CHICAGO (AP) — Hospital doctors and nurses say there are a lot of people turning up at the E-R, thinking they have Ebola.

At a medical conference in Chicago, they’ve been swapping stories — including one about an Ohio woman who thought she had Ebola simply because her husband had worked in Dallas, but not with the Ebola patient. Then there was a New Mexico woman who sought ER testing for Ebola because she had visited Africa two years ago. And two patients in Alabama were worried they were infected after traveling through an airport in Atlanta, the same city where Ebola patients were treated.

Even though the chances are astronomically higher that people actually have the flu or some other bug, Ebola can’t always be automatically ruled out. So a patient with the flu could trigger a full-court press in the ER — with the patient being isolated, and ER staff grabbing the hazmat suits.

Doctors say it’s one reason why it’s especially important for people to get their flu shots this year. Fewer flu cases could mean fewer Ebola false-alarms tying up staff and resources in busy emergency rooms.

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts is raising concerns that President Barack Obama may try to place terrorist suspects at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. And Roberts is vowing to stop it, if re-elected.

Roberts received hearty applause Thursday in Leavenworth while pledging to keep terrorists out of the Kansas prison. Obama has not recently mentioned Leavenworth as a destination for prisoners now held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The senator denies he’s fear-mongering in an attempt to gain an advantage in a tight election against independent challenger Greg Orman. But he also alleges that Orman can’t be trusted to stand up to Obama.

Anti-abortion and pro-gun groups also have been coming to Roberts’ defense by raising fears about Orman.

Orman has said the criticism indicates Roberts is part of the problem in Washington.

STACY A. ANDERSON, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — High school and college students are competing for Michelle Obama to come to their schools to share her wisdom as they move on to higher education and adulthood.

The first lady announced on Thursday two graduation video contests as part of her Reach Higher initiative, which encourages students to take their studies and training past secondary school.

To enter the first, high school students, teachers and administrators create a video that urges students to file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

The second contest— the Near-Peer Mentoring College Challenge— asks college officials and student groups to submit a video that shows peer-mentoring and college-immersion programs offered on their campuses for incoming students.

Mrs. Obama will speak at the winners’ commencement ceremonies next spring.

NEW YORK (AP) — Williams-Sonoma Inc. has agreed to pay a $700,000 fine after the government accused the home goods retailer of taking too long to report that its window shades posed a strangulation hazard to children.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says Williams-Sonoma knew in 2007 that kids were getting entangled in shades sold by its Potter Barn Kids stores, but didn’t report it until a year later. Companies are supposed to report possible product defaults within 24 hours, the CPSC says.

Williams-Sonoma and the CPSC recalled about 85,000 of the window shades in 2009. The CPSC says seven customers reported children becoming entangled. No injuries were reported.

By paying the fine, Williams-Sonoma is not admitting or denying CPSC’s charges. The San Francisco company did not respond to a request for comment.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A voter report card mailer is grading residents on how often they vote compared to their neighbors and some Missourians aren’t happy.

Grow Missouri sent the mailers the week before the Nov. 4 election to spur residents into voting during the first general election in nearly a quarter-century featuring no race for president, U.S. Senate or governor.

The voter report cards give letter grades to voters based on participation and then list neighbors’ scores. The mailer says it might issue another report after the election.

Some residents say the mailer is an invasion of privacy, even though voting records are public. Efforts nationwide have met similar complaints.

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. safety regulators are now playing hardball with Takata Corp. as they investigate a possibly deadly defect in some of the Japanese company’s air bags.

Regulators are ordering Takata to provide reams of information about air bags that can explode with too much force, blowing apart canisters and sending metal shards into drivers and passengers.

An order sent Thursday to Takata demands information on production mistakes and lawsuit settlements, as well as any information on deaths or injuries that the company has received.

Ten automakers have recalled nearly 8 million vehicles equipped with potentially faulty Takata air bag inflators. Safety advocates say the problem has caused four fatalities.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating and could expand the recall, which is

WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. long-term mortgage rates arrested their five-week decline this week but the benchmark 30-year loan remained below 4 percent.

Mortgage company Freddie Mac says the nationwide average for a 30-year mortgage rose to 3.98 percent from 3.92 percent last week. It remained at its lowest level since June 2013. The rate stood at 4.53 percent back in January.

The average for a 15-year mortgage, a popular choice for people who are refinancing, increased to 3.13 percent from 3.08 percent.

The sustained decline in long-term rates sparked a boomlet of homeowners looking to refinance mortgages. Homeowners eager for a bargain rate fired off inquiries to lenders. Applications for “re-fi’s” reached their highest level since November 2013 in the week ended Oct. 17, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.