his wounds.

Transition team soldier dies of war wounds: CJOnline Page Not Found

The Associated Press
Published Friday, May 23, 2008 at 9:47 a.m. CDT
Fort Riley — Fort Riley military officials say a 39-year-old soldier has died of wounds he suffered May 18 in Qalat, Afghanistan.

Master Sgt. Davy N. Weaver's vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. Weaver, from Barnesville, Ga., had undergone transition team training at Fort Riley.

Weaver was a mobilized Georgia National Guard Soldier and chemical operations specialist serving on a military transition team assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division.

To date, 149 Fort Riley servicemembers have died while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

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Reader Comments
heidis at May 23, 2008 at 02:32:43 PM
Thank you Master Sgt Weaver for your incredible sacrifice for our country. And to his family- I'm extremely sorry for your loss.

Posted by: mlurp at May 23, 2008 at 05:50:03 PM
Yes my prayers to your family, friends and fellow soldiers.

Governor signs final budget bill of session: CJOnline - Governor signs final budget bill of session

The Associated Press
Published Friday, May 23, 2008 at 7:43 a.m. CDT
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has finished her bill-signing duties for the year, approving most of the final budget bill that legislators sent her.

Altogether, the governor signed 183 bills and vetoed seven others, including three allowing two coal-fired power plants in western Kansas. She let one become law without her signature, allowing Kansans to own machine guns, other fully automatic weapons, sawed-off shotguns and silencers.

The bill she signed Thursday amounts to $33 million and brings total spending to $13.6 billion for the budget year starting July 1. Overall spending would increase $391 million, or about 3 percent, during that time.

The governor kept the $750,000 for road improvements outside the soon-to-be closed Parsons Army Ammunition Plant.

It was that project, dubbed “the road to nowhere” by its critics that created the biggest controversy in passing the budget bill. Parsons officials want to turn the plant into an industrial park and view the project as vital.

The plant is in the district of Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dwayne Umbarger. Critics derided it as a pet project for the Thayer Republican.

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Posted by: T-TownTracker at May 23, 2008 at 09:56:38 AM
This is sad. "Not properly restrained" makes it sound like an effort was made, so don't kick somebody when their down. What good does it do to blame when there is a tragedy? I'm sick of it.

+ 2 Rating Posted by: T-TownTracker at May 23, 2008 at 09:57:10 AM
^Dummy posted the message on the wrong article.


Posted by: bigjohnpowercat at May 23, 2008 at 11:31:55 AM
Now that's funny!

Posted by: truthfinder at May 23, 2008 at 12:34:59 PM
LOL!

Posted by: mlurp at May 23, 2008 at 06:05:54 PM
Seeem to me the Republicans have most of the pet projects.

If I am wrong please point it out to me, Thanks.

Heaven forbid energy production be in our own hands...let's just keep buying it from other countries and helping their economies...

__________________
"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

The plant wanted to double in size but ship most of the product to Texas and Colorado, where the two big investers were located.
Go through the earlier posts as I have posted most all of them. It amounted to a political grab for our share (104 watts and all of it would have been used in the S.W.) of 1,400 produced. I just wished I posted the first days company reply. It would make anyone think twice about their goals. And the first day the state legislators returned to the Capital. I think a state investigation should be held for some of the elected backers.

Well with this topic many have opinions which I can't enclude as size limit is used up.
How exactly are gas prices set? CJOnline / The Topeka Capital-Journal - How exactly are gas prices set?

Cost of crude, taxes, local competition among reasons
By JOHN PORRETTO and JOHN WILEN
The Associated Press
Published Saturday, May 24, 2008
Consider the game of chicken that plays out every day across Pennsylvania State Highway 441. In Marietta, where the road hugs the Susquehanna River, a Rutter's Farm Store gas station stands on one side, a Sheetz gas station on the other.

Kelly Bosley, who manages Rutter's, doesn't even have to look across the highway to know when Sheetz changes its price for a gallon of gas. When Sheetz raises prices, her own pumps are busy. When Sheetz lowers prices, she hasn't a car in sight.

She calls Rutter's headquarters to report the competition's new price and wait for instructions.

"I call a lot of times and say, 'They went down, hurry up! Hurry up! Call me! Call me!' Or it could be where theirs goes up, and I'll say, 'Take your time! You know, I like being busy.' But I have no control over that."

You think you feel helpless at the pump?

Bosley makes a living selling gas — and even she has little control over what it costs.

So how exactly are gas prices set? What determines the hair-pulling figure you see displayed in large electronic or plastic numbers?

It all starts with oil.

The biggest factor in the skyrocketing price of gasoline is the historic ascent of crude oil, which has surged from $45 per barrel in 2004 to more than $135 this past week.

In the first quarter of this year, based on a retail price of gas that now seems like a steal — $3.11 a gallon — crude oil accounted for all but about a dollar, or 70 percent, of the cost, according to the federal government.

The rest is a complex mix of factors, from the cost of turning oil into gas to taxes to marketing costs to, sometimes, nothing more than the competitive whims of your local gas station owner.

Not that understanding the breakdown makes it any less cringe-inducing to fill 'er up.

————————————

The knee-jerk villains in all of this are the oil companies, fat with multibillion-dollar profits, frequent targets of populist anger. But wait: The oil companies don't set the price of oil or the cost of a gallon of gas.

Prices are a function of the open market, the result of futures contracts being traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, or Nymex, and other exchanges.

Buying the current July crude oil futures contract means you are buying oil that will be delivered by the end of July. But most who trade futures have no intention of ever accepting the underlying oil: Like stock investors who frequently buy and sell their holdings, they are simply betting that prices will rise or fall.

Of late, on the Nymex, oil futures have been rising.

Why? Blame the falling dollar. Oil is priced in U.S. dollars, and the weaker the dollar gets, the more attractive dollar-denominated oil contracts are to foreign investors — or any investor looking for a safe haven in the turbulent stock market.

The rush of buyers keeps pushing oil futures to a series of new records, and the rest of the energy complex, including gasoline futures, has followed. That pushes up the price of gas that goes into your tank.

There is some evidence Americans are buying less gas as the price marches higher, and common sense suggests they would cut back even more if gas rose to $4.50 or $5 a gallon.

Lower demand should mean lower prices — but it takes time for that to happen, given the enormous scale of refining operations that produce gasoline.

"Once demand begins to slow, that needs to translate into inventories, then you get some price weakening," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Ill. "But it takes a while."

Oil and gasoline prices often move in the same direction, but they aren't linked directly. While oil prices have more than doubled in the past year, gasoline is only up about 19 percent during the same time.

Oil prices often fluctuate with production decisions from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which supplies about 40 percent of the world's crude, or when conflict in the Middle East or Nigeria threatens supplies.

And the rise has only grown more dramatic. Oil sprinted higher this past week, rising more than $4 a barrel on Wednesday alone and past $135 on Thursday.

————————————

As for gasoline prices: They are closely tied to demand from U.S. drivers and how efficiently refineries are operating. Falling production or inventories often send prices skyrocketing.

Those prices can vary greatly depending on the region.

The Gulf Coast is the source of about half the gasoline produced in the United States, and areas farthest from there tend to have higher prices because of the cost of shipping gas via pipeline and tanker truck all over the country.

Add higher taxes in such places as California and New York that push the price higher.

Oil companies insist their earnings, measured against revenue, are in line with other industries. On top of that, rising oil prices have sharply cut profit margins for refining, and that hits the major oil companies — which both pump oil and refine it for use as gasoline.

A giant like Exxon Mobil can handle the blow. Its refining and marketing profits for the first quarter were down 39 percent from a year ago, but Exxon still banked a nearly $11 billion profit because of the hefty prices earned on crude it pumped out of the ground.

In any case, huge profits at big oil companies like Exxon Mobil and Chevron aren't because of high prices at the pump. Their massive profits are tied to their exploration and production arms, which are benefiting from record crude prices.

Higher crude costs also have squeezed profits at the refining arms of companies like ConocoPhillips, which don't produce enough crude themselves to refine at full capacity without buying more oil from other producers.

Other costs are a factor — though they have remained relatively stable.

For example, federal and state taxes added 40 cents to a gallon of gas in the first three months of this year, roughly the same amount as they added four years ago.

————————————

What happens when gasoline from refineries makes its way to your neighborhood gas station?

Major oil companies own fewer than 5 percent of gas stations. Most are owned by small retailers — and many of them say they are struggling these days to turn a profit on gas. That is because wholesale gasoline prices have risen sharply in recent months — again, blame it on crude — but station owners have been unable to raise pump prices fast enough to keep pace.

And you can't keep jacking up the price when drivers are buying less.

Gas station owners face a balancing act: They must try to maintain a price that allows them to afford the next shipment of gasoline but not give the competition an edge.

Stations pay tens of thousands of dollars for each gas shipment before they see a cent in the register. Eventually, many make only a few cents on a gallon of gasoline, a margin that can disappear altogether when credit card fees are added in.

In the Philadelphia suburb of Havertown, Pa., earlier in the week, Sunoco station operator Steve Kehler received a load of gasoline — 9,000 gallons — which, at a wholesale price of $3.729 a gallon, cost him 4 cents more than the previous load.

That left him in a sticky situation: Should he raise prices right away to recoup some of his higher gasoline expenses, or should he hold off for a couple of days in hopes his competitors also will have to raise their prices?

The $33,600 Kehler must pay for his overnight gasoline delivery won't be debited from his bank account for a few days. That gives him a little breathing room, time to hold prices steady. Hiking prices too quickly will hurt sales.

"I'll probably change it tomorrow night, at closing," Kehler said. "I'll go up 4 cents."

That will put Kehler at a gross margin of about 20 cents a gallon. After paying credit card fees, labor and rent, Kehler will be lucky to break even on his gasoline sales. Many times, he loses money on gas, relying entirely upon his car repair business for income.

Most gasoline retailers long ago got past any illusion they can make money by selling gas. They rely on gas sales to drive traffic to their shops, where they hope auto repairs or food and drink sales will help them turn a profit.

Thank goodness for beef jerky and sodas.

History...

Three killed in Kansas storms: CJOnline / The Topeka Capital-Journal - Three killed in Kansas storms

Lightning cited in incident at Pomona
From Staff and Wire Reports
Published Sunday, May 25, 2008
Turbulent weather was blamed for the deaths of three people in Kansas, including a 20-year-old man who apparently was killed by lightning early Saturday at Pomona State Park, about 35 miles south of Topeka.

In south-central Kansas, two people were found dead in their car Saturday morning after a tornado blew it off the road into a field the night before.

CHARLIE RIEDEL / The Associated Press
An old barn stands in a wheat field as a severe thunderstorm passes in the distance near Ogallah. Severe thunderstorms Thursday, Friday and Saturday caused turbulent weather across much of the state.
Gary S. Whitlow, 33, and Kimberly S. Whitlow, 29, both of Rocky Ford, Colo., were pronounced dead at the scene after authorities found their car in a wheat field 150 yards north of US-54 highway, about 13 miles east of Pratt.

The Pratt County Sheriff's Office said the car, barely visible from the road, was destroyed by a tornado that also swept a semi truck off the highway and knocked down power poles and lines across the road.

The apparent lightning strike at Pomona State Park also injured three people, the Osage County Sheriff's Department said. The three were transported by ambulance to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. Neither their names nor conditions were known.

The Pomona State Park fatality victim, whose identity hasn't been released, was camping with friends and was thought to have been struck by lightning between 1 and 4 a.m. as thunderstorms rolled through the area, a sheriff's deputy said. He was discovered by another person at the park.

The sheriff's department and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks are investigating the death.

The twister in the Pratt area was one of at least 17 across central and western Kansas on Friday that injured at least six people and damaged or destroyed dozens of homes.

The tornadoes began forming around 4:30 p.m. and didn't subside until after midnight, spanning at least nine counties, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department.

Capital-Journal staff writer Kevin Elliott contributed to this report.

LocalPool hall is again in the news. Reader comments might explaine a lot of what the news and police have missed.

Two stabbed at pool hall: CJOnline / The Topeka Capital-Journal - Two stabbed at pool hall

The Capital-Journal
Published Sunday, May 25, 2008
One man suffered life-threatening injuries and another received minor cuts late Friday during a double stabbing at a billiards bar that has seen violence in the past.

Police were called to Stormont-Vail Regional Health Center at 12:21 a.m. on a report of two Topeka men being treated for stab wounds.

Donald Schultz, 23, had a life-threatening wound to his abdomen, said police Capt. Jerry Stanley. The other man, Donald Driver, 25, had a cut on his wrist, Stanley said.

Officers determined the stabbing happened at Deep Pockets Billiards, 4310 S.W. 21st St. Officers established a crime scene at the location and detectives interviewed witnesses, Stanley said. No arrests have been made.

Schultz's condition was unavailable late Saturday.

The stabbing is the second violent incident at the bar in recent months. Michael H. Holley, 24, of Topeka, was shot several times early Feb. 23 outside Deep Pockets. He died at a local hospital.

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Reader Comments
+ 4 Rating Posted by: biggy45 at May 25, 2008 at 04:26:42 AM
they just need to shut down this bar or make the bar owner get some kind of metal detators installed or have hand held metal detators because it seems like this place is nothing but a trouble hang out

-3 Rating Posted by: jon at May 25, 2008 at 07:04:48 AM
Trouble hang outs are Jerry Berger's legacy. He started this and several other places: Vintage, Baby Dolls, etc.

-1 Rating Posted by: Hot_Toe_Picker at May 25, 2008 at 09:11:03 AM
Wouldn't it be more of a story if someone WASN'T stabbed at a pool hall? If a friend told me that he was at a pool hall the night before and saw someone get stabbed, I'd say "Yep. That sounds about right."

Posted by: chasss at May 25, 2008 at 09:47:33 AM
Jerry Berger, our next D.A.?

Posted by: skooon at May 25, 2008 at 10:11:57 AM
This isn't even Jerry's bar anymore

Posted by: flott1 at May 25, 2008 at 10:43:27 AM
I wouldn't call the Vintage troubled before it closed. It became the Elan Grille, which served nice steaks and had a decent lounge. If this is your definition of "troubled" then I would hate to see what you classify has a real dive.

Posted by: GBPackers at May 25, 2008 at 11:31:32 AM
You can only blame the trash hanging out in these dives.

+ 1 Rating Posted by: ourhero at May 25, 2008 at 12:13:35 PM
It is a well known FACT in the poker community that Deep Pockets regularly hold cash poker games. The police have been called in many times but the owner/manager Frank has been able to skate by every time. There have been games there where the purse/pot has been in the thousands. When that kind of money and booze is mixed there will be issues. Why this bar has been allowed to continue these games is beyond me. An investigator worth his salt would be able to confirm these games in a matter of days if not hours. The game is kept on the down-low but it happens - nearly every night and on days at times when the bar is officially closed.
If the Topeka Police are serious about stopping violence at this bar they need to look into this.



-1 Rating Posted by: carisa at May 25, 2008 at 12:56:53 PM
This was not a trouble makers hangout. I used to go to play the poker tournaments and loved the laid back friendly atmosphere. I quit going after the michael holley incident. It's a couple bad people that are ruining it for everybody.

+ 1 Rating Posted by: johnpadilla at May 25, 2008 at 01:33:01 PM
yeah, I agree .. shutting down the bar is the only way to go ..

+ 1 Rating Posted by: CountyDweller at May 25, 2008 at 02:07:51 PM
I don't recall Baby Doll's ever having alot of problems. But another of Jerry's Bars, "MacBee's" at 29 n Croco had a couple of guys exchanging shots a while back.

Maybe Jerry caters to "Past and Future Clients"?

Posted by: whatupdown at May 25, 2008 at 03:29:24 PM
If you want to make money with a bar then real security should be required for your lot and cameras.

Posted by: Ghostface at May 25, 2008 at 05:05:33 PM
I was the one that got the less serious of the wounds. They DO have metal detectors there, but all this happend in the parking lot. These people were not ever even in the place, just hanging around outside looking for trouble. They also have cameras that got the whole thing on tape, so hopefully some arrests will start happening real soon.

Posted by: OtherSignGuy at May 25, 2008 at 05:37:54 PM
The best way to keep trouble out opf a bar is to not serve booze there! Better to turn them into Gargae Sale Sign stores. Whoops, hold on, that won't work either!

Posted by: nissanzx1 at May 25, 2008 at 07:42:37 PM
The solution is to have frequent police patrols in the parking lot and have the police investigate the backgrounds/warrants of all people loitering. An occasional stroll through the bar by police will help keep out the riff-raff... The bar doesn't need to be shut down, it needs better security internally and from the police department.

Posted by: KLorenz at May 25, 2008 at 09:16:55 PM
nissan said:

"The solution is to have frequent police patrols in the parking lot and have the police investigate the backgrounds/warrants of all people loitering. An occasional stroll through the bar by police will help keep out the riff-raff..."

That makes sense Niss, a cop on every corner. Tell me, do you own a home? How wealthy are you? How many patrol officers per area are you suggesting we enlist? I seriously doubt there have been any citations issued for loitering in this town for 40 years. Do you think Topekans can afford to cough up the cash for your proscribed "surge"?

Reader comments say it all... As usual some racy. But this town is divided.

Men victimize helpful motorist: CJOnline / The Topeka Capital-Journal - Men victimize helpful motorist

The Capital-Journal
Published Sunday, May 25, 2008
Police said a 25-year-old Topeka man told officers he was offering assistance to three men around 10:40 p.m. Friday when he was forced from his car and it was stolen at S.W. 1st and Western.

The victim told police he noticed three Hispanic males standing by a dark-colored car and thought they might be having a mechanical problem, said police Capt. Jerry Stanley. While talking to one of the men, two others opened the driver's side door and told him to get out of the car, he said. The two men got into the victim's 2006 Dodge Charger, valued at $20,000, and left the area, police said. The other man was last seen leaving in an unknown vehicle.

Stanley said the Dodge was recovered Saturday morning in the area of S.E. 13th and Madison.

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Reader Comments
+ 2 Rating Posted by: purplereign at May 25, 2008 at 08:08:39 AM
no good deed goes unpunished

Posted by: mass207 at May 25, 2008 at 08:55:02 AM
Why do people do ANYTHING late at night in Topeka? 1st and Western?

Posted by: Hot_Toe_Picker at May 25, 2008 at 09:17:36 AM
This is why I never stop to help anybody...especially 3 hispanic males downtown after dark. That's just asking to get robbed.

-1 Rating Posted by: foofoo at May 25, 2008 at 09:42:49 AM
hereeeeeeeeeeee we go with tha race factor.... Let's just say never help anyone after dark, in ANY neighborhood, unless we are willing to be a victim...How's THAT? Jeez.

Posted by: ASBESTOS at May 25, 2008 at 09:43:39 AM
I will bet they are illegals and are no longer in the State. I would check Texas.

-2 Rating Posted by: gutti at May 25, 2008 at 10:08:18 AM
"That's why I never stop to help... especially hispanic males."

This kind of discouraging attitude is why the city of Topeka is treading water in a deadly sea as opposed to making headways in a positive direction. Yes it is unfortunate that this person was robbed but is it typical that they were Hispanic? No! Crime is a universal occurrence throughout this city. I am willing to bet that these statements would not have been made if this crime war perpetrated by three white youths. Then it would just be a case of kids gone wrong... not some genetically inherent occurrence that forces Hispanic males to steal cars...

You should be ashamed of yourself.

+ 2 Rating Posted by: skooon at May 25, 2008 at 10:08:49 AM
Dude probably stopped to buy some crack

Posted by: talessman at May 25, 2008 at 11:22:28 AM
Race doesn't really factor into this problem. Sometimes more criminals tend to be hispanic, but sometimes more criminals can be white, black, or other races too.

I've been known to help people in need, but even I have limits. If I feel nervous, or my gut tells me something doesn't feel right, I won't stop. You have to put your own safety above all else.

Respectfully,

Thomas Lessman
Website: Thomas Lessman, Citizen - Advocate - Activist
Blog: Neighborhood Watch Watch