AP-AM Prep-Kickers

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

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MORNING PREP - MORNING PREP - MORNING PREP - MORNING PREP

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! KICKERS !

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ARMY AMPUTEE MARATHONER

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Edward Lychik plans to be running in next week's Boston Marathon. No one is more amazed than his physical therapist. Lychik is an Army combat veteran, who lost his left leg in Afghanistan. But the 26-plus mile marathon is just the beginning for the Washington state vet. He tells the News Tribune his next goal is to run a 100-mile ultra-marathon. Lychik says he views his prosthetic leg as a tool to inspire others.

COUNTRY CLUB STENCH

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (AP) — The funk at a defunct golf course is getting the owner in legal trouble. People have been complaining about the stink rising from the now closed Escondido Country Club in San Diego County. The owner is being cited for creating a public nuisance because of the use of chicken poop as fertilizer. Club owner Stuck in the Rough LLC faces fines of $10,000 a day. An attorney for the owner tells U-T San Diego the fertilizer was legal to use and was removed after the complaints.

STOLEN CAR-COURT DATE

SONORA, Calif. (AP) — Next time he might want to take a bus. Police in Sonora, California, charge James Manning stole a car so he could make a court appearance. Police got a call from an auto dealership in Redding reporting that a car was stolen. GPS tracking traced it to a parking spot in front of a county courthouse. Manning and his wife were busted on suspicion of vehicle theft and possession of a controlled substance. Manning's wife, Teresa Castillo, told officers her husband had bought the car for $200 so they could drive to his court date.

FIRE DEPARTMENT-LOST KEYS

PHOENIX (AP) — You know what a hassle it can be when you lose you keys. Now, imagine losing more than 800 of them. The Phoenix Fire Department says it can't account for hundreds of keys for lock boxes. Those keys allow firefighters responding to alarms to enter thousands of businesses and apartment complexes. Deputy Chief David Carter blames poor record keeping over the past 15 years for the missing 850 keys. But he says there's no indication they have been used in crimes. Carter adds the department will now replace the locks on 9,000 lock boxes.

WATER TOWER DESIGN

JACKSON, Mich. (AP) — Super lame. That's what Del and Stephanie Belcher are calling a water tower design in Jackson, Michigan. They've created a Facebook page attacking the proposed tower. The design features "JACKSON" in capital letters with "Founded 1829" underneath the name of the city. The city council last week voted 4-2 in favor of the $14,000 design for two city water towers. But the super lame Facebook page is getting some results. The council is set to debate other design options today. One council member tells the Jackson Citizen Patriot it's the "ugliest $14,000 design" he's ever seen.

BAKER THERMOMETER

BAKER, Calif. (AP) — How hot is it? Tourists in Death Valley should know again soon. A giant thermometer along I-15 is getting a makeover. The family of the late Willis Herron is refurbishing the roadside attraction. He was the original owner of the giant thermometer in the desert between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The family tells the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin it should be back in operation this year. It's 134 feet high. That's because of the 134-degree temperature record set in Death Valley in 1913.