Situation near Mo. governor's mansion resolved

SECOND UPDATE: Though resolved, the situation remains unexplained. Police aren't sure what led to the false hostage report.

UPDATE: The situation has been resolved. Officials are expected to present more details at 4 p.m. press conference.

Our sister-blog PrimeBuzz is following the story here.

| Sara Shepherd

The overnight report: Shootings, high-school lockdown

Yet another shooting critically wounds someone in Kansas City. (It's been busy lately.) This time the suspect fled in a gold Cadillac Escalade.

A couple hours earlier, four people were shot after an argument among a group of teens on Prospect. That incident and a big melee at Central High School prompted officials to place the school on lockdown status this morning.

| Sara Shepherd

Law banning texting while driving starts today

The Star's Brad Cooper discusses, however, that it may be difficult to enforce.

“I think it’s going to be difficult to enforce,” said Kansas City Police Officer Bill Johnson, who investigates vehicular crimes. “If it’s only illegal to text when you’re under 21, what happens if you stop somebody thinking they’re under 21 and you come to find out they’re some youthful-looking 30-year-old?”

|Meredith Rodriguez

Elderly man chases down drunk driver

From the Associated Press:

SOUTHEAST, N.Y. —  An 83-year-old driver chased a pickup truck for 15 miles from New York into Connecticut, helping police catch the drunken driving suspect who had rear-ended his car.

The incident last weekend started on Interstate 684 in Southeast, N.Y.

Frank Canale of Scarsdale, N.Y., pursued the man all the way to his driveway in Danbury, Conn., and stayed there until police arrived. He says he feared the man could kill someone.

His daughter, Lori Canale-Smith of Pleasantville, called police on her cell phone during the chase.

By the time they finished filing police reports in two states, the pair missed the wedding they were heading to when the accident happened.

Police say the truck's driver was charged with driving under the influence and driving without a license.

|Meredith Rodriguez

Speed and teens, a deadly combo

From 2006 to 2008, 15 to 17-year-old drivers were to blame in 61,784 traffic crashes that resulted in 27,838 injured and 212 people killed on Ohio roadways.

Speed was a factor in 58 percent of those crashes, an Ohio State Highway Patrol study found.

|Meredith Rodriguez

Minivan evades police over (and over and over...)

Great police chase video from Houston. I'm calling this guy the "U-turn bandit."

A local TV station reported that the chase lasted more than an hour before the driver -- who was the subject of some type of tactical investigation -- "swan dived" off a parking garage roof and was captured.

| Sara Shepherd

More July 4th disasters

A 14-year-old boy was injured by a pipe bomb he struggled to ignite at an abandoned home at 40th and Wabash Saturday night. He was upgraded from critical to serious Sunday, The Star's Christine Vendel reports.

Earlier that night on the Kansas side, a 37-year-old man scalds his face, The Star's Eric Adler reports.

|Meredith Rodriguez

If you're a Lawrence resident up to good, stay inside, away from machinery and heavy clouds

A Lawrence pilot died while en route to helping fight wildfires in New Mexico on Saturday. It looks like fog blocked his view.

Also from the Lawrence Journal-World.

|Meredith Rodriguez

Mexico tells citizens to swallow their gum

Officials are cracking down because the average square yard in Mexico City has 70 pieces of chewing gum.

Mexicos' director of conservation of pulic spaces shruggs off doctor's concerns that chewing gum could clog up the intestines.

"I've always swallowed my gum, and it's never done me any harm," he said.

-Meredith Rodriguez

Lawrence moves up on safest city list

The Journal-World reports it's now 114th-safest, up from 166th in 2006.

The story notes the ranking is based on homicide-free 2007 -- Lawrence has seen four homicides so far in 2008, so things may change next year...

| Sara Shepherd

Deep Fry Your Turkey Safely

It's time for the annual turkey-safety PSA! For all those who choose to fry your turkeys, here's a friendly reminder just in from the fire department:

Deep Fry Your Turkey Safely

The latest trend in preparing a turkey is deep frying.  However, if you don’t take precautions, you may end up with an injury or fire.  The Heart of America Kansas City Metro Fire Chiefs Council offers the following safety tips for a safe and happy Thanksgiving.  Just follow these simple safety rules:

· Turkey fryers should always be used outdoors a safe distance from buildings and any other material that can burn.

·         Never use turkey fryers on wooden decks or in garages.

·         Make sure the fryers are used on a flat surface to reduce accidental tipping.

·         Never leave the fryer unattended.  Most units do not have thermostat controls.  If you don’t watch the fryer carefully, the oil will continue to heat until it catches fire.

·         Never let children or pets near the fryer when in use.  Even after use, never allow children or pets near it.  The oil inside the cooking pot can remain dangerously hot hours after use.

·         To avoid oil spillover, do not overfill the fryer.

·         If possible, use well-insulated potholders or oven mitts when touching the pot or lid handles.  Use safety goggles to protect your eyes from oil splatter.

·         Make sure the turkey is completely thawed and be careful with marinades.  Oil and water don’t mix, and water causes oil to spill over, posing a fire or explosion hazard.

·         The National Turkey Federation recommends refrigerator thawing and to allow approximately 24 hours for every five pounds of bird thawed in the refrigerator.

·         Keep an all-purpose fire extinguisher nearby.  Never use water to extinguish a grease fire.  Remember to use your best judgment when attempting to fight a fire.  If the fire is manageable, use the fire extinguisher.  If the fire increases, immediately call 9-1-1 for help.

| Sara Shepherd

AP photo

I hereby sentence you to...death by Manilow

One Colorado town is quieter after a judge got serious about punishing noise ordinance violaters: He started sentencing them to a hard hour in a room with Barry Manilow, Barney the Dinosaur or other music of HIS choice. The judge explains:

"These people should have to listen to some music that they don't like...particularly Barry Manilow. It think that's -- it's hard on the kids."

This CNN video is great. Old people seem glad for the crackdown, but teen garage bands like the Revolving Reverends (yes, they're absolutely every bit as bad as you imagine) vow to "still rock."

| Sara Shepherd

Deep Fry Your Turkey Safely

It's time for the annual turkey-safety PSA! For all you turkey-frying types, this just came in from the fire department:

The latest trend in preparing a turkey is deep frying.  However, if you don’t take precautions, you may end up with an injury or fire.  The Heart of America Kansas City Metro Fire Chiefs Council offers the following safety tips for a safe and happy Thanksgiving.  Just follow these simple safety rules:

·       Turkey fryers should always be used outdoors a safe distance from buildings and any other material that can burn.

·         Never use turkey fryers on wooden decks or in garages.

·         Make sure the fryers are used on a flat surface to reduce accidental tipping.

·         Never leave the fryer unattended.  Most units do not have thermostat controls.  If you don’t watch the fryer carefully, the oil will continue to heat until it catches fire.

·         Never let children or pets near the fryer when in use.  Even after use, never allow children or pets near it.  The oil inside the cooking pot can remain dangerously hot hours after use. 

·         To avoid oil spillover, do not overfill the fryer.

·         If possible, use well-insulated potholders or oven mitts when touching the pot or lid handles.  Use safety goggles to protect your eyes from oil splatter.

·         Make sure the turkey is completely thawed and be careful with marinades.  Oil and water don’t mix, and water causes oil to spill over, posing a fire or explosion hazard.

·         The National Turkey Federation recommends refrigerator thawing and to allow approximately 24 hours for every five pounds of bird thawed in the refrigerator.

·         Keep an all-purpose fire extinguisher nearby.  Never use water to extinguish a grease fire.  Remember to use your best judgment when attempting to fight a fire.  If the fire is manageable, use the fire extinguisher.  If the fire increases, immediately call 9-1-1 for help.

| Sara Shepherd

AP photo

Excuse me, sir, but this is a 'No-Pilates Zone'

In Santa Monica, they've started cracking down on an ordinance banning exercisers from a popular grassy median flanked by an ocean view and beautiful, multi-million dollar homes.

Apparently the people who live in those beautiful, multi-million dollar homes aren't wildly appreciative of awaking to drill whistles and the like from trainers leading unauthorized, en plein air kickboxing classes, etc.

(One of the exercisers who does NOT live on the street noted: “If I lived here and there were all really good-looking people working out, I probably wouldn’t mind,” said Mr. Parcells, 45. “So I guess it depends on who parks in front of your house.”)

| Sara Shepherd

Attention Seattle residents: Cover yourselves!

Seattle --  famous for its "tolerance for the unconventional," including three World Naked Bike Rides this year alone -- is moving toward banning nudity in public parks.

Yes, naked volleyball players, lakefront skinny-dippers and birthday-suit barbecuers, this means you!

In other nude cycling news: James had a post earlier this morning about Portland resident Michael "Bobby" Hammond celebrating his freedom to ride naked in that city.

| Sara Shepherd

Seat-belt enforcement coming up

From KCPD:

Buckle up to avoid a ticket and arrive alive.

Nearly one in four Missourians still fail to regularly wear their safety belts when driving or riding in a motor vehicle. Among those least likely to buckle up are young males, pickup truck drivers and their passengers, people who live in rural areas, and nighttime drivers.

The Kansas City Missouri Police Department DUI Section is joining with law enforcement September 11, 2008, for an aggressive "Click It or Ticket" mobilization to crack down on Missouri's safety belt law violators and to reduce highway fatalities.

Failure to regularly wear a safety belt can be deadly. In 2007 a driver in a Missouri traffic crash has a 1 in 32 chance of being killed if they were not wearing a seat belt. In cases where the driver wore a seat belt, their chance of being killed was 1 in 1,309. Regular safety belt use is the single most effective way to protect people and reduce fatalities in motor vehicle crashes.

Click here for information on Missouri seatbelt usage

| Sara Shepherd

Hooray for crime mapping!

Wondering what was with all those police sirens that woke you up last night?

The Kansas City Police Department is now offering this nifty online tool to look up crimes in your neighborhood (or anyone else's neighborhood). Data is updated every night, and you can even get e-mail alerts about crimes near your address.

(We had a short story about this in Thursday's paper, and I know someone posted it on the OT. But I thought I'd do a post for the weekend, when people who are interested would have a little more time to play around with it.)

| Sara Shepherd

P.S. The Star has a crime-mapping tool on our Web site, too. It's cool, but not quite as comprehensive.

While you were sleeping...

A bomb threat forced evacuation of a plane at KCI.

Jackson County Sheriff's deputies are trying to find the owner of a dog that bit someone out there.

A guy got shot, robbed and carjacked near 30th and Van Brunt.

| Sara Shepherd

While you were sleeping

A few items of note from our overnight breaking news posts:

A woman died in a wreck on the Country Club Plaza. UPDATE: She has been identified as 23-year-old Kassie Bentley.

Authorities identified the victim of yesterday's fatal wreck on Kansas 7.

Three people were taken to hospitals after a police pursuit and crash in Kansas City, Kan.

-- Sara Shepherd

In case of ice...

These safety tips -- ranging from how to avoid killing yourself with carbon monoxide to keeping your cold food supply safe in a power outage -- may be helpful. Also includes the ever-useful hypothermia-prevention tips.

In case we don't get all the winter weather we're supposed to...disregard this post!

File photo from January storm in Oklahoma.

'There’s a thing called fear of a black dance floor'

If you've lived in Lawrence lately, you've probably heard about Last Call.

Regulators are considering pulling the downtown club's license, and Last Call supporters aren't happy about it. They say their club is being picked on because of its clientele and association with hip-hop music.

“There’s a thing called fear of a black dance floor,” Topeka disc jockey Vandom Pittman told the director of the Alcoholic Beverage Control division Tuesday. “Anyplace there are more than 10 black people, unless it is a church, there’s fear.”

Lawrence city attorneys call the place a "public safety menace," citing problems with gang activity, drug usage and weapons violations. A decision on whether to renew the license is expected by Dec. 3.

| Sara Shepherd

Shopping safety tips for Black Friday and beyond

Kansas City police officers will be handing out safety tips to shoppers in the Northland this holiday season, starting today.

For the rest of you, these Operation Safe Holiday tips are some of the same ones police teach in self-defense classes:

• Carry a small purse with limited contents. While walking to and from your car, keep your purse on the shoulder facing toward the parked cars.

• Do not leave your purse unattended; keep it on your person and NOT in the cart.

• Lock all valuables in your trunk. Leave nothing of value in plain sight.

• Do not talk on a cell phone or text message while walking to and from your car.

• Try not to park between large vehicles. Check the area around your car to see that it looks safe to enter or exit. Call 911 if anything looks unusual.

|Sara Shepherd

Now enrolling: Emergency preparedness for pets

I guess September is National Preparedness Month, and Olathe knows pets need to be prepared, too.

The city's Fire and Animal Control departments are teaming up to offer this free class: “Preparing Your Pets for Emergencies.” Pet owners will learn to prepare a pet emergency supply kit, plan what to do in an emergency and stay informed about types of emergencies.

If you want to go, you don't need to register, just show up from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Sept. 15 at Olathe's Fire Administration building, 1225 S. Hamilton Circle.

| Sara Shepherd

Did you know? TIPS now online

I took a tour of Kansas City Police Headquarters last week, and they gave me a copy of this month's issue of the "Informant," the department newsletter.

Nothing really juicy in there (or else they probably wouldn't have given it to me!), but it did say that Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers has launched a Web site in honor of its 25th year -- KCcrimestoppers.com.

You can troll a list of unsolved crimes and submit anonymous tips online, as well as follow up to see if you've been awarded any money.

You can also see if any of your friends are wanted for crimes.

| Sara Shepherd

Kidnapping: When does pretend become real?

UPDATE: This story is still blurry. But two men have now been charged in connection with the incident. John Mark Spooner, 37, of Prairie Village and Aaron Dowe Reedy, 29, of Excelsior Springs were charged today with felony possession of methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. A spokesman for the DA says the case is not, by any means, closed.

My colleague Benita Williams has this news out of Overland Park --- a blurry situation involving teenage girls who reported being photographed for bondage-style pictures, making it appear that they were kidnapped.