DETROIT (AP) — At least 29 people have died and 27 people have been seriously injured in crashes involving General Motors cars with defective ignition switches.
Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, who was hired by GM to compensate victims, updated the totals Monday.
Feinberg says he has received 184 death claims since August. Of those, 29 have been deemed eligible for compensation, up two from last week.
Twenty-seven of the 1,333 injury claimants have also received compensation offers.
GM knew about faulty ignition switches in Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars for more than a decade but didn’t recall them until February. The switches can slip out of the “on” position, which causes the cars to stall, knocks out power steering and turns off the air bags.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The popular song “Royals” by New Zealand artist Lorde is getting caught up in the fervor over the upcoming World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals.
Two San Francisco radio stations say they won’t play the song during the duration of the World Series.
KFOG and KOIT announced the bans last week as the Giants clinched the pennant and headed to the series. KOIT program director Brian Figula said in a statement that listeners called for the ban.
Jim Richards, KFOG’s program director, said they didn’t want to play a song that repeatedly says “Royals” while rooting for the hometown team.
Lorde has told VH1 that a photo of Kansas City Royals Hall of Famer George Brett signing autographs in his uniform helped inspire her song when she saw the word “Royals.”
In light of National School Bus Safety Week the St. Joseph School District is trying to raise awareness to keep students safe.
“It’s really important that when the bus comes to a stop, that you stop,” said School District Deputy Superintendent, Dr. Jake Long.
This year’s national initiative safety week theme is centered around “At my stop, you stop!”
“Just be aware of your surroundings especially whenever you come up on a bus stop,” said Long. “Many times people think they can go ahead and make it through before the bus stops but if you see the flashing lights come on and the stop sign come out come to a stop for the safety of our kids.”
However, bus safety doesn’t stop with other motorists. As we previously reported, last month Apple Bus Company had a driver loose consciousness and crash his bus into a utility pole. No children were on the bus but the driver was transported to the hospital.
“All of our drivers on a yearly basis have to go through a medical and have a physical,” said Long. “Obviously that is something we’re concerned about and we do everything that we can do to prevent anything that’s preventable.”
Long said bus drivers have many training courses they are required to complete to try and keep students safe.
“They have monthly safety meetings, obviously they have training and certifications that they have to go through and it’s an ongoing process,” said Long. “The safety of our students is very important.”
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Researchers are waiting to hear if evidence found at a Pottawatomie County site this summer can be tied to the founding populations of the Americas.
Rolfe Mandel, a University of Kansas anthropology professor, tells the Topeka Capital-Journal that if sediments at the site are determined to be more than 13,500 years old, it would open the door for the earliest evidence of the Clovis people inhabiting the Central Great Plains. They wandered across America following animal herds.
Mandel leads the excavation of the Coffey site that’s a part of the university’s Odyssey Project. Mandel says he’s waiting for the results of a dating method to reveal the age of deposits that contained the artifacts found at the site. Items found in July include a tool called a hafted drill.
Today Sunny, with a high near 71. North northwest wind around 7 mph.
Tonight Clear, with a low around 45. North northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Tuesday Sunny, with a high near 70. Calm wind becoming east southeast 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon.
Tuesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 44. East southeast wind around 6 mph.
Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 69. Southeast wind 6 to 11 mph.
Wednesday Night A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Thursday A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 66. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Thursday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 50.
Friday Mostly sunny, with a high near 70.
Friday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 49.
Saturday Sunny, with a high near 73.
Saturday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 49.
DETROIT (AP) — Toyota is recalling 247,000 vehicles in high-humidity areas as an air bag problem that has plagued most of the auto industry continues to widen.
The recall posed Monday by U.S. safety regulators covers the 2003 to 2005 Corolla and Matrix, the 2002 to 2005 Sequoia and the 2003 to 2005 Tundra. Also included is the 2003 to 2005 Pontiac Vibe made by Toyota.
Inflators can rupture in air bags manufactured by parts supplier Takata, causing metal fragments to fly out when bags are inflated in crashes. The problem has caused serious injuries. So far, automakers have recalled about 12 million vehicles worldwide because of the problem.
The recall covers vehicles in South Florida, along the Gulf Coast, in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to referee a dispute over police access to hotel information about guests without first getting a search warrant.
The justices said Monday they will hear an appeal by the city of Los Angeles of a lower court ruling that struck down an ordinance that requires hotel operators to open their guest registries at the demand of police.
The federal appeals court in San Francisco divided 7-4 in ruling that the ordinance violates the privacy rights of the hotels, but not their guests.
Courts in other parts of the country have upheld similar laws.
Cities argue that the ordinances help fight prostitution and illegal gambling, aid in the pursuit of fugitives and even could be a tool to track suspects following a terrorist attack.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Nearly four years after he was found guilty of sexual harassment, a University of Kansas professor continues to fight the university in court.
Those involved in the case of 85-year-old Zamir Bavel say part of the problem is the confusing and contradictory policies used by the university in such incidents.
Bavel contends the university violated his rights by denying him a hearing before he was found guilty. He also denies the allegations that he groped a female student. Bavel lost a lawsuit in Douglas County Court and is now waiting for the Kansas Court of Appeals to consider his appeal.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports court documents in Bavel’s case mention at least four sets of rules governing multiple university bodies, offices and administrators.
RAVENWOOD- A Missouri man was injured in an accident just before 4:30 a.m. on Monday in Nodaway County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Chevy Monte Carlo driven by Jaron T. Shively, 22, Greentop, was eastbound on U.S. 136 just west of Ravenwood.
The vehicle traveled off the right side of the road and struck a guardrail.
Shively was transported to St. Francis Medical Center.
The MSHP reported he was properly restrained at the time of the accident.
TOPEKA – While the statewide unemployment rate remained relatively flat, the jobless rate in Atchison County fell from August to September, according to the Kansas Department of Labor.
Atchison County jobless numbers fell from 5.8 percent in August to 5.2 percent in September. Leavenworth County saw a drop from 5.3 to 5 percent and Doniphan County saw the jobless rate fall from 5 to 4.5%.
Wallace County had the state’s lowest, posting a 1.8 percent unemployment rate. (Click the map for a closer look)
The state’s September seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.8 percent, down from 4.9 percent in August and down from 5.3 percent in September 2013. County rates are not seasonally adjusted.
Kansas gained 10,700 seasonally adjusted private sector jobs, an increase of 1 percent since last year, and 9,200 nonfarm jobs, a 0.7 percent increase. Since last month, Kansas gained 1,300 seasonally adjusted private sector jobs, a 0.1 percent increase. The state gained 2,400 seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs, a 0.2 percent increase since last month.
“The Kansas economy is strong and continues to grow,” said Lana Gordon, Secretary of Labor. “Unemployment claims are at lows not seen since 2008. More than 23,000 Kansans have found work in the past year alone and are finding jobs that are paying better wages.”
Not seasonally adjusted figures show Kansas gained 11,400 private sector jobs since last year, or 1 percent, and 9,500 nonfarm jobs, an increase of 0.7 percent. Since August, private sector jobs decreased by 5,300, a 0.5 percent decline. The state gained 17,400 total nonfarm jobs over the month, a 1.3 percent increase.
“Despite national trends showing people leaving the labor force, Kansas continues in the right direction with more people entering the labor force and finding jobs, driving the state’s unemployment rate down,” said Justin McFarland, Director, Labor Market Information Services.
The October Labor Report will be released Nov. 21.
DETROIT (AP) — At least 29 people have died and 27 people have been seriously injured in crashes involving General Motors cars with defective ignition switches.
