A retired professor at the University of Kansas wants to know why the government has opened two letters he received from the Philippines.
Grant Goodman says U.S. Customs and Border Protection opened a letter he received recently from a friend in the Philippines whom he met decades ago. Customs also opened a letter from the same friend in 2005.
Goodman specializes in the study of Japan and southeast Asia, and gets mail from the Philippines every two weeks. He says he feels like he’s being targeted. He says the letters contain newspaper clippings and are harmless.
A spokeswoman for Customs and Border Protection says she can’t comment on specific cases, but says the agency is always on the lookout for drugs and other contraband entering the U.S.

By JOHN MILBURN ~ Associated Press

TOPEKA (AP) – A research attorney for a Kansas Court of Appeals judge has been temporarily suspended from her job pending an internal investigation about tweets she posted during a court hearing in former Attorney General Phill Kline’s ethics case.

Sarah Peterson Herr works for Judge Christel Marquardt. Judicial branch spokesman Ron Keefover says Herr was suspended Friday.

Herr’s tweets were posted Thursday during a Kansas Supreme Court hearing deciding whether Kline’s law license should be indefinitely suspended for his conduct during investigations of abortion providers.

Herr issued a statement saying she apologized for how the tweets reflected on the court system.

Kline’s attorney Tom Condit says he’s calling for an independent investigation of research attorneys and clerks to determine the extent of what he feels is bias against Kline among judicial staff.

Two Kansas State University researchers were part of a successful international effort to map the complete genome of the domestic pig.

The university says in a news release that knowing the complete list of DNA and genes for domestic pigs could eventually help improve the pigs’ health. It also could provide insight into human health, because pigs and humans share similar physiologies.

The Kansas State researchers involved were Yongming Sang, a research assistant professor of anatomy and physiology, and Frank Blecha, associate dean for the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The Kansas Beginning Farmers Coalition is inviting aspiring farmers and ranchers to attend its inaugural meeting.

The session will be held in conjunction with the Kansas Farmers Union annual convention Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 in Topeka.

Kansas Farmers Union membership specialist Mary Howell says the group wants to give beginning farmers a way to make their choice to pursue farming easier and less painful than figuring it out alone.

The coalition aims to provide education and advocate for beginning farmers in the state. As a fledgling organization, it plans to use this first meeting to find out what services it can provide to those people interested in pursuing an agricultural career.

Hostess Brands says it is going out of business, closing plants that make Twinkies and Wonder Bread and laying off all of its 18,500 workers.

The Irving, Texas, company says a nationwide worker strike crippled its ability to make and deliver its products at several locations.
Hostess had warned employees that it would file a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to unwind its business and sell assets if plant operations didn’t return to normal levels by Thursday evening.

The privately held company filed for Chapter 11 protection in January, its second trip through bankruptcy court in less than a decade.

Two western Kansas health care facilities plan to become part of Colorado’s largest health care organization.

St. Catherine Hospital in Garden City and St. Rose Ambulatory and Surgery Center in Great Bend will join Centura Health Initiatives, a Denver-based health care group.

Centura is jointly operated by Catholic Health Initiatives and Adventist Health System, a mission of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

St. Catherine and St. Rose currently belong to CHI. The change will integrate all of CHI’s facilities in Colorado and Kansas into one regional group.

Directors of the Kansas organizations say the public likely won’t notice any major changes in services. They say it will allow the two facilities access to more specialized care, and provide a more solid financial foundation.

A 51-year-old Wichita man has his wallet back after a would-be robber recognized him as a former fellow inmate.

Wichita police say the man was walking home from work late Wednesday when he was approached by two young men, including one with a gun.

The gunman demanded the victim’s wallet and cellphone. As the older man handed over his wallet, the second suspect realized they had spent time together in prison.

Police say the suspects then stopped the robbery, returned the wallet and apologized before leaving the scene.

No arrests had been made Thursday. The victim told police he didn’t think he could identify the robbers.

A new report says elementary schools in Kansas and surrounding states have reduced, or even eliminated, science education in recent years to emphasize reading and math.
The Kansas State Board of Education was told Tuesday that one in five elementary teachers in Kansas and surrounding states are recording science grades even when they don’t teach the subject.
George Griffith, superintendent of the Trego school district, says he surveyed more than 900 elementary schools in Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma and Nebraska.
Griffith said teachers surveyed said they reported science grades even when not teaching or drastically reducing class time on science. They say they felt pressured to increase performance in reading and math.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports Griffith found just over 55 percent of the K-6 teachers decreased science education.

A man who stabbed his girlfriend to death after the couple was evicted from a hotel pleaded no contest in her killing.

The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office says 40-year-old Eric J. Avila pleaded Tuesday to second-degree murder and kidnapping in the killing of 35-year-old Alina Burkman. She was stabbed in March during a fight with Avila in a K-Mart parking lot.

Avila also was stabbed during the argument and was arrested after recovering from critical injuries.

Avila was originally charged with first-degree premeditated murder. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 27.

A stray dog cared for by residents of a central Kansas town for more than eight years finally has a home.

The dog lived all those years near Buhler, eluding numerous efforts to catch her. Residents dubbed her D.D., short for “Ditch Dog.”
They also did all they could to care for the dog, setting out food and watching out for her safety.

But no one could get close enough to catch the dog. But recently, resident Rachelle Cavanaugh began slowly taming the animal after she noticed it apparently had developed arthritis.

After weeks of work, D.D. finally accepted Cavanaugh’s help and went home to live with her and three other dogs.

TD.D. has some anxiety but mostly has adjusted to her new home.