The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 1

'KANSAS cilY EDITION WWWKANSASC1TYCOM FBStfB TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18 2007 LOCAL Mayor Funkhouser unburdens himself over Semler affair STEVE PENN Bl RACE ON IN WYCO Cordish partners with track itwas in the process of 'determining its tax liability stock took a The subprlme mortgage iogdiridetestoiiwestbirL lender's stock 1 The Kansas City-based sub-phimmets after It stops prime mortgage lender said its dividend payments inability to pay the dividend -v would cost the company its By dan mapgoues gtatus as a real estate invest- Interest rates Kansasdtyxom for the In die latest sign of mount- could lead to its delisting by jng woes dial threaten its surv the New York Stock Exchange following the announcement Shares tumbled neariy20 per- centin theevening to $6J0 NovaStar has beep scram vival NovaStar -Financial The struggling company ture to' have significant ad bling to surmount the turmoil about a fifth of ks yalueMon- said thatit expectedthe verae impact" on its third- day after deciding to stop pay- change in its corporate struc- uarter resultsi aldmugh it SEE NOVASTAR I AS MV'- FOREST DEPLETION Production of pianos guitars arid bowed instruments suffers v- 5 Tteixis ParalIMPKwy rA'iTvf'-' -l dfc -v- They would bo the first to ontor tho field to develop and rune state-owned facility r- NtbraskdAcr' By WCK ALM f- FurnftOr ThKanai City Star yv ansas Speedway' and EX the Cordish Cft 3seek to jpintjdevd- op and manage a state-owned Ajp-wo jQvij-- casino on the speedway grounds track president Jeff PQSIBI Boer said Monday CASINO TYoull-see our names on a proposal nextweek" Boeiger jP 1 upcoming first: lon eric craven i the kansascttystar deadline mir casino proposals-: to te filed with the Unified Govemment of Wyandotte County Starting line A few details of tho Speedway-Cordish casino plan: I First big -name group to confirm It will make a Md I She east pf Speedway likely to be used' I Will Include entertainment linked to the track Boerger declined to disclose details of the plan with Cordish which developed two Hard Rock resort casinos 'in south Florida owned by the Seminole tribe Cordish also is' developing the Power Light entertainment district indowntown Kansas City 1 1 SEE WYANPOTTE A9 PHOTOS BY GEN YAMASUCNI ITHt KANSAS CITV STAR Vladimir Logachev workad on tha brldga of an Instrument recently at ICC Strings In Mania The bast tone -j woods am becoming unavailable or prohibitively expensive as tha world's forests succumb to overharvastlng Illegal logging and dilution i THE NOMINEE -r7T5 "'Sr' -I -s '-viJrl Iraq wants to boot US Tlw prices arerlslng and ths tom Is conn promised by scarcity of product eccording to players lyy By BILL GRAHAM 1 1 Th Kansas oty Star Behind a soaring notes or a guitar's chime are fine woods vibrating along with plucked or bowed strings Orchestras bands 'and parlor pickers for two centurks have en- a- RON EDMONDS I THE ASSOCIATED PRESS President Bush's choice for attorney general Michael Mukasey counts among his allies a Democratic senator a -llberal group and lawyers critical of tha administration -And soma conservatives were skeptical about Mukasey whom Bush Introduced Monday News and a profile A7 joyed affordable instruments made from the finest tone woods cutfiomcd-grpwthftHssts Nomore The best tone woods are be- coming unarailaUe Or prohibitively etqiensive as the worid's forests succumb to overharvest-jng illegal logging and pollution people realize foie situation with said Anton'' Krutz a vkdin maker at KC Strings in Merriam We give tours of our shop and I find even advanced players are not cogni- ant of this" The instrument business will adapt with other woods or syn- thetes and survive experts said But as fine woods for clarinets guitars and violin-bows dwindle price' increases could make fine instruments unaffordable for many musicians Bluegrass guitarist Kenny Preston of Kansas City North would love to own an acoustic guitar with Brazilian rosewood sides and back a wood beloved for its beauty ate the rich bass and tee- ble tones it produces been blessed with that much money" Preston said Shootings by security contractor test limits of now government's powar By LEILA FAOEL JOSEPH NEFF and HUSSEIN KAOHIM McOatchy Newspapers BAGHOAD Iraqi authorities on Monday threatened to revoke the license of a private US company that guards top American officials after shots fired from a diplo-malic convoy killed 7r- T'l eigin Iraqis Whether the Iraqi In- terior Ministry will be able to enforce its decision to ban Blackwater USA from operating in Iraq i likely to be a major test between the gov- -eminent of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the United States Blackwater founded by a major Republican Party benefactor is among the most prominent and controversial of dozens of companies that provide se- curity to both govern ment and private individuals in Iraq In 2003 the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority exempted the companies and their employees from prosecution under Iraqi law but SEE IRAQ AS sidKth estar Clinton on health Hey kids: caretletmetry again Wafehyoursfep In unveiling her plan for iinhfrrrrii mimnf Some children have found SKoiStonSS lessons learned A2 Cmcfe escalators cforft A8 -1- Qsenies maker ypBto settles lawsuit ifTx- The settlement resolves a' V'v'V dispute between KC-based 1 A NuTec and pet fet -MS numare uhr KlamaH fha owners who blamed the Musical Instruments use only a tiny fraction of the worlds wood products SEE WOOD AS treats for the deaths or injuries of their dogs 1 D7 UraTCMI HnIKTIIM BUSINESS D1 CLASSIFIED FI COMICS E4-S 1 DEATHS BB-7 I FYI El LOCAL Bl LOTTERIES B2 MOVES E7 I OPINION BS-10 MIZZLES' E2ESFZ SPORTS DAKV a I TV Tom6rrowTn' I A' I'-.