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Author: Stan Unruh

Chief’s Mascot reaches settlemt over injury

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KC wolfKANSAS CITY (AP) – The man who performs as the Kansas City Chiefs’ mascot has reached a legal settlement over severe injuries he suffered last November while practicing a zip line routine.

Lawyers for Dan Meers, better known as KC Wolf, announced the settlement Thursday but said the terms prevent disclosure of the dollar amount or the parties involved.

Attorney Tim Dollar said in a news release that Meers is still recovering and is talking with the Chiefs about a modified role as KC Wolf in the future.

Meers has performed as KC Wolf since the Chiefs adopted the mascot 24 years ago. He suffered what was described as a severe back injury Nov. 23 while practicing a zip line routine at Arrowhead Stadium.

Few details have been disclosed, but Dollar said earlier there may have been an error by a third-party company in securing the rigging.

Supreme Court case to shape Ferguson investigation

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Supreme courtEILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The national legal standards that govern when police officers are justified in using force against people trace their lineage to a 1984 case from Charlotte, North Carolina. In that case, a diabetic man’s erratic behavior during a trip to the store for juice to bring up his blood sugar led to a confrontation with officers that left him with injuries from head to foot.

As soon as a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, shot Michael Brown on Aug. 9, the Supreme Court’s ruling on the North Carolina case became the foundational test for whether the officer’s response was appropriate or criminal.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote in that opinion that a police officer should be judged by what a reasonable officer would have done in the same situation.

 

KHP nabs Georgia man driving in the buff on I-70

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Kansas Highway PatrolBy KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

A 42-year-old Georgia man is facing a charge of lewd and lascivious behavior after reportedly driving naked on Interstate 70 in Trego County.

According to Kansas Highway Patrol spokesman Tod Hileman, Trego County dispatchers received a call shortly after noon Thursday from a truck driver complaining a vehicle driven by a naked man kept passing him.

Once the vehicle would pass the truck driver, Hileman said, the naked driver would slow down and pass the trucker again and did so multiple times.

Hileman said KHP troopers quickly found the suspect and issued him a notice to appear in Trego County Court.

He added the arrest was for a misdemeanor offense, but would have been a felony had a child witnessed the incident.

Prosecutor urges Gov. Nixon to decide on removal

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Prosecutor Bob McCulloch
Prosecutor Bob McCulloch

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch says he has no intentions of removing himself from the Michael Brown case, and he is urging Gov. Jay Nixon to once and for all decide if he will act on calls for McCulloch’s ouster.

The Aug. 9 shooting of Brown by a Ferguson police officer has sparked nightly clashes between protesters and police. Some question McCulloch’s ability to be unbiased since his father, mother and other relatives worked for St. Louis police. His father was killed while responding to a call involving a black suspect.

Nixon said this week he is not asking McCulloch to recuse himself. But McCulloch called Thursday for a more definitive decision, saying Nixon “must settle this issue now.”

A Nixon spokesman didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.

 

GAO: Pentagon violated law with Bergdahl swap

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DONNA CASSATA, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional investigators say the Pentagon violated the law when it swapped five Taliban leaders for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was held prisoner in Afghanistan for five years.

The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office says the Defense Department’s failure to notify the relevant congressional committees at least 30 days in advance of the exchange broke the law.

The GAO also says the Pentagon’s use of funds to conduct the transfer, when no money was available, was a violation of the Antideficiency Act which bars spending by agencies above the amount of money that Congress has obligated.

In May, five senior Taliban were released from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in exchange for Bergdahl, who had disappeared in 2009. Under exchange terms, the five Taliban are to remain in Qatar for a year.

MU medical school receives $2.4 million gift

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COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri School of Medicine has received a $2.4 million gift to create an endowed chair in oncology.

The school announced in a news release Thursday that the gift from Mark McAndrew was made to honor his late aunt. It will create the Frances T. McAndrew Endowed Chair in Oncology.

Mark McAndrew, of McKinney, Texas, said his aunt always spoke highly of the care she received from the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center. Frances McAndrew died last year.

McAndrew, the retired chairman and CEO of Torchmark, a holding company, has given a total of $3.8 million to the university. He graduated from Missouri in 1975.

A national search to hire the oncology chair will begin soon.

Nixon orders withdrawl of Guard from Ferguson

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FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Gov. Jay Nixon is ordering the Missouri National Guard to begin withdrawing from Ferguson, where nightly scenes of unrest have erupted since a white police officer fatally shot an unarmed black 18-year-old.

Nixon announced what he called a systematic withdrawl of Guard officers on Thursday. He says they’ve effectively protected the city while other agencies worked to restore trust between law enforcement and residents.

Since the guard’s arrival Monday, flare-ups in the small section of town that had been the center of nightly unrest have begun to subside. The quietest night was overnight Wednesday and Thursday, when police arrested only a handful of people in the protest zone.

Since demonstrations began after Aug. 9 shooting of Michel Brown, authorities have arrested at least 163 people in the protest area.

 

Poll: Roberts, Brownback both struggling in Kansas

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Screen Shot 2014-08-21 at 11.05.05 AMRaleigh, N.C. – Public Policy Poling’s newest Kansas poll finds Pat Roberts badly damaged by his recent primary contest, and leading for reelection largely thanks to divided opposition. Roberts has emerged from the primary with only a 27% approval rating to 44% of voters who disapprove of him. That represents an 8 point net decline from his already poor numbers in February, when he stood at 29/38.

Roberts is polling at only 32% for November, followed by Democrat Chad Taylor at 25%, independent Greg Orman at 23%, and Libertarian Randall Batson at 3%. As weak as a 32% standing is for an incumbent, that still gives him a pretty clear lead due to his opponents pretty much splitting the anti-Roberts vote evenly. But if one of them was to pull out Roberts would really be in trouble.

In a head to head contest with Taylor, Roberts would lead just 43/39, down from a 48/32 advantage in February. And in a head to head contest with Orman, Roberts trails 43/33. Orman would take 30% of the Republican vote while losing only 11% of Democrats to Roberts, and would lead by 41 points with independents at 54/13. Orman is still relatively unknown- only 36% name recognition- but is at a 24/12 favorability spread among those who do have an opinion about him. He is seen favorably by Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike.

In the race for Governor we continue to find Democratic challenger Paul Davis with a small lead over Sam Brownback, 39/37, with Libertarian candidate Keen Umbehr at 9%. This is actually an unusual instance where the Libertarian candidate is helping the Republican- Umbehr supporters say their second choice would be Davis by a 65/21 margin over Brownback, and when you reallocate those folks to their second choice Davis’ lead expands to 44/39. Umbehr’s presence in the race is actually doing Brownback a favor by splitting the opposition to him some.

“Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback are both very unpopular,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “Those things are combining to make it a much more interesting election year than usual in Kansas.”

PPP surveyed 903 likely voters from August 14th to 17th. The margin of error for the survey is +/- 3.3%. 80% of interviews for the poll were conducted over the phone with 20% interviewed over the internet to reach respondents who don’t have landline telephones.

Topline results are below.  Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.

Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of President
Barack Obama’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 33%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 59%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 8%

Q2 Do you approve or disapprove of Governor
Sam Brownback’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 34%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 55%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 11%

Q3 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Paul Davis?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 32%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 26%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 41%

Q4 The candidates for Governor are Republican
Sam Brownback, Democrat Paul Davis, and
Libertarian Keen Umbehr. If the election was
today, who would you vote for?
Sam Brownback………………………………………. 37%
Paul Davis………………………………………………. 39%
Keen Umbehr………………………………………….. 9%
Undecided………………………………………………. 15%

Q5 Horse race, with Umbehr supporters allocated
to whether they’d vote for Brownback or Davis
Sam Brownback………………………………………. 39%
Paul Davis………………………………………………. 44%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 17%

Q6 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator Pat
Roberts’ job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 27%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 44%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 29%

Q7 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Greg Orman?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 24%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 12%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 64%

Q8 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Chad Taylor?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 15%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 14%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 71%

Q9 The candidates for Senate this fall are
Republican Pat Roberts, Democrat Chad
Taylor, independent Greg Orman, and
Libertarian Randall Batson. If the election was
today, who would you vote for?
Pat Roberts…………………………………………….. 32%
Chad Taylor…………………………………………….. 25%
Greg Orman……………………………………………. 23%
Randall Batson ……………………………………….. 3%
Undecided………………………………………………. 17%

Q10 If the candidates for Senate this fall were just
Republican Pat Roberts and Democrat Chad
Taylor, who would you vote for?
Pat Roberts…………………………………………….. 43%
Chad Taylor…………………………………………….. 39%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 17%

Q11 If the candidates for Senate this fall were just
Republican Pat Roberts and independent Greg
Orman, who would you vote for?
Pat Roberts…………………………………………….. 33%
Greg Orman……………………………………………. 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 24%

Q12 The candidates for Secretary of State are
Republican Kris Kobach and Democrat Jean
Schodorf. If the election was today, who would
you vote for?
Kris Kobach ……………………………………………. 43%
Jean Schodorf…………………………………………. 38%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 19%

Q13 The candidates for Attorney General are
Republican Derek Schmidt and Democrat A.J.
Kotich. If the election was today, who would
you vote for?
Derek Schmidt ………………………………………… 49%
A.J. Kotich………………………………………………. 25%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 26%

Q14 The candidates for state Treasurer are
Republican Ron Estes and Democrat Carmen
Alldritt. If the election was today, who would
you vote for?
Ron Estes ………………………………………………. 49%
Carmen Alldritt ………………………………………… 25%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 26%

Q15 The candidates for Insurance Commissioner
are Republican Ken Selzer and Democrat
Dennis Anderson. If the election was today,
who would you vote for?
Ken Selzer ……………………………………………… 43%
Dennis Anderson …………………………………….. 29%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 28%

Q16 Do you think Pat Roberts spends enough time
in Kansas, or not?
Think he does …………………………………………. 18%
Think he does not ……………………………………. 61%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 21%

Q17 Do you think Pat Roberts considers his home
Kansas or Washington, D.C.?
Kansas…………………………………………………… 30%
Washington, D.C……………………………………… 50%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 20%

Q18 In the last presidential election, did you vote for
Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?
Barack Obama………………………………………… 41%
Mitt Romney……………………………………………. 52%
Someone else / Don’t remember ……………….. 7%

Q19 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 7%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 16%
Moderate………………………………………………… 31%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 22%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 24%

Q20 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 53%
Man……………………………………………………….. 47%

Q21 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 30%
Republican……………………………………………… 50%
Independent / Other…………………………………. 20%

Q22 If you are white, press 1. If other, press 2.
White …………………………………………………….. 91%
Other……………………………………………………… 9%

Q23 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are 65
or older, press 4.
18 to 29………………………………………………….. 10%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 18%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 46%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 26%

Q24 Mode
Phone ……………………………………………………. 80%
Internet ………………………………………………….. 20%

New name on some southwest Iowa, Nebraska hospitals

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new name will be going on some hospitals in Nebraska and southwest Iowa.

Alegent Creighton Health and the other Catholic Health Initiatives facilities are getting a new name, CHI Health. That name is being added as a prefix to the names of hospitals and clinics already well-known in the area.

For examples, Creighton University Medical Center will be called CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center and Mercy Hospital in Corning, Iowa, will be called CHI Health Mercy Corning.

Primary and specialty clinics will continue under the names of CHI Health Alegent Creighton Clinic and The Physician Network.

CHI Health has nearly 15,900 employees, 15 acute-care hospitals, a medical school, two inpatient psychiatric facilities, a rehabilitation center, a burn center and two networks of multispecialty clinics with nearly 200 locations.

Of 163 arrests since shooting, 7 from Ferguson

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FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Police records show that 163 arrests have been made in the Ferguson protest zone since the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, but just seven are residents of the St. Louis suburb.

Brown was killed Aug. 9 by Ferguson officer Darren Wilson, spurring widespread protests, along with some rioting and looting.

St. Louis County spokeswoman Candace Jarrett provided information to The Associated Press on Thursday with the name, address and birth year of each person arrested, and the charges against them.

It shows that 128 people have been arrested for failure to disperse, 21 for burglary-related charges, four for assaulting police officers. Others were charged with crimes such as trespassing, peace disturbance and destruction of private property.

The oldest person arrested was born in 1948.

 

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