Thursday, July 14, 2011

News for Thursday July 14, 2011

LOCAL NEWS

A new Kansas State minor is offering major opportunities for engineering students and professionals across the country.
Enabled by the Big 12 Engineering Consortium, students from K-State's College of Engineering, other Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology-accredited institutions and working professionals can expand their knowledge and their employment opportunities through K-State's new minor in nuclear engineering. The minor will be offered to students this fall, courses linked with it will be offered in the classroom as well as online.

The construction of a new exhibit at the Sunset Zoo will begin on Saturday at 10:30am with its ground breaking. The exhibit received funding through a 170-thousand dollar donation from Dr. Richard Woodard in memory of his late son. It has been determined that two Gibbons, members of the lesser ape family will be featured in the new exhibit. Gibbons are typically found in Southeast Asia and with addition to the zoo, Sunset will have a total of 340 animals.

STATE NEWS

Authorities in southeastern Kansas say they confiscated about 3,000 marijuana plants from a large growing operation uncovered earlier this week. A tip led officers to the site near the Greenwood County town of Beaumont.
The marijuana was growing on several properties spread over several miles on both sides of U.S. 400. The Kansas Highway Patrol sent up a helicopter that helped spot pockets of plants from the air. Authorities estimate the value of the plants torn up Tuesday at roughly $3 million.
Police found evidence that workers cultivating the marijuana were living on the site. No arrests have been made, and officials were trying to confirm who owns the land.

NATIONAL NEWS

Families with children under six who live in Monroeville, Pa. will soon have one less option when they dine out for family night. Mike Vuick, owner of McDain's Restaurant & Golf Center, near Pittsburgh, says he's had too many complaints from customers about crying babies. So he's no longer allowing young children. This has caused a controversy among customers with some people quite offended. The policy will take effect July 16.

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

The finale of the Harry Potter film series makes its premiere tonight at midnight to audiences across the nation. For many, The Deathly Hallows Part Two is the most anticipated movie of the summer. The movie series began nearly ten years ago and has produced the most sequels out of any other movie series in its genre.


SPORTS

The Royals return from the All-Star break tonight in Minnesota for a four game series with the 2010 Central Division champs. Left hander Bruce Chen is set to pitch for KC against Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano. First pitch tonight from Target Field is set for 7:10pm. The Royals return home on Monday for a six game home stand next week.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

News for Wednesday July 13, 2011

LOCAL NEWS

A Manhattan High School student has been selected to participate in Kansas State research. Senior Dakie Washington was picked to participate in The American Chemical Society’s Summer Experiences for the Economically Disadvantaged program to study chemical research. The program provides $2,500 fellowships to economically disadvantaged students to participate in summer research at an academic, government or industrial laboratory.

A special legislative committee that will redraw the Kansas House, Senate and congressional maps begins a series of public meetings later this month, including one in Manhattan. Legislators will meet with the public to discuss proposed new boundaries for the state’s 125 House seats, 40 Senate seats and four U.S. House districts. The districts are being redrawn to reflect population changes based on the 2010 Census. The meeting will be on Wednesday July 27th from 3:00 to 5:30pm at Kansas State in room 1107 of Fiedler Hall.

STATE NEWS

The last of four defendants facing judgment in the apparently mistaken killing of a 13-year-old Wichita boy will argue he was nowhere near the scene of the crime. Seventeen-year-old Eddie Laurel is on trial in Sedgwick County District Court, charged as an adult with first-degree murder. Laurel and three others were charged with killing middle school student Miguel Andrade, who was shot 10 times early one morning last summer when he answered a knock at his front door. Earlier witnesses have testified that two of the defendants wanted revenge on a man involved in a fight with their brother, but they fired at the wrong house. The Wichita Eagle reports Laurel's attorney will argue the teen was at a house more than 30 miles away when the killing occurred.

NATIONAL NEWS

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign said Tuesday that he will not sign a conservative Iowa Christian group's far-reaching pledge opposing gay marriage, making him the first Republican presidential candidate to reject it. Two of Romney's rivals for the Republican nomination, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, have signed The Family Leader's 14-point pledge, which calls on the candidates to denounce same-sex marriage rights, pornography, same-sex military accommodations and forms of Islamic law.

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Netflix is hiking the minimum price it charges for a combined DVD-by-mail and streaming service to $15.98 from $9.99. The net impact of the change - a 59% increase - will be to force customers to choose between Netflix's unlimited streaming plan and its DVD-by-mail service. Subscribers had previously received a discount for signing up to receive both services.

SPORTS

The Kansas State University Athletic Department announced yesterday that the football team’s opening season games with Eastern Kentucky and Kent State will each kick-off at 6pm. The Cats will open with Eastern Kentucky for the Family Reunion game meanwhile; the Kent State game will include University Family and Band Day.

Last night, the MLB All-Star game took place at Chase Field home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The American League got on the board first with an Adrian Gonzalez home run, but from then on the National League took over. Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder captured the MVP award after hitting a three run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The National League won the game 5-1 making it the second consecutive year the league has won home field advantage in the World Series.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

News for Tuesday July 12, 2011

LOCAL NEWS

After last weekend’s jazz festival, City Park will host another music event. The 91st Manhattan Municipal Band has played there throughout the summer playing several instrumental numbers including patriotic-themed music. Tonight’s event is free to the public and will feature several musical highlights from the band this summer starting at 7:30pm at the Larry Novell Band Shell.

A large mercury spill in Manhattan brought out the Manhattan Fire Department, the State Hazmat response team, and EPA officials Sunday. The spill involved one pound of mercury at the Beta Sigma Psi house at 1200 Centennial Drive. While the spill actually occurred a few weeks ago, Fire dept officials weren’t notified until Sunday. The EPA remains on the scene, and it is expected that the building will have to remain unoccupied for at least two weeks. While it’s not illegal to own mercury, it’s not been disclosed what the intention was of the person who had a five pound container of the substance, with the one pound spilling.

STATE NEWS

Gov. Sam Brownback heads to southwestern Kansas this week for a fresh look at conditions caused by persistent drought. Brownback toured the rain-deprived counties of Finney, Gray, Haskell and Meade in early May. On Wednesday he plans to visit Morton, Stevens and Seward counties, in the southwestern-most corner of the state. Nearly half of Kansas has been declared in a drought emergency because of extreme conditions for the past year.

A Kansas family returned from a fishing trip with more than mere fish to show for their outing. Lorraina Fortine was 39 weeks pregnant and scheduled for a C-section Monday. But her doctor told her she wouldn't go into labor before then, so the family headed Friday to Cheney Lake for the weekend to celebrate her 3-year-old's birthday. But her new baby wouldn't wait.
Fortine told KWCH-TV she woke up Saturday morning in labor, had a few small contractions, and gave birth - in her tent. The newborn girl is named Summer Fortine coming into the world weighing seven pounds, 13 ounces.

NATIONAL NEWS

Alcohol was a likely factor in the death of a 14-year-old Northern California girl after she and three friends apparently drank vodka mixed with soda during a weekend sleepover, authorities said Monday. Paramedics found Takeimi Rao of Santa Rosa dead in her bedroom around 9 a.m. CBS News reports Sonoma County officials say an autopsy was performed on Monday they are now awaiting toxicology tests that could take up to two weeks.

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Today, the EA Sports annual College Football game hits retail shelves. “NCAA Football 12” for X-box 360 and Playstation3 adds new features this year including an ability for users to work their way up a staff to a head coach position. With the 2010 conference realignments on mind, players can now move teams from conference to conference and even change the number of teams each has.

SPORTS

The father-son tandem of Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano and Jose Cano captured the Home Run Derby victory last night. Cano battled with Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez in the final round squeezing out the derby by one home run. Out of the total eight hitters representatives from the American League hit 76 home runs compared to 19 from the National League. All Star festivities continue tonight at 6:30 with the All-Star game from Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ.

Monday, July 11, 2011

News for Monday July 10, 2011

LOCAL NEWS

A University organization will take their knowledge of crops on the road this fall. K-State Research and Extension will host a crop production field day on Wednesday August 17th at Ottawa University’s East-Central Experiment Field. Several K-State presenters will discuss topics of crop production from Nutrient Management in Eastern Kansas Soils to Soil Pit Evaluation of Strip-Till. For more information on the event you contact Research and Extension at 242-56-16.

A Wamego man has died in an accident in Anderson County. 42-year-old Ronald Winterman died after his 2003 Acura MDX drove left of center on U.S. 169 and collided with a semi-truck. Winterman was northbound when the accident occurred last Wednesday. He was ejected from the vehicle as it rolled into an east ditch. The semi’s driver, 63-year-old Gerald Schneider of Hillsboro was taken to the Anderson County Hospital.

STATE NEWS

Four northwest Kansas post offices have been reviewed for possible closure. The state is currently reviewing 32 post offices, discussing possible closure in result of the declining amount of mail. A total of three post offices in Smith County and one post office in Ness County have been added to the list of possible closure. The Hays Daily News reports each of the station’s workload is less than two hours a day.

Two people from the southeast Kansas town of Cherryvale have died in a crash near the intersection of U.S. 169 and U.S. 400.
The Kansas Highway Patrol says the accident happened late Saturday when the driver of a pickup truck failed to come to a halt at a stop sign before getting onto U.S. 169. The truck crashed into a car headed south on the highway, causing both vehicles to roll into a ditch.
The driver of the car, 41-year-old Cindy P. Blake, and her passenger, 46-year-old Jeffrey J. Blake, were killed.
The patrol says the truck's driver wasn't hurt.

NATIONAL NEWS

When they say everything is bigger in Texas, they might right. CBS NEWS reports that a mother in Longview gave birth to 16-pound baby over the weekend. Previously she was diagnosed gestational diabetes, which doctors speculate may have been the cause for such a large infant. Along with weighing 16-pounds the baby was measured in length at two feet.

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

For the second week in a row, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” is a top the box office. Grossing nearly 50-million dollars over the weekend, the film has now received an estimated amount of 261-million dollars. The third installment of the Transformers series was released in the U.S. on Tuesday June 28th and is the first of trilogy to be show in 3D.

SPORTS

K-STATE JUNIOR LINEBACKER ARTHUR BROWN HAS BEEN NAMED TO THE 2011 BRONKO NAGURSKI TROPHY WATCH LIST. THE TROPHY IS AWARDED EACH YEAR TO THE NATION’S TOP DEFENSIVE PLAYER. BROWN JOINS 86 OTHER PLAYERS ACROSS THE U.S. ON THE LIST AND IS THE FIRST WILDCAT TO BE NAMED TO THE LIST SINCE IAN CAMPBELL IN 2008.

THE ROYALS DROPPED THE FINALE OF THEIR FOUR GAME SERIES WITH THE DETROIT TIGERS YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, 2-1. TIGERS ALL-STAR PITCHER JUSTIN VERLANDER PITCHED NEARLY EIGHT INNINGS GIVING UP ONE RUN AND SITTING DOWN NINE BATTERS. THE ROYALS HAD A CHANCE TO WIN THE BALL GAME IN THE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH, WITH A ERIC HOSMER DOUBLE, BUT HE WAS LATER CAUGHT STEALING THIRD AND MIKE MOUSTAKAS GROUNDED OUT RIGHT AFTER. THE ROYALS WILL HEAD TO MINNESOTA ON THURSDAY FOR A FOUR GAME SET WITH THE TWINS.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

News for Thursday July, 7th, 2011

LOCAL NEWS

More than 125 students are spending their time conducting research at Kansas State this summer. Areas being researched include biology, ecology, physics, mathematics, mechanical engineering, and chemistry. Students from several programs are also participating in summers seminars, attending special networking events, and learning to apply for graduate school.

A Fort Riley soldier found dead on Tuesday has been identified. The body of 29-year-old Aaron Evilsizer of Junction City was found with a gunshot wound to the head that appeared to be self-inflicted. The Junction City Police report the cause of death has yet to be determined.

STATE NEWS

A Kansas judge has refused to dismiss a charge of aggravated indecent liberties against a former Lawrence church youth leader. Christopher Cormack had argued that prosecutors filed the charges after the state's five-year statute of limitations had expired. But Douglas County prosecutors contended they acted within the law because Cormack had spent four of those years out of the state. Cormack is a former youth ministry coordinator at Trinity Lutheran Church. He's accused of having an illegal sexual relationship with a girl beginning in 1999, when he was 28 and she was 15.

NATIONAL NEWS

President Obama proposed cuts to Social Security yesterday. CBS News reports that Obama hopes to reduce the deficit by as much as four trillion dollars over the next decade. The administration would only agree to cuts to Social Security benefits in exchange for reducing some eliminating some tax breaks that benefit the wealthy and certain industries, including oil and gas firms.


ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Dunder Mifflin Sabre has a new CEO named Robert California. The role portrayed by James Spader in the season seven finale of The Office will replace the former CEO of the company played by actress Cathy Bates. Bates will star in another role in her own NBC series called, “Harry’s Law”. NBC reports season eight of The Office will begin filming on July 25th.

SPORTS

Former Kansas State basketball player Jacob Pullen told an athletic department official this afternoon that he hasn’t signed a contract with a Turkish professional team. The Kansas City Star reports Media relations assistant Tom Gilbert said he spoke with Pullen, who said he hadn’t signed to play with Antalya, a Turkish Basketball League club. Eurobasket, an overseas professional basketball web site, reported earlier today that Pullen had signed with the team.

The Royals concluded their series with the Chicago White Sox last night, winning 4-1. Starting pitcher Bruce Chen pitched through six innings giving up only one run on four hits. Chen improves to 5-2 on the season tying colleague Luke Hochevar for the most wins on the staff. Kansas City comes home tonight to play the Detroit Tigers at 7:10pm.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

News for Thursday June 30, 2011

LOCAL NEWS

Two local college graduate students are taking their talents overseas. Kyle Van Horn of Abilene and Christopher Lemon of Belpre have both received 2011 Fulbright U.S. student scholarships to study abroad. Each will head to Germany this fall to teach English as a second language. The Fulbright program aims to increase mutual understanding between the U.S. citizens and those of other countries. It was established under legislation introduce by the late Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright and is administered by the Institute of International Education.

Fort Riley officials have released an update involving a soldier found dead at approximately 5:30 Monday morning in his barracks room at the Warrior Transition Battalion.
21-year-old Specialist Nathan Conley, an M1 armor crewman, was assigned to the WTB in February. He deployed to Iraq from November 2010 to this past February in support of Operation New Dawn.

Conley’s death is under investigation, and officials have not yet released information on the cause of death.

STATE NEWS

A famous candy company is coming to Kansas. According to the Topeka Capital Journal, Mars Chocolate North America unveiled plans on Wednesday to build a $250 million manufacturing plant in the Kanza Fire Commerce Park south of Topeka. The construction process will begin in August, meanwhile the company hopes to start producing Snickers and M&Ms in late 2013.

NATIONAL NEWS

A homeless teenager in Florida loses possessions in a fire. 17-year-old Jonathan Davis and his family were living at the Vacation Lodge Hotel in Kissimmee due to the toll of his parents losing their jobs in the recession. CBS News says a fire recently burned the family’s temporary home to the ground, turning all the remaining possessions they had into ash. The Davis’ will now look for a new source of living in the area.

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Two Hollywood celebrities are calling it quits. People Magazine reports Actors David Duchovny and Tea Leoni have separated. The couple were married for 14 years, including a period in 2008 where they separated and then reunited. Duchovny and Leonia have two children together ages 12 and 9.

SPORTS

Two former Wildcat athletes have been inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. Former Kansas State All-American linebacker Mark Simoneau and 2005 All-American Women’s basketball player Kendra Wecker were among the latest induction class. Others included former Jayhawks Raef Lafrentz and Dick Harp.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

News for Wednesday June 29, 2011

By Dan Page - News Director

LOCAL NEWS

A K-STATE SENIOR WINS A NATIONAL AWARD

Civil Engineering major Rachel Spicer of Shawnee recently received the American Society of Civil Engineer’s Student Leadership Award. The award recognizes leaders in the organization’s student chapter and their involvements as an officer in various activities. The society itself has over 140,000 worldwide members as well as over 300 student chapters.

TRAGEDY STRIKES FT. RILEY

A Fort Riley Soldier was found dead in his barracks room on post Monday. According to the Associated Press, Fort Riley officials indicated late Monday identification of the Soldier is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin. The incident is under investigation. A cause of death has not been announced.


STATE NEWS

Topeka police are investigating two overnight burglaries happening at two businesses in the southwest section of the town. The Topeka Capital Journal reports police say someone pried the doors open, but fled after the alarms sounded. Additional details remain to be released.

Dodge City as well as a few other southwest Kansas communities has voted to ban
fireworks due to an extreme heat wave and continued drought. Previously the city issued a waiver allowing fireworks July 2nd through 4th. The city’s public fireworks display is postponed until a future date.

NATIONAL NEWS

A computer hacker group plans to “cyberattack” several Orlando, Florida government-related websites. The ‘Anonymous’ hackers declare that the attack is a result of an incident in which Orlando police arrested members of a group feeding the homeless. CBS News reports federal agencies around the world have arrested several high-profile young people in response to the attacks.

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

A CBS sitcom may kill off its main character. Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre wants to remove character Charlie Harper from the show, to make sure actor Charlie Sheen cannot return. According to sources close to the network, Harper will be killed off with the source of death yet to be determined. The show’s new season will not begin filming until August 5th.

SPORTS

The Kansas City Royals dropped game two of their road series with the Padres last night. After trailing 4-1 through six innings, right fielder Jeff Francoeur hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh to help the Royals try to comeback. The comeback failed again in night number two at Petco Park as the Royals fell 4-2.

College baseball ended last night in Omaha, the South Carolina Gamecocks claimed their second national championship in a row over SEC conference foe, the Florida Gators, 5-2. South Carolina’s second baseman Scott Wingo was named MVP of the entire College World Series. The Gamecocks become the ninth team to repeat as champions in two consecutive years since the Oregon State Beavers did so in 2006 and 2007.