16 | THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WWW.KANSAN.COM | STATE NEWS | WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 2007
Sunday liquor sales begin in Wichita stores
WICHITA — A lot more beer came off the walls of stores in Wichita on Sunday as customers could finally take them down and pass them around.
Liquor and convenience stores in the state's largest city started selling alcohol Sunday after an attempt to force a citywide vote to continue the ban of sales on the first day of the week had failed.
Liquor store owners and employees around town said Sunday's sales rivaled those of Saturday as some outlets offered discounts to attract customers.
The Wichita City Council approved the expanded sales in April, but the law didn't go into effect until this week because opponents tried to force a citywide vote to keep Sundays dry.
Associated Press
Reward in Smith case to be divided three ways
LENEXA — A $27,000 reward will be divided evenly among three people whose tips led to the arrest of a man accused of abducting a teenager from a Target store parking lot and strangling her.
During a news conference Monday in Lenexa, members of the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers TIPS hot line declined to identify the three tipsters. Members of the Crime Stoppers board formally approved the distribution of the reward during a meeting earlier in the day.
Associated Press
The reward was offered after 18-year-old Kelsey Smith's June 2 kidnapping from an Overland Park Target store was captured on surveillance cameras. Her body was found four days later in a park on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area,after a barrage of media coverage that helped generate 1,400 tips,including a record 160 calls to the TIPS hot line during a single eight-hour shift.
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Wild West World closes after poor attendance
WICHITA — Blaming the poor weather for attendance woes, Wild West World filed for bankruptcy just two months after the $30 million destination theme park opened in suburban Wichita.
The theme park, which opened to the public in Park City on May 5, announced Monday it would close immediately and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company said it was looking for a new buyer with "deeper pockets" to run the park.
The bankruptcy leaves hundreds of unpaid creditors — including Park City, which is owed more than $2 million for industrial revenue bonds and other equipment in a lurch. The bankruptcy filing lists millions more owed to banks, ride manufacturers, vendors and season ticket holders.
Associated Press
STATE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Coffeyville residents displaced by the recent flood await their turn to board busses for a tour of the restricted area Monday in Coffeyville.
Coffeyville residents return to homes after flood, oil spill
By Roxana Hegeman Associated Press
City officials gave residents bus tours into once-flooded sections, but
kept people on the buses because of fears about health hazards left behind by the contaminated water.
WICHITA — Floodwater receded from most sodden neighborhoods in Coffeyville, giving many residents Monday their first well-orchestrated glimpse of the devastation left behind by an oil spill amid the torrential rains that flooded their town.
"A flood can pose more human health hazards than a tornado because floodwaters carry contaminants and bacteria. Fecal coliform levels is just one example of the concern," said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for Kansas Emergency Management.
Two floodwater samples from Coffeyville showed the level of fecal coli
form bacteria was more than 130 times the standard, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said. The bacteria can cause stomachache, fever, vomiting and diarrhea. A cut or a wound at the point of contact with the bacteria can lead to fever, redness and swelling, the EPA said.
Even though most of the floodwater has receded, people would have to walk through some pockets of it or touch it as they go through their homes.