DARMSTADT, Germany (AP) — European Space Agency says it has succeeded in landing a spacecraft on a comet  for 1st time.

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DARMSTADT, Germany (AP) — The European Space Agency says its unmanned Rosetta probe has successfully released a lander toward the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

The 100-kilogram (220-pound) lander will take seven hours to reach the comet’s icy surface.

If successful, it will be the first time that a spacecraft has landed on a comet.

Mission controllers clapped and embraced as the Philae lander’s separation was confirmed on Wednesday.

 

JOPLIN (AP) – A Joplin man is charged with first-degree murder in the beating death of his roommate.

The Jasper County prosecutor on Tuesday charged 29-year-old Leonardo Mendoza after one of his roommates was found dead Sunday. The victim’s name has not been released because of problems notifying his relatives.

Police Capt. Matt Stewart said the victim was bludgeoned to death.

The Joplin Globe reports the investigation has been complicated by uncertainty over whether police were given the correct names of the victim, the suspect and a third roommate who apparently witnessed the slaying.

All three roommates were working at a Joplin restaurant. Police say the men have not been able to produce documents to show they are in the country legally.

JOPLIN (AP) – EaglePicher Technologies plans to expand its plant and hire more employees in Joplin after receiving a $22 million federal contract.

The company will use the grant to produce new lithium-ion batteries. Company officials said Tuesday that a 100,000-square-foot addition will be added to its existing plant and about 130 people eventually will work there.

EaglePicher executive Dwayne Friend says the company won the competition for the contract because it has the advanced lithium-ion technology needed for the job.

The Joplin Globe reports the U.S. government currently relies on lithium-ion cells that are produced in other countries. The cells are a key element in energy-dependent weapons.

Friend said the new addition will feature state-of-the-art equipment and production areas for large-scale manufacturing required by the contract.

WASHINGTON – Aiming to continue improvements to the quality of customer service at statewide VA facilities, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is asking Missouri veterans to continue participating in her successful “secret shopper” program that allows veterans to share timely, confidential feedback about their VA health care visits, and helps provide oversight and accountability for VA health care facilities.

Veterans seeking to participate in the Veterans’ Customer Satisfaction Program can visit

McCaskill’s website, www.McCaskill.senate.gov/VCSP, and complete the confidential survey.

In 2010, amid reports of problems with medical care at John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis, McCaskill—the daughter of a World War II veteran—toured the hospital and met with administrators to discuss the urgent need for the VA to make improvements. Following the tour, McCaskill launched the Veterans’ Customer Satisfaction Program (VCSP), a confidential survey, to give Missouri veterans an opportunity to offer direct, confidential feedback on the quality of service they receive at their local VA facility.

Nearly 1,000 Missouri veterans participated in the last round of surveys, and the program is in its fourth year. The survey, recently expanded to the southeast Missouri region, is now active in four regions: St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbia, and Poplar Bluff.

“For me, the best way to find out if veterans are getting quality customer service has always been to hear from them directly,” said McCaskill, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “These surveys help give us a real snapshot of the quality of service Missouri veterans are receiving and provide an opportunity to offer meaningful, confidential feedback to us and to the VA on how those services can be improved—so we can work to ensure they’re receiving the high quality of service they’ve earned.”

As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial & Contracting Oversight, McCaskill recently introduced legislation that would mandate the firing of any VA employee found to have retaliated against a whistleblower. Currently, a finding of retaliation against a whistleblower is punishable by a range of actions, including fines and reprimand. McCaskill also introduced legislation with Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire to take back bonuses paid to employees at the VA who were involved in the manipulation of electronic waitlists.

Veterans seeking to participate in the Veterans’ Customer Satisfaction Program can visit McCaskill’s website, McCaskill.senate.gov/VCSP, and complete the confidential survey. Responses can be submitted after each health care visit.

CLINTON- A Missouri woman was injured in an accident just before 4 p.m. on Tuesday in Henry County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 1999 Ford driven by Misty L. Watkins, 27, Windsor, was traveling over a bridge on County Road N.E. 1200 just east of Route J.

The driver lost control of the vehicle as it returned to the gravel road from the bridge. The vehicle traveled off the right side of the road, overturned and ejected the driver.

Watkins was transported to Research Medical Center. The MSHP reported she was not wearing a seat belt.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – A group of Democratic Missouri state lawmakers is calling for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to issue stricter standards for smog pollution.

The lawmakers have written the agency requesting the smog pollution standard be bumped down to 60 parts per billion.

The current standard is 75 parts per billion.

A federal judge in California ruled the EPA must draft new standards for ground-level ozone pollution by December.

St. Louis state Sens. Jamilah Nasheed and Scott Sifton and House members Gina Mitten, Jeanne Kirkton, Stacey Newman, Tommie Pierson and Clem Smith submitted letters.

Others who support toughen the standards include Kansas City House members Jon Carpenter, Randy Dunn, Jeremy LaFaver and Judy Morgan, along with Tom McDonald of Raytown, Margo McNeil of Florissant and Bill Otto of St. Charles.

JOAN LOWY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal and industry officials say the government is getting near-daily reports — and sometimes two or three a day — of drones flying near airplanes and helicopters or close to airports without permission.

It’s a sharp increase from just two years ago when such reports to the Federal Aviation Administration were still unusual.

The officials say many of the reports are unconfirmed, raising the possibility that pilots may have mistaken a bird or another plane in the distance for a drone. But other reports appear to be credible.

The officials agreed to discuss the matter only on the condition that they not be named because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

The president of a drone industry trade group, Michael Toscano, says FAA officials have verified the increase to him.

By KANSAS HEALTH INSTITUTE

TOPEKA — The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently awarded the Kansas Health Institute a new grant of just more than $500,000 to continue work involving collaboration among local health departments.

In 2012, KHI was selected to establish and manage the national Center for Sharing Public Health Services with an original grant that ended in September.

The new grant will allow the center to continue its work through June 2015. Additional funding may become available for the center after that time.

The center is led by Gianfranco Pezzino, M.D., M.P.H., a senior fellow and strategy team leader at KHI, and Patrick Libbey, a former local public health official and former executive director of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

The center’s website features a library of resources and tools for communities.

“KHI was selected for this national initiative, in large part, because of its experience supporting similar work among local health departments in Kansas,” Pezzino said. “In rural states like ours, limited resources often make it challenging to deliver essential public health services. Cross-jurisdictional sharing is one option that local health departments can implement to protect the health and well-being of the public.”

The Kansas Health Institute is the parent organization of the editorially independent KHI News Service.

The KHI News Service is an editorially independent initiative of the Kansas Health Institute. It is supported in part by a variety of underwriters. The News Service is committed to timely, objective and in-depth coverage of health issues and the policy-making environment. All News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution, including a link back to KHI.org when a story is reposted online. An automatically updated feed of headlines and more from KHI can be included on your website using the KHI widget. More about the News Service at khi.org/newsservice or contact us at (785) 233-5443.

JOHN HANNA, Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Civil liberties attorneys are telling the U.S. Supreme Court that delaying gay marriage in Kansas will harm same-sex couples and their families.

The American Civil Liberties Union responded to a request from Kansas to the court to maintain the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Justice Sonia Sotomayor directed the ACLU to respond by Tuesday afternoon.

The state wants to enforce its ban while the federal courts review a lawsuit filed by the ACLU for two lesbian couples.

A federal judge last week ordered the state to stop enforcing its ban as of 5 p.m. CST Tuesday, but Kansas appealed to the nation’s highest court.

Sotomayor on Monday put the judge’s order on hold.

BELVUE- Authorities in Pottawatomie County have made an arrest in connection with the discovery of a dead body in Belvue.

The Sheriffs Department reported that deputies on Monday responded to report of a death in the 100 Block of Third Street.

They found the body of Larry Arand, 70, and arrested the man who reported the death Christopher M. Arand, 36.

He is a nephew of the victim. Arand remains at the Pottawatomie County Jail no bond has been set.