Kansas

Workers searching through the site of a Kansas City restaurant destroyed in a gas explosion and fire have recovered the remains of one person, officials said Wednesday. It was too soon to know the sex of the person, Mayor Sly James said at a news conference. Earlier, officials had told reporters that they were looking for a missing female worker at JJ's restaurant, but added they couldn't be sure that they had accounted for every other person in the restaurant. At least seven people who were injured in the explosion at JJ's restaurant remained hospitalized Wednesday, including two listed in critical condition.

An apparent natural gas explosion and fire at a Kansas City, Mo., restaurant and wine bar Tuesday evening left at least seven people hurt, police said. The blast happened just outside the Country Club Plaza, a posh Kansas City shopping district, at JJ's Restaurant, according to witness and local media reports. Seven or eight injured people were taken to hospitals, police Sgt. Tony Sanders told the Associated Press. Police spokeswoman Rhonda Flores said an initial call for three ambulances had been increased to 10. The blast apparently was triggered by a car crash, which Flores said appeared to be an accident.  "I was sitting in my living room folding laundry, and felt in my chest -- and heard -- an explosion," said Jamie Lawless, who lives about two blocks from JJ's, a popular wine bar. "I started freaking out, and I was looking around, and then I saw other people walking outside.

At least 16 people were hurt and a popular wine bar was destroyed by an apparent natural gas explosion and ensuing fire at an upscale shopping district in Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday evening. Residents reported smelling natural gas and seeing utility crews in the area before the conflagration. A strong scent of gas hung in the air afterward. “Early indications are that a contractor doing underground work struck a natural gas line, but the investigation continues,” Missouri Gas Energy, a natural-gas provider, said in a statement.

General Motors will invest $600 million in its Fairfax Assembly and Stamping Plant in Kansas City, Kan., to build a new paint facility and install a huge machine that will take raw metal and stamp structural reinforcements for vehicle body frames. The automaker said it is one of largest single investments in a factory that it has made. GM produces mid- and full-size sedans at the factory including the Chevrolet Malibu and Buick LaCrosse. The investment represents the largest single project for the $1.5 billion GM said it plans to spend on factories in North America this year.

The Cleveland Browns are nearing a deal with Oregon Coach Chip Kelly to be their next coach, a person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press. The Browns interviewed Kelly on Friday and he was also supposed to meet with Philadelphia. However, a person familiar with the interviews but not authorized to discuss them publicly says the Eagles are "heading in another direction" because Kelly is nearing a deal with Cleveland. Kelly, 49, who turned down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year, said Thursday night after Oregon's Fiesta Bowl win over Kansas State that he wanted to get the interview process over quickly.

Andy Reid is on the verge of becoming the new coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, according to an ESPN report citing unnamed league sources. The report said there are still minor details to work out but that Reid and Chiefs officials met for nine hours Wednesday at a private airport in the Philadelphia area and that “the major issues have been discussed and agreed upon.” Reid had been scheduled to talk to the Arizona Cardinals about their coaching...

Without a doubt, Oregon is one of the most exciting college football teams to watch. And when it takes on Collin Klein -- who finished third for the Heisman Trophy -- and Kansas State at the Fiesta Bowl tonight, the game might be the best of this season's bowl series matchups, according to Times college football columnist Chris Dufresne. "This would have been the national title game at 5 p.m. on Nov. 17 -- unfortunately, after 5 p.m. both these teams lost on the same day and they kind of got pushed into this NCAA consolation game," Dufresne said.  Dufresne joined USC writer Gary Klein and UCLA writer Chris Foster in a Google+ hangout in the Sports Now blog earlier today, discussing the Fiesta Bowl matchup, Oregon Coach Chip Kelly's potential NFL future and rumors that UCLA's Jim Mora could be headed to the San Diego Chargers.

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Chip Kelly brought up-tempo offense to Oregon football, but now it might be time to implement the “hurry-up” to his career. If Thursday was Kelly's last game as head coach, well, it was a blur. These four years passed as quickly as his team played. It was fitting that Oregon's 35-17 Fiesta Bowl win over Kansas State at University of Phoenix Stadium started with De'Anthony Thomas' 94-yard kickoff return for touchdown. “My role in this game was to be a momentum-builder and a game-changer,” Thomas, the speedy game-changer star of last year's Rose Bowl victory, said.

— The bumper sticker for this year's Fiesta Bowl could be: "They have only themselves to blame. " Kansas State (11-1) and Oregon (11-1), playing Thursday night, would be playing for the national title had the season ended the afternoon of Nov. 17. The schools went into that evening ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series standings with a Dennis Rodman-like box-out on Notre Dame and Alabama. What could go wrong? Top-ranked Kansas State was playing at Baylor (4-5)

Quarterback Johnny Manziel, the frenetic playmaker who led Texas A&M to an upset of then-No. 1 Alabama, became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder from Kerrville, Texas, was honored with the coveted award Saturday night at the Best Buy Theater in New York. The only other Texas A&M player to win the Heisman Trophy was running back John David Crow in 1957. Previously, the closest a freshman came to winning the award was Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson in 2004, when he finished second by USC quarterback Matt Leinart.