JUNCTION CITY – One person was injured in an accident just before 8 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Ford Explorer driven by Barry C. Skidmore, Lawson, MO., was eastbound on Interstate 70 eleven miles east of Junction City.
The vehicle drifted to the left on the north shoulder. The driver overcorrected and the vehicle overturned.
Skidmore was transported to Geary County Hospital.
The KHP reported he was properly restrained at the time of the accident.
MICHAEL R. SISAK, Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bye, bye Baby New Year.
The crowning of the year’s first baby is going top secret as hospitals trump tradition with safety concerns.
Community Health Systems — one of the country’s largest health care operators — recently ordered its 207 facilities to stop publicizing the first baby of the year, citing the potential for abductions and identity theft.
Other hospitals have either removed themselves from the new year’s tradition altogether or limited the amount of information they provide to the media.
They’re pointing to guidance from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
The center suggests hospitals obtain parental consent and eliminate home addresses and other identifying information from birth announcements or stop providing them to media. But a center official says Baby New Year is tradition and relatively low-risk.
MICHELLE R. SMITH, Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Hasbro Inc. says it will replace a Play-Doh toy that looks similar to a penis.
The syringe-like “extruder tool” is part of Play-Doh’s Cake Mountain toy. It squeezes modeling compound through a round tube with corkscrew-type ridges around the outside and a dome-shaped top.
Its phallic appearance upset some parents.
An Oklahoma TV station blurred the image of it when it did a piece about the complaints in November. Since Christmas, Play-Doh’s Facebook page has received thousands of comments about it, saying it looked like a penis or a sex toy.
Some were upset. Others thought it was funny.
The Pawtucket, Rhode Island-based company says it is replacing the tool in future sets. It also says it will replace it for anyone who already bought one.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has said in a New Year’s message to U.S. President Barack Obama that Moscow is looking for equality in bilateral relations next year.
The Kremlin on Wednesday published several dozen New Year’s messages addressed to heads of states and international organizations such as the Olympic Committee and FIFA.
Putin reminded Obama of the upcoming 70th anniversary of the allied victory in World War II and said that it should serve as a reminder of “the responsibility that Russia and the United States bear for maintaining peace and international stability.” Moscow is anxious for the relations to advance but only as long as there is “equality and mutual respect.”
Conspicuously absent from the list of the recipients of New Year’s messages was Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Suburban Kansas City police are investigating the shooting death of a man in his 40s.
The Kansas City Star reports that the shooting happened Wednesday morning in Overland Park. Witnesses told police that the victim went outside to warm up his car, when they heard shouting and several gunshots.
When police arrived they found the man dead in the street. Some witnesses reported hearing a vehicle leaving the scene at a high rate of speed.
Detectives are now investigating and police ask anyone with information to come forward.
From exposing bribery in Army National guard recruiting, to calling out Dr. Oz for bogus, fad diets, Senator Claire McCaskill has had a busy year.
The Missouri Democrat listed her 14 “greatest hits” for 2014 in a news release.
1. Was once again ranked exactly in the moderate middle of the U.S. Senate, ranking #50 out of 100 by the nonpartisan news magazine National Journal in its annual rankings of members of Congress from liberal-to-conservative
2. Successfully passed into law a comprehensive plan fixing the Pentagon’s troubled program to recover American personnel who are prisoners of war and missing in action, establishing a single agency with one federal official in charge—following her previous year’s investigation into systemic problems with POW-MIA recovery efforts
3. Led an investigation and chaired two Senate hearings revealing one of the biggest fraud investigations in U.S. Army history—including up to $100 million in waste—identifying pervasive fraud and waste in the Army National Guard’s Recruiting Assistance Program, which paid National Guard members, retirees, and civilians to recruit friends and family, but had virtually no safeguards or controls, and ultimately led to indictments against five current and former Army National Guard officials on charges of bribery
4. Launched an investigation into weight-loss diet scams harming American consumers—collecting tips and stories from Missourians about their personal experiences with such deceptive practices, and ultimately leading a Senate hearing to question popular TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz on his frequent claims about “miracle” products, explore options for regulators and industry to crack down on the scams, and urge media outlets to strengthen screening of false advertising
5. Led the effort in Congress to address sexual assault on college and university campuses—meeting directly with federal experts, launching an unprecedented national survey of colleges and universities, hosting a series of public Senate roundtable discussions with stakeholders from across the country, crafting and introducing bipartisan legislation to boost safety on campuses, and hearing directly from nearly 50 Missouri colleges and universities on a tour across the state to gather feedback and build support for needed changes
6. Led a successful effort to retain two federal weather centers in Kansas City, and the jobs they support
7. Won passage into law of additional measures further strengthening already historic reforms to curb sexual assaults in the U.S. military—after leading the successful effort in 2013 to overhaul how the military handles such crimes, better protecting and empowering survivors, boosting prosecutions of predators, and holding military commanders accountable
8. Used Senate Consumer Protection panel to lead the investigations and chair several Senate hearings holding General Motors and safety regulators to account for its recalls of nearly 2.6 million vehicles for defective ignition switches that were linked to at least 13 deaths, including a fatality in Missouri—and ultimately introducing legislation aimed at keeping American travelers safe on the road and holding accountable companies who ignore or violate safety laws
9. Traveled to every corner of Missouri on the “McCaskill on Main Street” tour, to public town halls, meetings with local leaders, and events, all focused on policies to boost job and business opportunities
10. Teamed up with Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma to introduce the Let Me Google That For You Act, a bipartisan, bicameral bill to eliminate an outdated federal agency that has lost more than $1 million trying to sell government reports that are available for free online—and later led a Senate hearing shining a spotlight on the agency
11. Continued longstanding support for construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, citing potential for job opportunities and stronger energy security, voting to approve the project and calling on the President to implement a specific timeline for its construction
12. As Chairman of the Senate Consumer Protection panel, crafted a measure aimed at bringing transparency and fairness to cable, satellite, and other pay-TV billing practices—starting by soliciting personal stories and tips from Missouri consumers
13. Following the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., helped secure a commitment from the U.S. Justice Department for an independent investigation, led a Senate hearing examining a lack of coordination and oversight in programs supporting local law enforcement, and began crafting legislation aimed in part at expanding the use of body cameras by law enforcement to protect both police officers and civilians
14. Secured long-overdue Purple Heart awards for St. Peters, Mo. Vietnam veteran Patrick Howe—and for St. Louis Korean War veteran Reverend Leo Hardin.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has taken steps to speed up a ruling on the remaining legal issues in a lawsuit challenging Kansas’ gay-marriage ban.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree on Wednesday directed opposing attorneys to narrow factual disputes and to propose a schedule at the end of January for him to hear legal issues.
Both the state’s attorneys and lawyers challenging ban want to expedite the case.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit in October for couples denied marriage licenses. The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Kansas from enforcing its ban while the case goes forward and the ACLU expanded its lawsuit to force the state to recognize the resulting gay marriages.
Separately, the U.S. Supreme Court could rule before July on whether states can keep banning gay marriage.
“The amount of damage, the temperature, where the fire started on the second floor is now part of the first floor,” all figured into that assessment, he said. “Shortly after they get done putting the fire out everything freezes solid, so digging is almost impossible. With the amount of damage it’s going to be hard to determine anyway, and with no witnesses, things like that, it will probably stay undetermined.”
Henrichson said some firefighters were left “looking like snowmen.” The cold temperatures left some of the firefighters with layers of ice clinging to the outside of their protective gear.
They had to deal with low water pressure, bitter cold temperatures, a high terrace and a collapsing structure in putting out the fire, which was reported shortly before 7am Wednesday. The fire produced clouds of smoke that were visible from miles away. The house was destroyed.
“Basically you have a front wall and a back wall still standing, and everything in the middle has been destroyed,” Henrichson said. He has not yet been able to place a dollar amount on the damage. City Hall was notified, and Henrichson says they are going to put an emergency rush on the demolition for the safety of the people in the neighborhood.
Henrichson says he has a few leads, but he was not optimistic the cause of the fire will be determined before demolition.
“It was collapsing when we arrived,” he said. “When our guys first started to arrive the second floor was starting to collapse already, so it had quite a jump on the firefighters when they got there.”
Henrichson says the electrical service had been shut off and secured at the pole and on the house. But he says gas service, which was reported to be shut off, was turned on when firefighters first arrived.
LEBO – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 7 a.m. on Wednesday in Coffey County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Chevy Suburban driven by Stephen J. Pope, 20, Osage City, was east bound on Old 50 Highway just east of 26th Terrace.
The vehicle went left of center, struck a guardrail and rolled.
Pope was transported to Coffey County Hospital.
The KHP reported it was unknown if he was wearing a seat belt.
The Kansas City Chiefs pulled off a statistical oddity this year — going the entire season without a touchdown reception by a wideout.
Check out a closer look at the phenomenon HERE.
