Monday, August 1, 2011

News for Monday August 1, 2011

LOCAL NEWS

-An entire floor of Hale Library will be closed for the next two weeks. Beginning today through Monday, August 15th, crews will be repairing items as well as laying new carpet. Library staff with offices on the floor will be able to reach them if they contact the help desk for the best route. For more information, you can contact 785-532-2535.

-The results are in on the Battle of the Badges for Manhattan. KMAN reports, The Riley County Police Department has come out victorious with 106 donations to the Red Cross. Riley County EMS came in second with 98, and Manhattan Fire Department had 68.

STATE NEWS

-For the ninth year in a row, a team of Fort Riley soldiers has placed in the top three at a national competition testing close-combat fighting skills.

The Fort Riley team finished second in the recent U.S. Army Combatives Championship at Fort Hood, Texas. Hundreds of soldiers took part in the event, which puts competitors through a variety of one-on-one bouts.

Two members of the Fort Riley team placed first in their weight categories. Capt. Brandon Bear won the 180-pound category, while Spc. Joseph Sundstrom won the 140-pound category.

The entire team was honored at a ceremony Friday at the 1st Infantry Division Headquarters at Fort Riley.

NATIONAL NEWS

-President Obama and congressional leaders on Sunday worked out a deal to avoid the first ever U.S. default that could have come as soon as this week.

The deal would cut trillions of dollars in government spending over the next 10 years and raise the amount of money the U.S. is legally allowed to borrow by enough to avoid another showdown on the matter before next year's presidential election. It also would create a new congressional committee to recommend a deficit-reducing proposal by Thanksgiving and would require a vote on the plan by Christmas.

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

-Transformers: Dark of the Moon's two-week head start couldn't hold off Harry Potter's record-breaking pace as the Deathly Hallows Part 2 passed $1 billion worldwide on Sunday, while Transformers still has a few days left before it arrives at that coveted milestone. Now ranking eighth on the all-time world record chart, Part 2 opens up in China this coming weekend.

SPORTS

-Rising junior Rodney McGruder has been selected to participate with the East Coast All-Stars in the Four Nations Cup held in Tallinn, Estonia starting tomorrow through next Monday.

A third team All-Big 12 selection last season, McGruder will join nine other collegiate players, as they spend seven days in the small Northern European country of Estonia, which is bordered on the east by Russia and on the west by the Baltic Sea and on the south by Latvia.

The East Coast All-Stars will be joined in the Four Nations Cup by host Estonia, along with national teams from Sweden and Georgia.