News

NASA’s Orion capsule reached the moon Monday, whipping around the far side and buzzing the lunar surface on its way to a record-breaking orbit with test dummies sitting in for astronauts. It’s the first time a capsule has visited the moon since NASA’s Apollo program 50 years ago, and represents a huge milestone in the $4.1 billion test flight that began last Wednesday.

Big rail unions split on contract with engineers ratifying Railroad engineers accepted their deal with the railroads that will deliver 24% raises but conductors rejected theirs, threatening the health of the economy just before the holidays and casting more doubt on whether the industry will be able to resolve the labor dispute before next month’s deadline without the help of Congress. Even the threat of a work stoppage could tangle the nation’s supply chain as railroads freeze shipments of chemicals and other goods that could create hazards if disrupted midway to their destination.

Volunteers from the University of Saint Mary will package over 20,000 meals on Dec. 3 during its annual Feed the Need event.

A former warden of a detention facility in Leavenworth has pleaded guilty to tax evasion, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.

• The Leavenworth City Commission will meet at 7 p.m. today at Leavenworth City Hall, 100 N.

As bullets tore through a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing five people and wounding many more, one patron who had been partying moments before rushed into action, grabbing a handgun from the suspect, hitting him with it and pinning him down until police arrived just minutes later.

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said his panel is reviewing “serious allegations” in a report that a former anti-abortion leader knew in advance the outcome of a 2014 Supreme Court case involving health care coverage of contraception.

When the power is out, as it so often is, the high-rise apartment overlooking Ukraine’s war-torn capital feels like a deathtrap. No lights, no water, no way to cook food. And the risk of not being able to escape from the 21st floor in time should a Russian missile strike. Even when electricity comes back, it’s never on for long.