Source:

The use of concrete dates back to ancient Rome, and the recipe hasn’t changed much since then. Neither have some of concrete’s drawbacks. In particular, the slow deformation known as “concrete creep” has afflicted structures from the Pantheon to the Pentagon. But MIT scientists believe they have solved the mystery of concrete creep, and thus opened the door to structures that will last tens of thousands of years. (more…)

WSJ:

The reform movement in Iran has clearly hit a new level, but the future is uncertain. The key issue is whether spontaneous protests crystallize into sustained dissent that involves the middle class. (more…)

CBS:

Trakr, a German Sheppard rescue dog from Nova Scotia, helped rescue victims at Ground Zero eight years ago. The dog actually pulled the last remaining survivor from the rubble itself, and his owner, James Symington, believes that was merely one example of Trakr’s abilities.

“His heroic work at Ground Zero was just a culmination of his amazing career,” Symington said.

Chronicle:

San Francisco - The cost of attending California’s community colleges will probably rise by 30 percent in the fall, after a legislative budget committee voted on Tuesday to approve a fee increase to help the state meet its gigantic budget deficit. (more…)

NY Post:

MILLIONS of homeowners hoping to take advantage of government-guaranteed mortgage refinancing have gotten a rude awakening. In the last two months, mortgage rates have jumped from 4.8 percent to 5.8 percent, wiping out billions of dollars in potential homeowner savings.

The Post:

President Obama’s plan to expand health coverage to the uninsured is likely to dig the nation deeper into debt unless policymakers adopt politically painful controls on spending, such as sharp reductions in payments to doctors, hospitals and other providers, congressional budget analysts said yesterday.

The Star:

Finding success in a slumping retail market is difficult.

Key elements, however, are good customer service and finding a niche within the market, said Jason Preston, manager of the CD Tradepost. (more…)

CBS:

It is a debate that has gone on for years in poor communities: do you blame the schools for the students’ poor performance or do you blame their parents? (more…)

The Star:

Overland Park has landed a major national tournament for its new $36 million soccer complex that’s scheduled to open later this summer.

The United States Youth Soccer Association is planning to hold its national youth soccer championships in Kansas City’s biggest suburb from July 20-25, 2010. An official announcement about the tournament is expected next month. (more…)

CJ Online:

Kansas State coach Bill Snyder and his staff will conduct high school football camps this week in Kansas City and Wichita. (more…)

Link:

A University of Colorado at Boulder research team has discovered the first definitive evidence of shorelines on Mars, an indication of a deep, ancient lake there and a finding with implications for the discovery of past life on the Red Planet. (more…)

AP:

NEW YORK (AP) - Retail gas prices climbed for the 50th straight day Wednesday, and crude prices that had slumped all week bounced back. (more…)

AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Hoping to make history, the Senate set off on its major overhaul of the nation’s health care system Wednesday, but its first steps were quickly overtaken by fresh cost concerns and partisan anger. An ambitious timetable that called for completing committee action in early summer seemed in danger of slipping away. (more…)

WSJ:

WASHINGTON — After a fairly smooth opening, President Barack Obama faces new concerns among the American public about the budget deficit and government intervention in the economy as he works to enact ambitious health and energy legislation, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds. (more…)

Chronicle:

The former provost of North Carolina State University who resigned last month as controversy grew over the hiring of a former governor’s wife won’t get to keep enhanced pay that was added to his severance package by a chancellor who has also resigned, the Associated Press reported.

The university’s new interim chancellor, James H. Woodward, said in a letter released today that the deal was “invalid.” According to the campus newspaper, The Technician, the letter was dated June 11 and addressed to the former provost, Larry A. Nielsen.

City Journal:

Two decades after the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, everything in China has changed, and yet nothing has changed. Visible to all, China’s large cities have undoubtedly undergone great transformations. (more…)

CNS News:

President Obama told the American Medical Association on Monday that he thinks single-payer health care systems-socialized medicine-work “pretty well” in other countries, but that he does not want to create such a system here because he wants to “build on our traditions.” (more…)

KSN:

WICHITA, Kansas - Tough economic times are hitting everyone, including some well-known charities. The Shriners, which provide free healthcare to children, are considering closing six of their hospitals down.
(more…)

CNN:

The judge cited “a responsibility for public safety” when he increased Scott Roeder’s bail fourfold, from $5 million to $20 million, according to a court transcript obtained by CNN Tuesday. (more…)

KSN:

WICHITA, Kansas - Wichita police say they have arrested two teens who were allegedly impersonating police officers and accosting a homeless man.

The incident happened in the 100 block of N. Waco at around 2 a.m. Wednesday when three teens allegedly ransacked through a 56-year-old homeless man’s stuff while impersonating officers. Police believe they may have been harassing other homeless citizens along the river as well.

KSN:

WICHITA, Kansas - For more than 50 years countless stray animals in the Wichita area found a home at the Kansas Humane Society on Southeast Blvd., but Wednesday afternoon the end of an era came as dozens of pets were transported to a brand new facility. (more…)

AP:

CAIRO - Iran clamped down Tuesday on independent media in an attempt to control images of election protests, but pictures and videos leaked out anyway - showing how difficult it is to shut off the flow of information in the Internet age. (more…)

Chronicle:

Four faculty members at Bethune-Cookman University have been fired for sexually harassing female students, university officials announced today. (more…)

The Star:

Despite pleas to save the animals, Johnson County officials will employ sharpshooters and bow hunters to solve the problem of too many deer in Shawnee Mission Park. (more…)

Rasmussen:

The vast majority of Americans drive to work, but even the threat of higher gas prices doesn’t seem to be encouraging them much to carpool, take public transportation or buy an energy-efficient hybrid car. (more…)

Collegian:

You can find K-State’s 13th president, Kirk Schulz, on Facebook.com, YouTube.com and Twitter.com, read his blog, “Messages from Kirk,” or listen to his speeches from the newly-created president’s page on K-State’s Web site. His tech-savvy attitude is a step in the right direction for K-State. (more…)

Weekly Standard:

Upper East Side Rep. Carolyn Maloney met with the editorial board of the New York Daily News as she prepares to mount a primary challenge to Kirsten Gillibrand. When Gillibrand was first appointed, she told reporters she kept not one but two guns under her bed for self-defense (she says she’s since moved the guns for fear they’d be stolen). Maloney told the Daily News, “I am for gun control. I don’t have guns under my bed — guns kill.”

CJ Online:

The University of Kansas has received a $60,000 grant from the NCAA to promote women’s basketball attendance. (more…)

Star:

ENGLISH AWARDS: The English Department recognized about 70 students for outstanding work with more than $26,000 in awards and scholarships. The recipients: Rachel Kathryn Gray, Olathe Easth High School, American Studies, BA, senior, Helen Rhoda Hoopes Scholarship Award; Alexis Renee Smith, Olathe North, English, BA, junior, Victor Contoski Creative Writing Award - Poetry, second place; Nathan C. Barbarick, Olathe East, Creative Writing, MFA, graduate, James E. Gunn Award for Science Fiction Writing; Melissa Joan Lytton, Blue Valley West, English, BA, senior, Scholarship in Science Fiction; and Park Zachary Josef Abramovitz, Olathe East, English, BA, senior, Senior Award.

Yahoo:

A new analysis upends a previous, highly acclaimed study that had concluded that a particular gene variation was associated with an increased risk of major depression.

(more…)

CAGW:

Washington, D.C. - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and House Energy and the Environment Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) its May Porkers of the Month.  They are the ringleaders behind H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACESA), the Waxman-Markey bill. (more…)

Weekly Standard:

Green was the campaign color employed by opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi:

Five Iranian players in today’s World Cup qualifier against South Korea took to the pitch with green armbands in apparent support of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the opposition leader who has alleged massive fraud in last week’s presidential election.

The protesters included team captain Mehdi Mahdavikia and Mohammed Ali Karimi, the former Bayern Munich midfielder, although all five had taken the armbands off by the time they came back out for the second half.

(more…)

KC Biz Journal:

Esther George was promoted to chief operating officer and first vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, effective Aug 1. (more…)

USA Today:

Undrafted pickups included three pitchers: Jack Adams, of San Jose State; Bryan Roberts, from Loyola Marymount, and Jose Sanchez, of Montgomery College. (more…)

wired:

The word netbook may soon vanish into irrelevance, but the products that resulted from the category are not going away any time soon. Indeed, they’re on the verge of injecting their DNA into a broad swath of the PC market. (more…)

CJ Online:

Kansas State must reinstate Jim Epps as its deputy athletic director or face the prospect of another expensive buyout. (more…)

The Examiner:

See UPDATE below with eyewitness account of disputed meeting

ALSO: McCaskill says decision to fire IG “appears well founded”

Fired AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin strongly denies the White House’s claim that he was “confused, disoriented [and] unable to answer questions” at a May 20, 2009 board meeting of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the organization that oversees AmeriCorps. (more…)

Chronicle:

Washington - Rep. John Kline of Minnesota has won a contest to replace Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon of California as the top Republican on the House education committee. (more…)

Rasmussen:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 35% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-three percent (33%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of +2 (see trends). Thirty-eight percent (38%) now say the country is heading in the right direction.

Source:

In the weeks following the assassination of Wichita abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, it was perhaps too much to hope that antiabortion organizations and activists would reflect on, and even temper, their movement’s rhetoric. (more…)