SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A small Italian restaurant fed up with the online review site Yelp recently launched a novel marketing campaign.
Instead of trying to get better reviews, the restaurant owners decided to take a different approach: get terrible ones.
The campaign helped Botte Bistro get a rating of one out of five stars, as more than 1,000 reviewers left hundreds of tongue-in-cheek reviews panning the Richmond, California, eatery, said chef Michele Massimo, adding that it boosted business.
It was the latest protest among businesses who for years have complained that Yelp was extorting them by raising or dropping ratings depending on whether they advertised with the Web’s most popular review site.
A windy day is in store for western Kansas as north winds blow at 25 to 35 mph. Gusts to 45 mph are possible this morning. Areas of light rain will come to an end across southwest and south central Kansas by late morning with skies becoming sunny. The rest of the week will be very pleasant for mid October with highs mainly in the 70s and low 80s.
Columbus Day Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 63. Very windy, with a north wind 26 to 34 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Tonight Clear, with a low around 41. Breezy, with a north northwest wind 13 to 21 mph. Tuesday Sunny, with a high near 67. North northwest wind 11 to 15 mph. Tuesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 39. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 71. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 45. Thursday Sunny, with a high near 74. Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 44. Friday Sunny, with a high near 70.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita man faces a felony charge after authorities say he exposed himself to a 9-year-old.
The Wichita Eagle reports 39-year-old James Muldrow has been charged with lewd and lascivious behavior. Wichita police say he was in a bathroom at a home on Oct. 6 when he exposed his genitals to the child. They say he was trying to arouse himself or the victim.
He is being held at the Sedgwick County jail on $50,000 bond. Online jail records didn’t indicate an attorney.
Brownback with Christi during an August visit- courtesy photo
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is traveling to Kansas once again to campaign and raise money amid a tight gubernatorial race.
Christie is chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association. He is scheduled to come Monday afternoon to Wichita, where he will be campaigning with Gov. Sam Brownback at a retail store. The campaign stop will be followed by a closed fundraising event.
The Republican incumbent is locked in a tight race with Democratic challenger Paul Davis amid a backlash from voters concerned about massive tax cuts that have created budget shortfalls.
Christie has campaign events scheduled in Minnesota and Kansas on Monday, followed by stops on Tuesday in Maine and Connecticut.
A Dallas health worker’s Ebola infection is raising fresh questions about whether hospitals truly can safely take care of people with the deadly virus.
The new case shows a breach in infection control and reveals that even in the United States, with the best conditions and protective gear available, mistakes can happen that expose more people to Ebola.
The health worker had been caring for a Liberian man who died of Ebola Wednesday at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.
Federal officials have said that all hospitals must be prepared to rapidly diagnose and isolate any Ebola cases that turn up. Transferring such a patient to one of the specialized units set up to deal with high-risk germs carries a risk that others could be exposed.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Nearly 200 students of a Kansas-based college have joined a lawsuit that accuses the school of fraud.
The Kansas City Star reports the lawsuit against Wright Career College was filed last year but amended recently to add 195 more students. The current and former students attended Wright’s campuses in Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
The lawsuit states the private, nonprofit college enticed student to enroll and apply for student loans that they can’t pay back. It also claims Wright deceived students about attendance costs and employment prospects.
An attorney representing the college called the allegations “absurd.” She says the college offers resources for student success and has never promised or guaranteed employment after graduation.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police are searching for a man who two others say stabbed them in a bar after a fight over a spilled drink.
Sgt. John Ryan says the men drove themselves to the hospital on Sunday morning. He says the 26- and 32-year-old victims were stabbed at the Revolution Lounge. It’s unclear how badly they were injured.
Ryan says the suspect is 26 years old and that the victims know him.
Police haven’t released any of their identities. No arrests have been reported and no other details about the attack have been released.
HUTCHINSON. Kan. — The man wanted on numerous warrants following a high-speed chase in Reno County last week has been taken into custody.
Hutchinson Police received information that Scott Lutz was hiding in an attic of a residence located at 415 East Ave. B.
Lutz was wanted for several felony warrants and had eluded law enforcement officers more than once over the last few days in Hutchinson and surrounding jurisdictions. Lutz is also under investigation regarding auto theft.
The stolen truck he was driving was later found in Ellsworth forcing schools there to go on a heighten state of alert Thursday morning.
On Sunday, officers responded to the home at 415 East Ave. B in Hutchinson and initially established verbal contact with Lutz in the attic of the residence. He refused to comply with the officers and soon set a small fire in the attic. With the assistance of the Hutchinson Fire Department and the Reno County Sheriff’s Department Officers gained access to the attic and placed Lutz into custody without incident. Lutz was transported to the Hutchinson Regional Medical Center for minor cuts and scrapes.
Pending release from the hospital, Lutz will be placed in the Reno County Detention Center on several warrants along with 5 counts of Aggravated Arson and Felony Interference of a Law Enforcement Officer.
Other agencies that assisted officers with this incident were the Kansas Highway Patrol, South Hutchinson Police Department, Reno County Sheriff’s Department, Hutchinson Fire Department and Reno County EMS.
Law enforcement had been searching for Lutz ever since he led them on a high-speed chase through the county last Wednesday. The stolen truck he was driving was later found in Ellsworth forcing schools there to go on a heighten state of alert Thursday morning.
At the time of the chase, Lutz had indicated that he would not be taken alive by law enforcement.
PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — Pittsburg police are offering a reward for help locating two more suspects in the killing of a Pittsburg State University student.
KOAM-TV reports that $1,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the two 19-year-old suspects from Pittsburg. Two other men, ages 21 and 24, were arrested Friday on suspicion of first-degree murder in the death of 20-year-old Taylor C. Thomas and several other felonies.
Officers responding to a disturbance call at an off-campus home where Thomas lived found him wounded around 2 a.m. Thursday. The junior in mechanical engineering was pronounced dead at Via Christi Hospital.
An obituary posted on the Bath-Naylor Funeral Home website said he died after a burglary. An autopsy listed the cause of death as a single gunshot wound.
Fort Hays State Women’s Soccer played to a 0-0 draw with Central Oklahoma in double overtime on Sunday (Oct. 12) afternoon at FHSU Soccer Stadium. A physical battle where 38 total fouls were called, neither team could break through offensively, though the Tigers outshot the Bronchos, 19-13, putting nine on goal compared to UCO’s eight shots on goal.
Defenders Mallory Diederich (110 minutes) and Jamie Babyak (110 minutes) put together complete performances, and Baylie Schmidtznearly matched that, recording 106 minutes. FHSU goalkeeper Kristen Thompson posted her seventh shutout of the season in impressive fashion, saving eight shots on goal in 110 minutes of play. With the draw, Thompson broke the school’s individual record for shutouts in a season, passing the previous mark of six, set by Nicole Barbana in 2012. Just into the 27th minute of the game, UCO’s Sarah Purcell broke away from the defense into a one-on-one situation with Thompson, who challenged her mid-box with a deflection on a diving save. After Purcell rebounded the ball, she fired a second shot in quick fashion, but Thompson got to her feet and flicked the ball out of bounds, keeping the Bronchos out of the net. After over 92 minutes of scoreless play, FHSU nearly won the game on a golden goal in the first overtime, but a blocked shot and save from UCO’s Brandi Bartley forced a continuation of play. Gabrielle Makatura fired a shot in the middle of the box, and after gathering a deflection from a Broncho defender, took aim at the net just three seconds later, but Bartley spoiled the possible game-winner with a save. Makatura led the offense with four shots, while Schmitz, Diederich, Kylee Loneker and Cenayda Guzman added two shots apiece. FHSU (6-4-2, 4-2-2 MIAA) finished the homecoming weekend 1-0-1 after a win on Friday versus Northeastern State, and is fourth in the conference standings, one game behind the Bronchos. The squad continues its home stand with two games next weekend, hosting Northwest Missouri State on Friday (Oct. 17) at 7 p.m., and Missouri Western in a Sunday (Oct. 19) contest at 2 p.m.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A new report shows women are approaching parity with men on owning businesses in Kansas.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that about 70,900 businesses in the state were at least 51 percent owned by a female in 2014. That means 42 percent of the roughly 168,700 businesses the Secretary of State’s office had on record in September were owned by women.
Kansas saw businesses owned by women grow by close to 30 percent between 1997 and 2014. While that was one of the lowest rates in the country, it still represented a substantial change relative to total business growth in those years.
Most businesses owned by women are relatively small, with 70,900 businesses employing only an estimated 73,300 people in Kansas. Sales this year were estimated at about $10.5 billion.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The re-emergence of gay marriage as a hot legal issue nationally has complicated Democrat Paul Davis’ bid in Kansas to unseat conservative Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.
Davis has represented a safely Democratic seat as a Kansas House member and voted three times in 2004 and 2005 against proposals to ban gay marriage in the state constitution. Voters amended the constitution in 2005.
But Davis is avoiding a public declaration of support for gay marriage.
His chances of defeating Brownback depend upon winning support from disaffected Republicans and unaffiliated voters. Davis’ foes could more easily paint him as a liberal if he explicitly supports gay marriage.
Also, a declaration could raise doubts for voters with some conservative religious views who otherwise might be receptive to his message on fiscal issues.
PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press
