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The spotlight intensified on the Water Cube with each passing day of these Olympics as the world witnessed Michael Phelps' nine-day battle with history.

And the made-for-NBC drama reached a peak Sunday morning Beijing time as the U.S. phenom won an unprecedented eighth gold medal in the medley relay in world-record time.

Eight events. Eight golds. Seven world records.

The Australian team stood in his way, and Andrew Lauterstein said the Aussies were determined to ruin Phelps' pool party. "We're going to give the Americans a good shake and hopefully keep Phelpsy from getting his eighth gold."

No such luck. The U.S. led after the backstroke, and was in third place when Phelps dove into the pool for the butterfly leg. He regained the lead for the Americans, and Jason Lezak preserved it to fulfill Phelps' seemingly unrealistic goal. They won in 3:29.34.

Police say a woman returned to her home in the 2700 block of West Savannah after an errand Friday night to find clothes strewn all over the basement laundry room and bleach poured on them.

She went upstairs to call her husband. While she was on the phone, a man wearing only blue boxer shorts came up from the basement, grabbed her purse and ran out the door, police said.

The woman chased the man and pulled the purse away from him, Sgt. Diane Varnell said.

The suspect was described as a white man in his 30s, 5-feet-9 and 250 pounds, with light-colored hair.

On further inspection, the woman found the man's jeans and belt in her washing machine. Police said he entered the house by climbing through a window in the basement.

Terry Spexarth spotted his wife approaching in the Colwich city park Saturday morning and waved her over.

"You've got to see this," he announced, motioning toward a wooden box.

He flipped a switch beneath a standard incandescent light bulb and a meter measuring kilowatts began turning steadily. After turning off that switch, he flipped on a compact fluorescent light bulb.

"It barely moves," Spexarth boasted of the meter, which had slowed to a crawl.

Westar Energy officials hope to see residents of the small town in western Sedgwick County cut their energy use significantly by switching to the more efficient light bulbs.

A 15-year-old girl was critically injured when she was hit by a vehicle as teens scattered from an underage drinking party in far southeast Sedgwick County early Saturday morning, authorities said.

The large party was going on in the 11400 block of South 116th Street East, Sheriff's Sgt. Gary Hargus said.

"Word got out to the kids that law enforcement was on the way there," Hargus said. "Everyone was scattering, and that's when the young lady was injured."

The girl was hit shortly before 3 a.m. Hargus said he does not know where the victim lives.

"My understanding is that it was Derby and Mulvane kids involved in this party," he said.

This is a weekly series on day trips and weekend getaways within easy driving distance of Wichita

As the final days of summer wind down, try planning one last getaway before the daily routines settle in.

Explore the best of small-town Kansas, do something whimsical and stake your claim to festivals yet to come.

Larned

Distance: 141 miles

A Pratt County man was killed Saturday when the semi he was driving was struck by a train northeast of Pratt.

The Kansas Highway Patrol said a truck driven by Bryan B. Chambers, 57, of Coats was struck by a Union Pacific train at 10:55 a.m.

The semi was traveling east on Northwest 50th Street near K-61 when the accident occurred.

-- Hurst Laviana

Kansas featured in online travel show

A state board may finally bring the grinding, methodical casino selection process to an end late this week for Sumner County.

Or not.

The seven-member Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board will meet Thursday and Friday in Topeka to decide who will manage the county's casino, and whether it will be in Wellington or Mulvane.

But ultimately its choice could be overturned in court months from now thanks to pending lawsuits.

The board also has raised questions about the financial capabilities and strategies of the applicants.

Wichita is spending more on overtime pay for city employees than at any time in the past five years. A few workers nearly doubled their base salaries last year, sometimes earning thousands more in pay than supervisors.

The increase is largely driven by rising base wages and emergency work caused by snowstorms, bursting water mains and crime.

Overtime spending also rose for Sedgwick County employees, climbing to $4.9 million last year from $4.2 million in 2006. That overtime stems largely from staffing shortages at the jail that officials blame on stiff competition for workers.

Overtime data shows extreme cases, such as Sedgwick County detention Deputy Cleve Werner III, whose $36,335 salary became $79,920 with overtime, and city bus mechanic Richard Cooley, whose $38,313 salary last year grew to $70,346 with extra hours.

But The Eagle's analysis also found about 200 employees who got paid overtime in amounts that total at least a quarter of their base pay.

Should you be able to know what public employees are paid?

A range of people -- from legislators to journalists -- think you should.

The Eagle obtained public salary databases through open records requests. But the state also is working to post state salary information on KanView (www.kansas.gov/kanview), which shows revenues and expenditures and is intended to bring greater openness to government.

Rep. Kasha Kelley, R-Arkansas City, is one of the lawmakers who pushed to make the information easily accessible to the public.

"Any time you're talking about what we are doing with taxpayer dollars -- whether it is a program or personnel expenses -- the taxpayers have a right to know," she said.

Michael Phelps won his record eighth gold medal Sunday at the Beijing Olympics as a member of the victorious U.S. 400-meter medley relay team, breaking a tie with Mark Spitz for most golds in a single games.

Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Phelps and Jason Lezak won in a world-record time of 3 minutes, 29.34 seconds, lowering the old mark of 3:30.68 set four years ago in Athens.

The U.S. swept the men's relays in Beijing, with Phelps leading off in the 400 and 800 free relays. Lezak anchored the 400 free to a narrow victory over France to preserve Phelps' historic bid.

Australia took the silver in 3:30.04.

Japan earned the bronze in 3:31.18.