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The Wichita City Council held off granting licenses to three After Dark Video stores this morning because council member Jeff Longwell suspects at least one of the sexually oriented businesses has building code violations.

Longwell was referring to the store at 7805 W. Kellogg.

"It's a building that's in horrible shape," Longwell told reporters after deferring the vote. "They do absolutely zero maintenance."

Longwell said the licensing will be delayed until code inspectors give a report on any violations. Code violations are grounds to deny a sexually oriented business a license.

Licenses will also be delayed for two other After Dark Video stores because they were part of the same council agenda item. One store is at 3721 S. Broadway and the other is at 2809 N. Broadway.

Residents of Harper County can finally utilize all-hazard radios, now that a transmitter has been activated to cover the Gypsum Hills of southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma.

The transmitter was installed on a tower six miles north of Sharon in Barber County. The call letters for that station are WZ2511, operating on a frequency of 162.400 megahertz.

Until the transmitter was installed, most residents of Harper County -- one of the region's most active counties for tornadoes in recent years -- were unable to use the radios to receive severe weather alerts.

See more about this story in Wednesday's Eagle.

Spring will be on delightful display in the Wichita metropolitan area today, with sunny skies and highs in the 70s on tap.

There will be a touch of breeze, forecasters say, with northerly winds in the low teens. Clouds will move in this evening, serving notice for the showers and thunderstorms that are possible on Wednesday and Thursday.

Check Kansas.com for updates.

Lisa Perkins and her family are committed to going green.

Her daughters pack trash-free lunches for school. The family uses reusable food containers and water bottles.

They compost leftover food, shop with cloth bags and use green cleaning products.

So far this year, they have planted 120 trees.

"We do what we can on the edges but I have a total sense of guilt. I feel like we never do enough," Perkins said.

Former Haysville doctor Stephen Schneider could get out of jail as early as Thursday, with more than $4 million in bond and more than a dozen conditions for his release.

Schneider and his wife have been held in the Butler County Jail without bond since their December arrest and indictment accusing them of running a "pill mill." The couple is charged with 34 counts related to their practice of prescribing painkillers at their medical clinic.

But Monday, a federal judge agreed to let Stephen Schneider go back home to his two adopted daughters, as long as he doesn't practice medicine and puts up as collateral the clinic, his home, cars and bank accounts.

"We're satisfied with the ruling and the conditions," said Schneider's lawyer, Lawrence Williamson of Kansas City. "Dr. Schneider is anxious to get out and start preparing for his defense."

U.S. Magistrate Judge Don Bostwick said he will not rule on whether Linda Schneider will be released until after he sees the results of psychological evaluations ordered this month. She was a licensed practical nurse who managed the Schneider Medical Clinic.

Deepak Mullick moved back to Wichita in December, hoping to provide his troubled wife, Reena, more stability and happiness.

It seemed to be working.

But something happened on the morning of April 8, and Mullick may never know the answer. His 49-year-old wife walked out of their house on Champions Street near Willowbend Golf Course in northeast Wichita that day and disappeared.

"I thought maybe somebody had abducted her," Mullick said Monday. "That's what I was thinking for the last nine days -- and boom, she was right here."

Her body was discovered Saturday in a small pond only a few feet from the Mullicks' house. The Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center confirmed her identity on Monday.

Abortion opponents are hoping to muster enough votes to override the governor's veto Monday of a bill aimed at strengthening late-term abortion laws.

Among other provisions, the bill would allow family members of a woman to sue if they thought a doctor had performed or was about to perform an illegal late-term abortion.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said in her veto message that such a lawsuit could be filed to block a patient's abortion "even where it may be necessary to save her life."

"I am concerned that the bill is likely unconstitutional or, even worse, endangers the lives of women," said Sebelius, an abortion-rights supporter.

The governor worried the provision would violate the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that abortion laws include exceptions for situations where the woman's life was in danger.

Come June, getting into the Kansas Coliseum could be as easy as waving your cell phone under a scanner.

The Coliseum is poised to become one of the first arenas in the country to adopt new technology that will allow ticket delivery via mobile phone.

The Coliseum is also getting ready to give patrons the option to buy insurance so they can get a refund on their tickets if personal circumstances prevent them from getting to a show.

The bids for both new services are on the agenda for the County Commission on Wednesday.

If the services succeed at the Coliseum, both will transfer to the new Intrust Bank Arena when it opens in 2010, said Jim Sachs, director of ticketing for the county's Select-a-Seat system.

Flying in a B-17 is not for the faint of heart.

Tumultuous winds whip while engines roar and stomachs flop.

An 8-inch wide, 8-foot long catwalk stretches across the bomb bay into the navigator and pilot seats. A rope is the only thing separating passengers from a bird's-eye view of Wichita.

Strings of cables, obstacle courses of steel, are constantly moving as gun turrets reveal handkerchief-sized green fields and cotton-ball clouds.

From here, 10-man bombing crews took command of the war over Europe during World War II, earning the plane the nickname "Flying Fortress."

A federal judge on Monday sentenced Daniel Collins, 18, to five years in prison for bombing a south Wichita apartment building.

Collins was convicted in January of one count of setting off explosives that damaged the Kingsborough Apartments, 2732 S. Seneca.

Two others involved in the case, Antonio Ray and Nathan Gunter, pleaded guilty to two counts of arson by means of explosives. Gunter earlier was sentenced to 60 months and Ray to 36 months.

The Mulvane City Council on Monday voted to authorize up to $10,000 for a campaign to promote Exit 33 as the best site for a casino in Sumner County.

It asked Kent Hixson, the city's administrator, to spend the money with two Wichita public relations firms, Sullivan Gang Graphics and Printing and Greteman Group. The two firms provided council members with a list of ideas to promote the site, including direct mail, a PowerPoint presentation, Web site and mailers. Hixson will look into the ideas.

The funds for the campaign will come out of the city's economic development fund, which has $200,000.

Council member Shawn Townson cast the only "No" vote.

"I am concerned about using city funds for this," Townson said.

The city could pay up to $30,000 for land in north Wichita that's currently occupied by a commercial billboard, a store sign and a perimeter fence.

Cy's TV Service Inc. would receive $3,600, or $4.10 per square foot, for the land at 2219 N. Broadway if the City Council approves the agreement at today's meeting.

The business is eligible to receive $15,000 to relocate a fence, driveway and business sign.

The city is also budgeting about $10,000 to relocate a Clear Channel billboard on the land, according to John Philbrick, real estate administrator for the city.

The city is looking to buy property from seven owners to clear space to install left-hand turn lanes and traffic signals, smooth street corners and resurface the 21st and Broadway intersection.

Today is Earth Day, designed to celebrate the planet and commit to building a healthier, cleaner world.

"Discover energy you didn't even know you had," the Earth Day Network urges in inviting people to join its effort.

Organizers probably didn't have fitness in mind when they wrote that, but we think today is the perfect opportunity for thinking about ways to "green" your exercise routine. With that in mind, here are seven ideas to get you started.

Reach Karen Shideler at 316-268-6674 or kshideler@wichitaeagle.com.

1. Unplug the elliptical. Electrical devices continue to draw power even when they're turned off. As one person, you won't make a huge impact on the environment -- or your electric bill -- by unplugging. But if everyone unplugged, the impact would be huge.

Hillary Clinton put up a new TV ad Monday arguing that she's the best candidate to handle madmen such as Osama bin Laden, and Barack Obama replied with an ad saying that he's the one to tame special interests, as the two warring Democrats rolled through Pennsylvania looking for last-minute support.

Polls showed that Clinton maintained a 5- to 7-percentage-point lead through the weekend, small enough to suggest that Obama could pull an upset when the state's voters head to the polls today.

"I'm not predicting a win," Obama told a radio interviewer. "I'm predicting it's going to be close and that we are going to do a lot better than people expect."

About half the state's 4.2 million Democrats are expected to turn out. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. EDT.

At stake in the first primary in six weeks are 158 delegates to the Democratic convention, but more important, momentum in the last big state scheduled to vote during the nominating season.

Hillary Rodham Clinton ground out a gritty victory in the Pennsylvania primary Tuesday night, defeating Barack Obama and staving off elimination in their historic race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"Some counted me out and said to drop out," the former first lady told supporters cheering her triumph in a state where she was outspent by more than two-to-one. "But the American people don't quit. And they deserve a president who doesn't quit, either."

"Because of you, the tide is turning."

Her victory, while comfortable, set up another critical test in two weeks time in Indiana. North Carolina votes the same day, and Obama already is the clear favorite in a Southern state with a large black population.

"Now it's up to you, Indiana," Obama said at a rally of his own in Evansville after Pennsylvania denied him a victory that might have made the nomination his.

Kansas demanded Tuesday that Nebraska pay more than $72 million for taking too much water from the Republican River, but Nebraska's attorney general said the figure has "no basis in reality."

Kansas officials already had proposed that Nebraska cut pumping from wells in its portion of the river basin to comply with a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decree governing water use.

The dispute could go back to the nation's high court early next year if the two states can't resolve their disagreements.

Kansas contends Nebraska's water use exceeded what was allowed for 2005 and 2006 by nearly 26 billion gallons, or nearly enough to supply a city of 100,000 for 10 years. Nebraska officials acknowledge some past overuse but contend they've taken steps to comply with the court decree.

The latest demand came from David Barfield, the chief engineer for Kansas' Division of Water Resources, in a letter to Brian Dunnigan, the acting director of Nebraska's Department of Natural Resources.

State officials say an intersection a busy highway in southwest Kansas where four teens died is within traffic safety standards.

Kansas Department of Transportation traffic engineers found the number of crashes at Stubbs Road and U.S. 160 is well below the state average. The intersection is the site of a March 27 collision that killed four Ulysses High School students and left a fifth injured.

The highway patrol said the car pulled onto U.S. 160 and was hit broadside by an eastbound 18-wheeler.

Highway officials said that a traffic-data analysis showed that the intersection's crash rate is just under 5 per 10 million entering vehicles. The statewide urban average is 10 crashes per 10 million vehicles.

A critical rate would be more than 16 per 10 million entering vehicles.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' top energy adviser said Tuesday that her administration is considering steps to block two coal-fired power plants even if legislators insist on allowing them.

Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson promised the dispute over the two plants won't end even if legislators override Sebelius' veto of a bill authorizing their construction. She has vetoed two similar bills.

Sebelius' administration has blocked the plants since October over their potential carbon dioxide emissions. Sunflower Electric Power Corp. wants to build them outside Holcomb, in Finney County.

"We're certainly going to evaluate all of our options," Parkinson said. "I assure you, there are multiple options, and if Sunflower's out there telling people that all they need to do is get this veto overridden and the plants will be built, and if they believe that, they're sadly mistaken."

Top Republican legislators accused the Democratic governor's administration of ignoring public support for Sunflower's project.

The man accused of setting a house fire that killed two men in southeast Kansas has been bound over for trial on charges of felony murder and aggravated arson.

After a preliminary hearing in Crawford County District Court Monday, Judge Donald Noland ruled that 36-year-old Andrew Morris go to trial for the Feb. 11, 2006, fire in Pittsburg. Waylon Boots of Colony, Kan., and Stephen Hayes of Peculiar, Mo., died, and a third man escaped.

Monday's testimony included a police videotape of Morris admitting involvement in the fire. Boots and Hayes were roommates and graduates of a two-year electrician program at Pittsburg State University.

Morris' public defender argued that Morris made conflicting statements and may have been "confused" by police questioning.

An arraignment has been scheduled for June 27.

An accelerant-sniffing dog is helping search for the cause of a fire that destroyed a 111-year-old church in northeast Kansas.

Eight volunteer fire companies battled the Monday morning fire that destroyed St. Ann's Catholic Church in Effingham. The cause is undetermined, but Atchison County Undersheriff Larry Myer said there have been a few recent arson fires in the area.

Officials said fire crews poured 150-000 gallons of water on the flames, draining the town's water tower and forcing several area schools to close Monday. Firefighters hauled water from other communities and even farm ponds in the area to battle the flames.

Investigators from the Kansas State Fire Marshal's office and the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms surveyed the scene Monday afternoon.

A federal judge hands a 22-year prison sentence to a Kansas City, Kan., man who arranged for numerous men to have sex with a teenage girl.

Jesse Herd III, 36, was also ordered to serve the rest of his life on supervised release, and warned that if he didn't obey the law, he'd go back to prison.

Judge Kathryn Vratil ordered Herd to pay $14,440 to cover counseling for his victim and to register as a sex offender.

Herd pleaded guilty last month to taking the girl across state lines to engage in prostitution. He admitted to arranging for the girl to have sex with adult men, as many as 20 at a time at a Kansas City, Mo., adult entertainment shop.

Herd also admitted that he had sex with the girl dozens of times.

Add machine guns, sawed-off shotguns and silencers to the items that approved gun enthusiasts can own under a bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

That is good news for dealers and other businesses, including a movie prop company in Wichita, said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Phil Journey, R-Haysville.

Gun owners under the new law would still have to undergo a federal background check, wait six months and receive authorization from their local sheriff, he said.

"What people don't understand is how comprehensive and how thorough the federal regulations are to purchase one of these firearms," he said.

The law takes effect after it is published in the statute book.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius cut money to expand Kansas University's School of Pharmacy on Monday, when she eliminated a provision in the state budget that dictated how future gambling money could be spent.

She said she supported the pharmacy school expansion and suggested lawmakers fund it in a different way.

She used a line-item veto to eliminate provisions that created three funds that future gambling money would go into. The additional funds and stipulations would "limit the flexibility of future legislatures to target gaming receipts toward the most important and pressing needs of the state," she said.

The eliminated provision included part of $50 million that would have allowed 20 new pharmacy students to start school at KU School of Medicine's Wichita building in 2009 and expanded the school's west campus in Lawrence.

Both the governor and lawmakers have supported the pharmacy school expansion, said university spokeswoman Lynn Bretz.

• Powerball: No one matched all five winning numbers of 13-19-24-33-39 and the Powerball 8 in Saturday's drawing. The Power Play was 3. The estimated prize in Wednesday's drawing is $125 million.

• Hot Lotto: No one matched all five winning numbers of 4-6-26-29-31and the Hot ball 8 in Saturday's drawing. The estimated prize in Wednesday's drawing is $2 million.

• Super Kansas Cash winning numbers: 3-4-13-21-24

Super Cashball: 19

Jackpot: $345,000

WEST SALEM, Ill. --More aftershocks shook Southern Illinois on Monday, three days after a magnitude 5.2 quake rattled nerves across the region.

The U.S. Geological Survey said 22 aftershocks had been recorded since last week's tremor that was centered near West Salem.

They included one just before 12:40 a.m. Monday that registered magnitude 4.0.

Church holds first service in Ohio bar

SIDNEY, Ohio -- Another round and amen! Beer was on tap and a mechanical bull inspired the sermon as a new church held its inaugural service in a western Ohio bar.

Children should be screened for heart problems with an electrocardiogram before getting drugs like Ritalin to treat hyperactivity and attention-deficit disorder, the American Heart Association recommended Monday.

Stimulant drugs can increase blood pressure and heart rate. For most children, that isn't a problem. But it could make those with heart conditions more vulnerable to sudden cardiac arrest -- an erratic heartbeat that causes the heart to stop pumping blood through the body -- and other heart problems.

About 2.5 million American children and 1.5 million adults take medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, according to government estimates. Stimulant drugs, like Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta, help children with ADHD stay focused and control their behavior.

The medications already carry warnings of possible heart risks in those with heart defects or other heart problems, which some critics said were driven more by concerns of overuse of the drugs than their safety.

SELMA, Ala. --John McCain has a long way to go to convince Juanita Gibson of anything.

Gibson, who's African-American, stood Monday outside the auto shop where she works wearing a "March for Jesus" T-shirt, eyeing a mostly white crowd gathering across the street for the kick-off of McCain's "It's Time for Action" tour. It will take McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, to some of America's poorer precincts in an effort to show that he's a different kind of Republican.

Gibson pondered whether McCain had taken much action to help people like her. "Not as I know of," she concluded.

That sums up the challenge facing McCain as he tries to woo independent voters and perhaps even break the Democratic stranglehold on voters in places such as southwest Alabama's rural, poor Black Belt.

Standing next to the Alabama River, the Edmund Pettus Bridge rising behind him, McCain lauded the 1965 civil rights workers who sought to cross the bridge to march to Montgomery, fighting for the right to vote and making Selma famous.

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that the Air Force is not doing enough to help in the Iraq and Afghanistan war effort, complaining that some military leaders are "stuck in old ways of doing business."

Gates said in a speech at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., that getting the military services, largely the Air Force, to send more unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to Iraq and Afghanistan has been "like pulling teeth."

While Gates' comments were directed mainly at the Air Force, his concern about faster fielding of unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft included a broader appeal to the entire military. The Army, Navy and Marine Corps have been expanding their fleets of drone aircraft.

Military takes more recruits with felonies

WASHINGTON -- Under pressure to increase their numbers, the Army and Marine Corps have sharply raised the number of recruits with felony convictions they are admitting to the services.

New tests indicate a solid link between a contaminant in the blood thinner heparin and severe allergic reactions that caused up to 81 deaths, federal health officials said Monday.

China said the contaminant could not be the "root cause" of the problem.

Chinese officials suggested at an embassy news conference that the problem with the drug could have occurred in the United States. They plan to visit a Baxter International plant in Cherry Hill, N.J., to get a better picture of how the finished product is manufactured.

Raw heparin is derived from pig intestines, often processed by small, unregistered workshops in China. The raw ingredient for Baxter's recalled heparin came from Wisconsin-based Scientific Protein Laboratories, which in turn owns a Chinese factory -- Changzhou SPL -- and buys additional raw heparin from other Chinese suppliers.

The Food and Drug Administration warned Changzhou SPL on Monday that the company does not have adequate systems for ensuring that the raw materials it uses are safe and that any impurities are removed.

Iraq's prime minister appealed Monday for support from his Arab neighbors, urging them to open embassies and forgive Iraqi debts as his government tries to crack down on Shiite militias in a crucial power struggle.

The appeal came as leaders of the biggest militia -- the Mahdi Army of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr -- warned more violence could await, even as they criticized the government for allegedly showing little interest in negotiating with them.

With tension rising, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki flew to Kuwait for a meeting today of Iraq's neighbors to discuss ways they can help Iraq's Shiite-led government as it confronts both Shiite militias and Sunni extremists including al-Qaida in Iraq.

Al-Maliki said he will be looking for tangible support, including relief from Iraq's $67 billion foreign debt -- most of it owed to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

"There are countries that support the political process and are opening embassies here. We need the others to open embassies here, too," al-Maliki told reporters.

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter wrapped up his controversial Middle East tour Monday with an upbeat account of the militant Hamas movement's position on Israel, but with no apparent progress in promoting a cease-fire or bringing the militant Islamic group into peace efforts.

Hamas turned down Carter's proposals for a one-month suspension of rocket attacks on Israel and a rapid prisoner exchange that would transfer a captive Israeli soldier to Egypt. And Israeli and U.S. officials, who objected to Carter's meetings with leaders of Hamas, said that they saw no change in the group's basic positions.

Carter, who met Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Syria and senior Hamas officials from Gaza in Egypt during a nine-day visit to the region, said they had told him they would accept a peace agreement with Israel negotiated by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas if it was endorsed in a popular referendum, even if Hamas opposed such an agreement.

The position was similar to pragmatic formulas put forward by Hamas in the past regarding a negotiated agreement with Israel.

In a speech and further remarks to reporters, Carter presented the Hamas language as an opportunity for mediators to engage the group in an effort to end the violence racking the region.

Life expectancy has long been growing steadily for most Americans. But it has not for a significant minority, according to a new study, which finds a growing disparity in mortality depending on race, income and geography.

The study, published Monday in the online journal PLoS, analyzed life expectancy in all 3,141 counties in the United States from 1961 to 1999, the latest year for which complete data has been released by the National Center for Health Statistics. Although life span has generally increased since 1961, the authors reported, it began to level off or even decline in the 1980s for 4 percent of men and 19 percent of women.

"It's very troubling that there are parts of the wealthiest country in the world, with the highest health spending in the world, where health is getting worse," said Majid Ezzati, the lead author and an associate professor of international health at Harvard. It is a phenomenon, he added, "unheard of in any other developed country."

Counties with significant declines were concentrated in Appalachia, the Southeast, Texas, the southern Midwest and along the Mississippi River. Life expectancy increases were mainly in the Northeast and on the Pacific Coast.

The researchers also compared the 2.5 percent of counties with the lowest life expectancies and the 2.5 percent with the highest. The disparity between those two groups rose to 11 years for men in 1999, from 9 years in 1983, and to 7.5 years from 6.7 in women.

NEW ORLEANS -- President Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon strongly defended free trade across North America on Monday, fending off anti-trade remarks that Democrats running for the White House are using to lure working class voters.

Opening a two-day summit with Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Bush hailed the benefits of cross-border trade despite a rising protectionist sentiment on Capitol Hill. The president said that when he and Calderon were growing up, the border was poor, but today it's prospering.

"Our trade has tripled, and our economies have grown," said Bush, who decided to host the summit in New Orleans to showcase its rebirth following Hurricane Katrina. "This has been a very positive aspect for both our countries."

Calderon was more specific, saying the North American Free Trade Agreement is misunderstood. Launched in 1994, the accord eliminated trade barriers among the United States, Mexico and Canada.

"I stress this issue because recently NAFTA has come under criticism," the Mexican president said. "And I do not believe that people are realizing how many benefits NAFTA has brought, both to the United States and to Mexico."

When it comes to cheap dates, there's a fine line between being creatively frugal and fun and being downright tacky. A couple of my favorite cheap dates are nature hikes and flea markets.

The following are a few reader-submitted tips for inexpensive dates.

• Heat up and cool down: One of my favorite cheap dates is miniature golf or bowling and then stopping to get an ice-cream cone afterward. --Kim, Michigan

• Community fun: An early-morning bike ride or hike with homemade muffins or trail mix is incredibly cheap and fun. I also love community festivals and browsing antique stores. --Constance, New Jersey

• I like to visit the zoo and pack a lunch or go the bookstore and have coffee. --Michelle S., Massachusetts

Have you been thinking about ways to go green? Turns out there's plenty of low-tech energy savings to be had around the house, and some of it is pretty old-school. Here's a mix of high-tech gadgets and low-tech solutions that won't break the bank, and will help you save power and conserve water.

1. Scotts 20-inch classic push reel mower

$124.99 at Target

Probably invented by someone who never tried to mow bahi grass, this push reel mower doesn't need gasoline -- just a lot of manpower. Hey, count it as your workout, and this little mower is cheaper than a treadmill.

2. Solio solar charger

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will sign a bill Wednesday that will authorize economic development assistance for Cessna Aircraft.

Sebelius will sign House Bill 2006 at an 11 a.m. ceremony at Cessna. The Legislature passed the bill earlier this month, giving Cessna a bond package of up to $33 million to build a plant in Wichita for its new Citation Columbus business jet.

Cessna is expected to add about 1,000 jobs with an annual payroll of $74 million.

Cessna officials said other states tried to entice the planemaker to build the plant outside Kansas.

"We think this sends a strong message to the aerospace companies here in Wichita that the state intends to remain the first choice for us (as aircraft manufacturers) when we're looking to expand," Cessna Aircraft spokesman Doug Oliver said.

Much like the talk earlier this year that Dillons would buy Homeland -- which, of course, happened in January -- customers and employees are wondering what's up at the Dillons at Harry and Edgemoor.

There's not been an official announcement to employees, but they've been hearing for some time that they're going to temporarily relocate to the former Homeland store at Harry and Georgetown.

There was some talk that the Dillons space would be turned into the chain's Marketplace concept, but that doesn't look to be the case.

More likely, the store will be remodeled and expanded, perhaps to the west where some apartments used to be.

The remodeling, which some employees expected to start late last year, may not begin until late this year.

This isn't the best time to go looking for smiles in the Royals' clubhouse. The sting of that lost weekend in Oakland lingers even as they prepare to open a six-game home stand tonight with the first of three games against Cleveland.

Still, it's worth noting that Zack Greinke seems to be having more fun than ever. More fun, certainly, than he ever believed he could have in the big leagues.

There is personal success on the mound, yes. Greinke is 3-0 with a 1.24 ERA in four starts despite his own disappointment in Oakland; he saw a 4-0 lead Saturday turn into a no-decision.

But it's more than that.

Greinke finds himself enjoying the big-league lifestyle, the camaraderie of the clubhouse and even the ebb-and-flow work schedule of a starting pitcher.

Bad, good and waiting.

That sums up the news on what's happening with Kansas basketball and the guard position after Monday's developments.

For starters, the bad news isn't all that bad for the Jayhawks. Sophomore Sherron Collins underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Monday morning.

"He has plenty of time to heal," KU coach Bill Self said.

The good news for the Jayhawks is that Tyshawn Taylor, who recently obtained a release from the national letter he signed with Marquette, will visit KU on Wednesday.

Endless days are nothing unusual for NFL teams as they prepare for the draft. Even more overtime is the norm for a team like the Chiefs, who have a needs list so long they would have trouble fielding a team if they had to play a game today.

"We've gone deeper than we have the previous two years," said Bill Kuharich, the Chiefs' vice president for player personnel. "We've done 321 players. We've spent more time on each player. We've gone from 8 a.m. until 10 (p.m.) for 14 straight days. We've spent more time in-depth on players because of the quality of this draft.

"We didn't do as many players last year. The most I've ever done for one draft is 321 players in 20-plus years of doing this. But there are good reasons we took so much time on each particular player."

As much attention as there might be on the Chiefs' first pick, which is fifth overall, they can't afford for this to be a one-player draft. After finishing a their 4-12 season with nine straight losses, the Chiefs gutted their roster, dumping several veteran players they deemed part of the problem and not part of the solution.

The result is a team that can use a lot of help in a lot of places. The Chiefs will soon need a boxcar to carry all of their rookie offensive linemen. They also must have cornerbacks, wide receivers, a quarterback and a kick returner.

A graphic accompanying an article on Sunday's front page about the decline of greater prairie chickens in the Flint Hills showed the overall trend for prairie chickens in Kansas.

An article on page 1B Monday incorrectly identified the race/ethnicity of J.C. Delamore, the Kansas Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's 2008 Little Boy of the Year. He is white; not Hispanic.

Also, the society raised $383,000 through the Man and Woman of the Year fundraising campaign. It raised $1.2 million last year for research and patient support programs.

Celebrate Earth Day today with this review of two planet-friendly books.

'MySpace/OurPlanet: Change Is Possible'

By Jeca Taudte (HarperTeen, $12.99), ages 13 and older

Shorten your shower, ride the bus, watch sporting events in a group.

Here's how those suggestions from the author would improve the health of the planet:

PHOTOGRAPHER JOEL SARTORE AND READERS OFFER TIPS ON GETTING THE BEST PHOTO POSSIBLE

With digital photos, blogs, YouTube and other ways to make sharing your family photos so quick and simple, maybe it's time to pause and take inventory of how you're snapping those pictures.

In the new book "Photographing Your Family" by Joel Sartore with John Healey (National Geographic Society, $24.95), Sartore, the award-winning National Geographic (and former Wichita Eagle) photographer and father of three shares simple tips and examples you can apply in your household.

Among them, he writes:

• "I usually keep several cameras ready around the house so I can capture spontaneous moments easily."

My daughter and I decided to take advantage of a recent mild afternoon to host a girls' tea party. Rather than making it a fussy, over-the-top girly affair, we relied on ingredients from the store and around the house to keep the work at a minimum and the fun (and by fun, we mean girl talk) at a maximum.

To prepare for the party and to give it a few special details, we embroidered our own napkins, made daisy wreaths to wear and whipped up some petits fours and flower-shaped cookies.

Tailor your tea party to the amount of time and effort you have to put into it. For a fun afternoon, start the party by inviting the children to help make the cookies and cakes.

We like more traditional teas -- served English-style, with warm milk -- but you could offer different flavored teas to your guests (decaf is available for most) or serve lemonade in your mismatched tea cups.

Embroidered napkins

I went to the Sedgwick County Zoo last week, to help turn packs of wild children loose on unsuspecting caged animals. I chaperone class field trips whenever I can -- because volunteering is a nice thing to do, but also because going to the zoo with youngsters is more than a field trip.

It's a trip.

My group this time included six second-graders -- my son, Jack; two other boys; and three girls.

Our adventure began even before we passed through the front gates. Jogging toward the entrance, Evie spotted something on the ground -- bright! green! goose poop! --and screamed deliriously.

"Ahhhhhhh! Poooop!" she half-shrieked, half-laughed, clutching her pal Emma. "Loooook! Pooooop!"