Military

Soldiers’ families invited to meet with Rep. Moore

The families of military service members are invited to a public meeting with U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, R-Kan., to discuss ways to support troops and maintain strong, motivated armed forces.

“I want to learn all I can about the challenges our troops and their families are facing so we can provide them with the resources they need to accomplish their missions,” Moore said.

The meeting will be from 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Dwight Cowles American Legion Post 370, 7500 W. 75th St., Overland Park.

Moore currently is trying to increase the minimum survivor benefit plan annuity for surviving spouses of service members who are age 62 and older. The bill increases the military death gratuity from $12,000 to $100,000 and would be applied retroactively to all servicemen and women on active duty who have died since Sept. 11, 2001.

Olathe

MidAmerica Nazarene names new president

MidAmerica Nazarene University has picked a seminary professor to lead the suburban Kansas City school.

Edwin H. Robinson, 53, accepted the job this week. He will take over July 1 for retiring president Richard Spindle.

Robinson said he didn’t know he was being considered until he got a call Saturday from Ray Cook, chairman of the MidAmerica Board of Trustees. He accepted on Tuesday.

He said one of the challenges would be keeping a lid on the cost of a private higher education.

Robinson, who holds a doctorate in educational studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., will be leaving a job as director of the Master of Arts in Christian Education program at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo. He also is minister of the chapel at the school.

Kansas City, Mo.

Comic strip pays tribute to Hunter S. Thompson

“Doonesbury,” with a longtime character modeled on “gonzo journalist” Hunter S. Thompson, took note of the writer’s suicide with a comic strip this week that had the Thompson-like figure’s head exploding.

Thompson shot himself in the head last month at 67.

In the installment that ran Tuesday, Uncle Duke, the Thompson-like character, is seen checking his e-mail. He reads that Thompson is dead, and his head explodes with a “Ka-Boom!” His head reappears in the next frame as he says, “That can’t be right. Better Google it.” That is followed by another “Ka-Boom!”

Newspapers from time to time have pulled “Doonesbury” strips they deemed offensive. But the strip’s distributor said Wednesday that it had received only two complaints and no reports that any of the 1,400 newspapers that carry “Doonesbury” had pulled it.

An e-mail sent to “Doonesbury” creator Garry Trudeau’s Web site by The Associated Press was not immediately returned.

Jefferson City, Mo.

Senate passes bill limiting lawsuits

Senators late Wednesday passed legislation that would limit the money victims could win in medical malpractice cases while imposing new restrictions on all injury lawsuits.

The 22-9 party-line vote generally marked a victory for Republican Gov. Matt Blunt, the GOP-led Legislature and business and medical groups pushing similar proposals for several years.

Legislative leaders are expected to appoint a negotiating committee to reconcile differences between the Senate bill and a version passed last month by the House.

“Our goal should be to strike a fair balance, so plaintiffs and defendants both have a chance for their day in court,” said Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons, R-Kirkwood.