WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 2007 | NATIONAL AND STATE NEWS | WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN | 15
in brief
Employeee at theme park receive final payroll check
WICHITA — Nearly 500 people will be able to cash their payroll checks from a defunct amusement park after a bank agreed to release the funds.
Citizens Bank of Kansas agreed Monday to cash the payroll checks of former Wild West World employees without a court order. On Friday, a bankruptcy lawyer for the park had filed a motion asking U.S. Chief Bankruptcy Judge Bob Nugent to force the bank to release the funds.
In the motion, bankruptcy lawyer Tom Gilman told the court that the park had more than $151,000,plenty to cover 498 payroll checks given to employees on the day Wild West World filed for bankruptcy and closed its gates.
Associated Press
Three university officials fired after cover up
YPSILANTI, Mich. — Three Eastern Michigan University administrators, including the president, have been forced out, months after top school officials were accused of covering up the rape and slaying of a student by publicly ruling out foul play.
President John Fallon was fired, and Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Vick and Public Safety Director Cindy Hall lost their jobs,the chairman of the school's governing board said Monday.
The body of the slain student, Laura Dickinson, 22, was discovered Dec.15 in her dorm room.At the time, university officials told her parents and the media that she died of asphyxiation play, despite evidence to the contrary.
It was not until another student, Orange Taylor III, was
arrested in late February and charged with murder that her family and students learned she had been raped and killed.
Associated Press
IHOP buys K.C.-based Applebee's for $1.9 billion
NEW YORK — IHOP'S CEO Julia Stewart has been making bold moves to revitalize the 45-year-old chain best known for its breakfast fare and blue-tiled roofs. With a $1.9 billion bid for the bar-and-grill chain Applebee's made on Monday, she may be taking her biggest risk yet.
The move comes as Wall Street analysts anticipate a difficult second-quarter earnings season in the restaurant sector as soaring commodity costs hurt profits and consumers worried over high gas prices ate out less frequently.
Combined, the company would have 3,250 restaurants and $6.8 billion in annual sales.
Associated Press
New security measures at capitol after gunman
DENVER — An armed man in a dark suit who declared "I am the emperor" was shot and killed outside of the governor's Capitol office when he refused to drop a handgun, officials said. The governor was in his office at the time but no one other than the gunman was injured.
As state employees arrived for work on Tuesday they were met by the watchful eyes of state troopers and a new metal detector that had been installed late Monday, a few hours after the gunfire.
Gov. Bill Ritter said officials would also review the Capitol's security and decide if it should be changed.
Associated Press
Smoke pours from a chemical fire near Valley Center on Tuesday. The explosion at Barton Solvents in downtown Valley Center touched off a fire that drew firefighters from several area departments and forced the evacuation of a 2-mile radius around the facility. ASSOCIATED PRESS
heard in Valley Center, which is about 10 miles north of Wichita. Firefighters concentrated their efforts on defending nearby buildings.
Explosion at Wichita-area plant forces evacuation
Associated Press
The storage tanks contained industrial chemicals, including hydrocarbons, alcohol and ketones, used in the paint and coatings industry.
STATE
VALLEY CENTER — An explosion Tuesday at a Wichita-area solvents plant forced the evacuation of a 2-mile radius around the facility, authorities said.
The explosion at 9:15 a.m. at
Barton Solvents in downtown Valley Center touched off a fire that drew firefighters from several area departments. Big clouds of black smoke billowed from storage tanks, and flames were shooting up to 200 feet into the air.
Secondary explosions could be