ST. LOUIS—On Friday, Friskies® kicked off its search to find the next Internet cat superstar with the third annual “The Friskies” – the renowned awards for the best Internet cat videos of the year. Does your cat have what it takes to earn one of the coveted catuettes? Now through July 21, 2014, cat video creators are encouraged to capture their cat’s funny, strange, cute and epic moments and enter “The Friskies” at www.TheFriskies.com, Vine or Instagram for the opportunity to win a cash prize up to $25,000.

Friskies® kicks off its search to find the next Internet cat superstar with the third annual “The Friskies” – awards for the best Internet cat videos of the year – with brand “spokescat” Grumpy Cat, YouTube celebrities The Fine Bros., Grace Helbig, Zach King, Will Braden and Jesse Wellens during VidCon at the Anaheim Convention Center, Friday, June 27, 2014, in Anaheim, Calif. Fans can enter “The Friskies” at www.TheFriskies.com. (Bret Hartman/AP Images for Friskies)

This year, Friskies has teamed up with YouTube celebrities The Fine Bros. to help look for original cat video submissions nationwide in order to crown America’s next internet cat superstar in The Friskies. Today, The Fine Bros. alongside Friskies’ “official spokescat” Grumpy Cat appeared at VidCon, the largest industry conference and fan extravaganza in the world for online videos. There, on VidCon’s main stage they announced “The Friskies” and issued a call for video submissions. As cat videos are among the most popular topics on the Internet, it is a natural fit to kick off this year’s contest at VidCon. Following the announcement, Friskies hosted a meet-and-greet and photo op with Grumpy Cat for guests at VidCon.

“Cat videos have become a pillar of online pop culture,” said Shaun Belongie, Friskies Senior Brand Manager. “We started ‘The Friskies’ in 2012 because we thought it was time for cat videos to be recognized and validated as an art form and we’re thrilled to celebrate the phenomenon of cat videos and the cats who inspire them for the third year in a row.”

Additionally, at the main stage debut The Fine Bros. revealed the four YouTube celebrities participating in this year’s “The Friskies”, including Grace Helbig, Zach King, Will Braden and Jesse Wellens. They will serve as captains for each award category— FUNNY, RES-CUTE, EPIC and STRANGE. Each captain will create and release a unique announcement video on their YouTube channels and social networks to help encourage submissions for “The Friskies.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration says it has approved a long-delayed inhalable diabetes medication to help patients control their blood sugar levels.

The FDA cleared MannKind Corp.’s drug Afrezza, a fast-acting form of insulin, for adults with the most common form of diabetes, which affects more than 25 million Americans. The approval decision comes more than three years after the agency first asked MannKind to run additional clinical studies on the drug.

Afrezza, an insulin powder, comes in a single-use cartridge and is designed to be inhaled at the start of a meal. MannKind has said patients using the drug can achieve peak insulin levels within 12 to 15 minutes. That compares to a wait time of an hour and a half or more after patients inject insulin.

 

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors says it’s recalling another 474,000 vehicles worldwide including new pickup trucks and SUVs for a transmission problem.

It’s the 48th recall for the company so far this year, covering more than 20 million vehicles.

GM announced three recalls late Friday. The largest covers almost 467,000 four-wheel-drive Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, as well as GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban SUVs.

The company says the transmissions can shift into neutral on their own. That can cause loss of power or it can let the trucks roll away if parked. GM says it knows of no crashes or injuries.

The other recalls are much smaller. One covers the Chevrolet SS and Caprice police cars for windshield wipers. The other covers Chevy Corvettes with defective rear shock absorbers.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Tea party challenger Milton Wolf says he’s reserved $250,000 in television advertising time for his U.S. Senate race, but Republican incumbent Pat Roberts’ camp says it has spent twice that in recent weeks.

Wolf announced Friday that he’s reserved time on cable and broadcast stations throughout Kansas starting Wednesday and running through the Aug. 5 GOP primary.

Spokesman Ben Hartman said Wolf will start next week with an ad his campaign first aired on cable in April. It touts Wolf’s work as a Leawood radiologist and notes Roberts’ long tenure in Washington.

But Roberts executive campaign manager Leroy Towns said that since late May, the senator’s campaign has spent more than $500,000 on radio and TV ads.

Towns said the Roberts camp will continue to make substantial ad buys.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union is asking a Kansas judge to bar Secretary of State Kris Kobach from starting what the group calls a dual voting system to help enforce a proof-of-citizenship requirement.

The ACLU filed a request Friday with Shawnee County District Judge Franklin Theis (tys) for a temporary injunction to keep Kobach from imposing a new election policy for the state’s Aug. 5 primary.

Kobach has said the relative handful of Kansas residents who register to vote using a national form will be allowed to complete full ballots at the polls, but only their votes in congressional races will be counted.

The national registration form does not require voters to submit documentation of their U.S. citizenship. The state’s registration form does.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — In six months, you’ll no longer have to buy a six-pack. Starting next year, Missouri stores will be able to sell beer by the individual bottle or can.
Gov. Jay Nixon signed legislation Friday authorizing single-bottle beer sales by retailers such as grocery and convenience stores. Current law requires beer to be sold in packages containing at least three bottles.
The relaxed requirements will take effect in January.

Kansas Attorney General Media Release

PARSONS, Kan -A Labette County man was sentenced today to more than 12 years in prison for aggravated criminal sodomy, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said.

Jacob Mark Fortado, 22, Parsons, was sentenced to 147 months in the Kansas Department of Corrections by Judge Jeffry L. Jack in Labette County District Court for aggravated criminal sodomy stemming from an incident that occurred in August 2010. Fortado was found guilty of this crime in April 2014.

The Parsons Police Department investigated the case.  Assistant Attorney General Amanda Voth of Schmidt’s office prosecuted the case.

Missouri Farm Bureau Media Release

Missourians have the opportunity to learn more about agritourism and urban agriculture at the second annual Missouri Agritourism Conference.

The conference will be July 13-15, 2014 at the Embassy Suites Hotel near Kansas City International Airport. Sponsors of the conference are Missouri Farm Bureau and the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s AgriMissouri program.

The conference will have two tracks: one will concentrate on how to manage a successful agritourism operation, while the second will focus on farmer’s markets and urban agriculture.

Regardless of chosen track, attendees will have the opportunity participate in roundtable discussions on Sunday, July 13, workshop sessions on Monday, July 14 and guided bus tours on Tuesday, July 15.

The agritourism track sessions will address topics such as employee management, achieving regulatory compliance, creative ways to attract customers, farm-to-table dinners and strategic use of social media.

The urban agriculture/farmer’s market track will include sessions about creating and operating a market stand, how to set appropriate market goals, and how to engage customers and the community with urban agricultural operations. An afternoon session will focus on regional issues around the state.

Bus tours corresponding to each track will visit multiple venues Tuesday, July 15.

The agritourism track’s bus tour will visit agritourism venues including Carolyn’s Cousin’s Country Pumpkin Patch, Show Me Ziplines, Weston Red Barn and Jowler Creek Winery.

The urban agriculture/farmer’s market track will visit urban agriculture locations such as Urban Farming Guys Garden Tour, DST Systems Demonstration Garden, Kansas City’s City Market, Kauffman Gardens, Stony Crest Urban Farm, and Kansas City Community Gardens.

The registration deadline for the conference is July 7, 2014, but early registration is encouraged. Conference registration forms are available at mofb.org. Registration fees are as follows: $75 for the Sunday evening social and Monday class sessions, $100 for the Sunday evening social, Monday class session and Monday evening banquet, and $125 for the complete conference. To reserve a room, call the Embassy Suites Hotel at (816) 891-7788 and mention the Missouri Agritourism Conference. Room rates are $109 per night plus tax.

For more information about the conference, contact Kelly Smith, Missouri Farm Bureau Director of Marketing and Commodities at (573) 893-1416 or at kesmith@mofb.com.

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The debut of the world’s tallest water slide has been delayed for a third time and there’s no word on when the Kansas City, Kansas, attraction will be ready for riders.

Schlitterbahn Waterpark says Verruckt will not open as scheduled on Sunday. The park’s news release, sent Thursday night, offers no explanation for the delay.

Problems with the conveyor system that hauls four-person rafts to the top of the 17-story slide forced park officials to cancel two media sneak preview days this week.

Guinness World Records certified Verruckt as the world’s tallest water slide in April.

The ride’s official opening date was moved from May 23 to June 5 for more testing, then was pushed back again to June 29.

 

ST. LOUIS (AP) – The Archdiocese of St. Louis is condemning a city move challenging Missouri’s constitutional ban on gay marriage by issuing same-sex marriage licenses to four couples.

The diocese issued a written statement calling the city decision a violation of “the laws of our state (that) disregard(s) the laws of nature.”

Four gay couples were married Wednesday a City Hall ceremony. The city decision was an intentional effort to force state courts to overturn the constitutional ban passed by state voters a decade ago.

Attorney General Chris Koster says he supports gay marriage but will uphold the state ban in court.

The archdiocese statement adds that the Catholic church can “love a person (without) accepting all their behaviors” but that “sex is to be reserved for marriage” between a man and woman.