Strong Storms Batter Plains, Head Into Midwest

Some places in Oklahoma still don't have full power back on after the recent ice storm. The wind is gusting at more than 30 miles per hour, causing whiteout conditions in some areas. In a strange twist, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported that a multi-vehicle pileup included an ambulance with victims from a prior accident.

A strong snowstorm that cut visibility nearly to zero in some places as it rolled across the Plains on Saturday caused numerous vehicle pileups and forced authorities to close portions of several major highways.

Dozens of vehicles were involved in a pileup on Interstate 29 in western Missouri, authorities said. Sections of some Oklahoma highways were closed because of whiteout conditions.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said preliminary reports indicated 20 to 40 vehicles, including three tractor-trailer rigs, were involved in the early afternoon chain-reaction wreck on Interstate 29 at St. Joseph.

Multiple ambulances were sent to the scene but there was no immediate indication how many people were injured or if there were any fatalities. Heartland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph said it was treating several people from the accident though none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.

The patrol closed about 100 miles of I-29 from Dearborn, which is between Kansas City and St. Joseph, to the Iowa state line. The storm blew locally heavy snow across Oklahoma, eastern Kansas and northwestern Missouri, plus parts of Nebraska and Iowa.

Source: foxnews.com

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Google This: Wiki Slipped a Mickey in COO's Criminal Past

As web powerhouse Google launches its own encyclopedia, "knol," the Wikimedia Foundation is batting clean-up after revelations about its recent chief operating officer, Carolyn Bothwell Doran. Doran, now in jail in Virginia for prior offenses, managed more than $1 million in donations to the parent organization of Wikipedia.

From a hit-and-run auto accident to shooting a boyfriend to kiting checks, Doran had a long history of trouble with the law. How she wound up as COO for Wikimedia is a cautionary tale. It's also an embarrassment for an internet resource founded to provide reference and information.

Already battling criticism over sometimes-chaotic Wiki entries, inaccurate information, and turf warfare among contributors, the scrappy company runs primarily through the services of volunteers. Faced with a need for cash, Wiki has been running a donations drive while keeping a wary eye on Google's recently-announced plans for a competitive reference resource.

The foundation that runs — and accepts donations for — the online encyclopedia Wikipedia neglected to do a basic background check before hiring a chief operating officer who had been convicted of theft, drunken driving and fleeing a car accident.

Before she left in July, Carolyn Bothwell Doran, 45, had moved up from a part-time bookkeeper for the Wikimedia Foundation and spent six months as chief operating officer, responsible for personnel and financial management.

In March, she signed the small nonprofit's tax return, which listed more than $1.3 million in donations.

At the time, she was on probation for a 2004 hit-and-run accident in Virginia that had landed her seven months in prison.

Doran had multiple drunken-driving convictions, and records show earlier run-ins for theft, writing bad checks and wounding her boyfriend with a gunshot to the chest.

Source: foxnews.com