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MVC CHAMPS: Road-warrior Shockers claim league crown all to themselves
Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall winds up to slap the hand of assistant coach Chris Jans, then bounces into his seat on the bench with a big smile and elbows assistant Greg Heiar.
Senior Toure Murry raises his index finger while he watches the final seconds tick away. Two rows of fans behind the bench scream and cheer.
That is what it looks like when a team clinches a conference title.
Newark mayor: NYPD Muslim files 'deeply offensive'
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The mayor and police director of New Jersey's largest city said Wednesday the New York Police Department misled their city and never told them it was conducting a widespread spying operation on Newark's Muslim neighborhoods.
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Iraqi officials: Rush-hour car bomb kills 8, wounds 24 in downtown Baghdad shopping district
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials: Rush-hour car bomb kills 8, wounds 24 in downtown Baghdad shopping district.
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Shocker fans thrilled with WSU’s conference title
The Shocker offense was flowing, and so were the taps at Larry Bud’s Bar & Grill in northeast Wichita.
The popular pub, a gathering spot for televised Wichita State basketball games, was filled on Wednesday night nearly to capacity with fans anticipating a Shocker win over Illinois State on the road, and an outright Missouri Valley Conference championship.
WSU jumped to a 10-2 lead, led by 12 at halftime, held the Redbirds at bay in the second half, and won by 13, 68-55.
Power plant officials deny bribing former Oklahoma state senator
BY NOLAN CLAY nclay@opubco.com
Officials for Tenaska Inc. testified Wednesday at a political corruption trial for former state Senate leader Mike Morgan, longtime lobbyist Andy Skeith and prominent attorney Martin Stringer.Read more on NewsOK.com
Fiery charges: Romney, Santorum assail each other
MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Primed for a fight, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum traded fiery accusations about health care, spending earmarks and federal bailouts Wednesday night in the 20th and possibly final debate of the roller-coaster race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Santorum, surging in the race, also took his lumps from the audience, which booed when he said he had voted several years ago for the No Child Left Behind education legislation even though he had opposed it.
"Look, politics is a team sport, folks," he said of the measure backed by Republican President George W. Bush and other GOP lawmakers.
With pivotal primaries in Arizona and Michigan just six days distant — and 10 more contests one week later — Romney and Santorum sparred more aggressively than in past debates, sometimes talking over each other's answers.
Texas Rep.
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Trial in Sedgwick County inmate’s death begins today
Jury selection began in Wichita today in a federal trial over a lawsuit claiming that two Sedgwick County jail deputies showed deliberate indifference to an inmate who died after becoming ill.
“This case is an important one … both sides have a lot at stake,” U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil told the potential jurors.
Terry Bruner, 46, wrongly suffered without medical help before he died a “completely preventable” death in 2008, says a lawsuit seeking $10 million when it was filed by his survivors in 2010. The lawsuit contends that two jail deputies, Mary Staton and Marque Jameson, were deliberately indifferent to Bruner’s suffering.
Noble soldier dies in Afghanistan
BY BRYAN DEAN bdean@opubco.com
Sgt. Allen R. McKenna Jr., 28, of Noble, died Tuesday in Afghanistan.Read more on NewsOK.com
Kansas attracts 5 bidders for 3 Medicaid contracts
Kansas officials announced Wednesday that five companies have submitted bids for three contracts to manage Medicaid, but skeptics of Gov. Sam Brownback's plan to overhaul the state's $2.9 billion-a-year program saw it as another sign of potential problems.
The bidders all are out-of-state companies or Kansas affiliates of out-of-state firms. Potential contractors are being asked to provide managed care programs for the poor, disabled and elderly Kansans covered by Medicaid, while controlling costs for the state and improving the overall health of participants.
Brownback's efforts to overhaul Medicaid represent the first time the state has attempted to cover the disabled and the elderly, including those in nursing homes, with a managed-care program. His administration expects to issue the contracts this summer, have them start Jan. 1, 2013, and have each company operate statewide so Medicaid participants have a choice of coverage.
Highway ‘safety corridor’ bill gets initial Senate approval
The state Senate on Wednesday gave tentative approval to a bill that would clear the way for Wichita and the state to designate Kellogg as a “safety corridor” with enhanced penalties for speeding and other moving violations.
Senators are expected to take a final vote Thursday that will advance Senate Bill 342 to the House.
Several senators, including Les Donovan, R-Wichita, argued that the designation would help save lives, like those of two 5-year-old children killed in separate accidents on Kellogg and on K-10, the highway linking Lawrence and Lenexa.
Skull found near Cheney probably an early resident of Kansas
The tale began on Halloween night in 1949.
A skull was left on the doorstep of a Circleville family in Jackson County, Kansas.
The family didn’t know what to do with it and had no knowledge of its history or background.
Teenage girl dies after inhaling helium at party
EAGLE POINT, Ore. (AP) — Last weekend, 14-year-old Ashley Long told her parents she was going to a slumber party.
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Man forces his way into home, rapes woman in southwest Oklahoma City
BY JULIANA KEEPING jkeeping@opubco.com
Police are searching for a man they say raped a woman early Wednesday on the city's southwest side.Read more on NewsOK.com
Jurors find former U.Va. lacrosse player guilty of second-degree murder in ex's slaying
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Jurors find former U.Va.
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Former Moore Christian Schools teacher arrested in rape case
BY JULIANA KEEPING jkeeping@opubco.com
Oklahoma City police arrested Gregory Saul, a former Moore Christian Schools teacher, on Monday on complaints of rape.Read more on NewsOK.com
Red Cross volunteers assist families affected by Oklahoma City apartment fire
BY TIFFANY GIBSON tgibson@opubco.com
Oklahoma City firefighters extinguished a fire at an apartment complex Tuesday night that caused about $20,000 in damage.Read more on NewsOK.com
Tiger Woods survives opening round of Match Play
MARANA, Ariz. (AP) — Luke Donald has become only the third No.
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Weeden out to prove older is better
The age thing.
It's the first topic that comes up when Brandon Weeden's NFL draft prospects are discussed.
You see, Weeden is 28 — same as NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers.
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Police: 2 Ga. children reported missing found safe
Two young children who police say were kidnapped from the side of an Atlanta-area interstate early Wednesday are safe but authorities are looking for the man who took them and later dropped them off with friends, authorities say.
Three-year-old Jalen Mattison and his 1-year-old sister Amari Mattison were with their mother when their Volvo broke down on Interstate 20, east of Atlanta. The mother, whose name was not released, told investigators that a passer-by offered to help by driving the woman and her children in his Jeep Cherokee to a Shell gas station just off a nearby highway exit, DeKalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said.
When a county officer pulled over to investigate the abandoned vehicle, the mother left her children at the station and walked back to her broken-down car, Parish said. By the time she returned to the gas station, her children were gone and an intensive search began.
Kansas Senate advances Brownback’s tech ed proposal
TOPEKA – State senators tentatively advanced a piece of Gov. Sam Brownback’s school finance proposal that would give school districts a $1,000 bonus for each student who graduates with an industry-recognized technical education certificate.
It’s a small win for Brownback that comes as the core of his proposal for school financing hangs in limbo in a Senate committee.
“This is the one part of the governor’s education plan that I think enjoys a great bipartisan support,” said Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka.
