sale and discovering it contains famous lost works worth a fortune. That's what Rick Norsigian said happened to him. Ten years ag |
DEAR ABBY
ADVICE
Empty nester objects to weekend baby-sitting
DEAR ABBY: Our daughter gave birth to an adorable little boy three years ago. We love ''Connor'' dearly, but my husband is obsessed with him. He wants our grandson at our house every weekend from the |
GULF OIL SPILL
Dudley rises quickly at BP
Bob Dudley's sudden rise to the top at BP PLC shows how the Gulf oil spill has dramatically changed the fortunes of people from local fishermen to corporate executives. Seen as an unlikely candidate j |
POLITICS
Brownback has big stockpile
Republican U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback has stockpiled nearly $1.2 million for a fall campaign for Kansas governor, almost 10 times as much as the presumed Democratic nominee, according to campaign finance |
HISTORY
Another look at Amelia
Amelia Earhart has returned to The Royal Hawaiian. The historic Waikiki hotel is
hosting an exhibition of rarely seen photographs taken of the pioneering aviator when she visited Hawaii |
AGRICULTURE Sweet basil? Not so much
A fungus spreading through the nation's basil crop may leave lovers of Italian and Thai food feeling a bit bland. Basil downy mildew first surfaced in the U.S. around 2007 and is slowly but surely rui |
U.S. braces for blowback over war disclosures
Operatives
inside Afghanistan and Pakistan who have worked for the U.S. against the Taliban or alQaida may be at risk following the disclosure of thousands of once-secret U.S. military documents, |
Picking up the pieces
|
City earns high marks for growth
Manhattan ranks second in the country for "economic growth potential" among metros with a population under 200,000 in a top ten list that will be released later this week. Business Facilities Magaz |
Pott Co. to pave parking lot for new bioscience business
The first bioscience operation in Pottawatomie County is expected to begin production sometime next month in Wamego. The Pottawatomie County Commission took steps Monday to help prepare property of |
No rumor, City Park pool to close Aug. 15
m Q: I wonder if the rumor I have heard that the city pools will be closing on the 15th of August is true?
A: It's not a rumor. It's true. The city's brochure for the year -a |
Panel addresses concerns with new health care law
A three-member panel addressed questions about the new health care reform law from a group of about 70 locals Monday night in the Manhattan Public Library. The forum was sponsored by the Manhattan All |
Fungus wilts the spirits of basil lovers and farmers
A fungus spreading through the nation's basil crop may leave lovers of Italian and Thai food feeling a bit bland. Basil downy mildew first surfaced in the U.S. around 2007 and is slowly but surely |
U.S. disability rights progress still lacking on jobs
This week is the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, one of the country's landmark civil rights measures and the signature domestic achievement of President George H.W. Bus |
White House needs race-savvy black advisers
It has Barack Obama, raised in the Hawaiian hood and Indonesia, and Valerie Jarrett, who spent her early years in Iran. But unlike Bill Clinton, who never needed help fathoming Southern black c |
ADVICE
Rejected senior finds it hard to accept neighbor's conquest
DEAR ABBY: I was involved with ''Ralph'' for two years. We live in a senior apartment complex, and women have been coming on to him for years. He is now seeing ''Joan,'' who happens to be my neighbor. |
Hayward's fate in board's hands
The board of oil
giant BP faced a decision Monday on whether to keep Tony Hayward as its chief executive, although deliberations appeared to have narrowed to setting the terms for his departure. |
COUNTY COMMISSION Wrapping it up
The primary election doesn't take place for eight more days, but about 450 persons have already cast ballots in Riley County. That's the report from county clerk Rich Vargo, who updated county com |
Multi-use ball field proposed
A multi-use baseball field with an artificial turf infield highlights a new proposal for an interim City Park master plan that will be presented to city commissioners at a work session Tuesday evening |
BBQ helps candidates rally voters
Several Republican candidates and representatives of candidates for the 2010 election attended a barbeque held on Sunday by the Kansas Republican Party at the Jon and Ruth Ann Wefald Pavilion in Manha |
Our Neighbors
Retired nurse helps kids tidy up their neighborhood
Last week, seven kids trooped through Pottawatomie Court with Carletta Edwards, sweeping up glass and collecting bags full of trash. The 90-degree heat didn't stop them, nor did the presence of |
BLAGOJEVICH
Attorneys making last pitches
Twenty months after Gov. Rod Blagojevich was led out of his house in handcuffs for what prosecutors called a ``political crime spree,'' attorneys were to make their last pitch to jurors during a trial |
POLITICS Ex-manager endorses rival
A former manager of Kansas Rep.
Jerry Moran's campaign for the U.S.
Senate publicly endorsed his main rival Sunday, saying Moran is unsure of his beliefs and not ``instinctively conservative.'' |
HISTORY
Gilded Age mansion crumbling
Lynnewood Hall, a century-old stunner of a building just outside Philadelphia, silently, almost invisibly, languishes 200 feet beyond a twolane blacktop road like a crum |
ENTERTAINMENT Yesterday's amusement park
You'd forgotten the feeling until you slid down into the steel bumper cars, fastening the safety strap against your waist. You'd forgotten the pure joy of amusement parks -too consumed in adulthood by |
People aren't heroes simply because they're soldiers
When I was a kid in the 1970s, I loved reading accounts of American bravery during World War II. And I was proud that my uncle had earned a Bronze Star on Guadalcanal. So it came as something of |
United States has options besides cap-and-trade
Climate change legislation has been dying in the Senate for months now, but Harry Reid's decision to finally admit as much -in the midst of an endless East Coast heat wave, no less -has supporters |
Recent widower isn't required to follow a dating timetable
DEAR ABBY
ADVICE
DEAR ABBY: My wife and I were having dinner with another couple when a conversation ensued that divided the men's views from the women's. It concerned a recently widowed man (I'll call him ``John'') w |
Closing arguments starting in Blagojevich trial
Twenty months d Blagojevich was
after Gov. Rod Blagojevich was led out of his house in handcuffs for what prosecutors called a ``political crime spree,'' attorneys were to make their last pitch to j |
Bursting at seams:
With the inmate population at or exceeding capacity, Riley County Police may look to area counties for temporary relief. What they will find, however, is more overcrowding. Seven detention cente |
RILEY COUNTY FAIR A winning note
It's never easy to perform in front of a crowd full of strangers. But for Kathy Sheffield, 27, it paid off Saturday when she won first place -and $100 -at the Fair's Riley County Idol. "It's really |
Faithful see premiere of documentary
A sort
of enviro-chautauqua unfolded under the blazing central Kansas sun here Saturday. It drew hundreds of believers -perhaps close to a thousand by day's end -to a revival just outside this hamle |
Too hot to race?
|
WORLD Taliban says it has 2 U.S. servicemen
Two U.S. soldiers went missing after driving off their base in Kabul, and the Taliban later claimed to have captured them in eastern Afghanistan, NATO officials said, the same day five U.S. troops
w |
NATION Oil crews rush to plug leak for good
Crews hurried to get back to work on plugging BP's leaky oil well Saturday after Tropical Storm Bonnie fizzled, and engineers hoped for a window of clear weather long enough to stop the
gusher for g |
LANDON LECTURE
Cabinet secretaries agree to speak
Ex-Kansas Governor and current Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has agreed to speak at the Landon Lecture Series at K-State this school year. Ex-Iowa Governor and current Agricult |
REGION Candidate's answer draws scrutiny
A candidate for secretary of state who's already part of the national immigration debate says Obama would resolve questions about his citizenship by producing a detailed birth
certificat
|
FOCUS How would Obama do as CEO?
Gulf Oil Spill by them
A mix of real-world CEOs and business theorists interviewed by The AP sketched out qualities of a corporate executive and judged Obama's handling of the
|
ARTS & LEISURE
Gardens replacing front lawns
You don't have to look too far these days to find homeowners who have turned their former lawns into ornamental gardens. They have built a space that is more interesting, more welcoming to wildlife an |
Kabul has much to contend with
the first of its kind in decades as the city hosted delegates from 70 states. It also gave Afghan President Hamid Karzai an opportunity to outline some specific goals he hopes to achieve in the coming |
Beware greedy kinfolk...
-I sup
pose you're wondering why I gathered all you distinguishedAmericansheretoday. So far you have survived the worst crisis in financial markets since the Great Depression. You have held onto y |
Beware greedy kinfolk...
-I sup
pose you're wondering why I gathered all you distinguishedAmericansheretoday. So far you have survived the worst crisis in financial markets since the Great Depression. You have held onto y |
Big Brother's beneficence is boundless
cliff or should we help them? There shouldn't be a debate as to where the money comes from. I mean, if your brotheroryoursisterneededsomething, you wouldn't say, 'When are you going to pay me back?' ' |
In Germany, political labels are reversed
I t is not unusual for liberals and conservatives to change sides on an issue to be closely bound up with another one. Such is the case in the debate in Germany over whether to end the country's m |
Tea party should thank the NAACP for its favor
ment reacted angrily to the NAACP's call for the movement to purge ''racist elements'' from its ranks. Then, a few days later, one of the movement's biggest organizations did precisely what the NAACP |
Florida fruit stand begun by boy celebrates 50 years
Robert is here, and he's been here for more than five decades. Officially established in 1960, the Robert Is Here fruit stand is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Robert Moehling, who's b |
Republicans don't have a plan for cutting the deficit
The two Texans who head the Repub lican congressional campaign committees showed last weekend that, where federal finances are concerned, it's easier to raise questions than provide answers. A |
U.S. wasted a grand opportunity at World Expo
crusading American environmentalist, at the World Expo in Shanghai moved me almost to tears. After all, Carson is a symbol of independent thought and action, both vital U.S. exports. Too bad the st |
ADVICE
Siblings suffer consequences of mom's disregard for truth
DEAR ABBY: My mother has a long history of lying in what appears to be her attempt to manipulate others. She is now 75, and my siblings and I know not to accept anything she says as the truth, and to |
