Kansas City Royals rookie MJ Melendez put his team ahead on the first swing of the game, but a conga line of Detroit Tigers relief pitchers held the Royals’ offense scoreless for the rest of the night.

Dear Annie: My neighbor, who has become one of my very best friends, just moved to a city four hours away. I’m devastated. We used to meet up nearly every night for a cocktail on the porch or a walk around the neighborhood. We both promised to keep in close touch, but I have barely heard from her at all in the month that she has been gone. I feel like I have been tossed aside, that she was only friends with me out of convenience. I’m not sure what to do. -- Left Alone Dear Left Alone: That’s lovely that you live in such a neighborly community! Do you have other neighbors you get along with? Perhaps you could get to know them better by bringing over baked goods or organizing a block party.

Another tournament, another top performance for the Independence High School girls’ golf team as the Lady Bulldogs finished first as a squad at Pittsburg on Tuesday, September 27. IHS blew away the competition with a total score of 397, well ahead of second place Caney with 411. Next up was Labette Co. in third (443), host Pittsburg in fourth (447), Chanute in fifth (451) and Anderson Co. in sixth (470).

(TNS) MIAMI — Tropical Storm Ian is causing “catastrophic flooding” over east-central Florida Thursday morning as it treks closer to the Atlantic, forecasters said. Once it’s in the Atlantic, Ian is forecast to near hurricane strength before approaching South Carolina.

(TNS) VENICE, Fla. — The beach front town of Venice was deserted Wednesday morning as Ian stalked the Gulf coast and 60 mph gusts blowing sheets of rain raked streets strewn with tree branches.

(TNS) Most of Cuba’s 11 million people remained without electricity on Wednesday, after the failure of one of the country’s main power plants Tuesday afternoon brought down the entire electrical grid.

In a showdown of previously undefeated Southeast Kansas League leaders, Independence High School soccer welcomed Pittsburg to town on Tuesday, September 27. And what looked to be a defensive chess match in the early going soon turned into a blowout for the Bulldogs as they tallied seven scores in a 12-minute span midway through the first half before coasting to the 8-0 victory.

In the southwest end zone at Lucas Oil Stadium, a football stuck in the hands of rookie tight end Jelani Woods, a touchdown that supplied the Indianapolis Colts a threepoint lead. Some 50 yards away, as Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes glanced at the clock from the visiting sideline, the news grew worse.

We regularly encounter stories of Americans struggling to stay financially afloat, buffeted by the day’s economic challenges. So many focus on a woman who is identified a quarter of the way in as a “single mother.” She’s often portrayed facing impossible demands of holding a paying job while caring for the young ones.

This week, Italy prepared to welcome a new prime minister: 45-yearold Giorgia Meloni, leader of the right-wing Brothers of Italy party since 2014. Meloni is a populist conservative on issues ranging from marriage to immigration; she is a nationalist by philosophy and combatively passionate by temperament. A clip of a speech she gave at the World Congress of Families in 2019 has now gone viral with American conservatives; she explained, “Why is the family an enemy? Why is the family so frightening? There is a single answer to all these questions. Because it defines us. Because it is our identity. Because everything that defines us is now an enemy for those who would like us to no longer have an identity and to simply be perfect consumer slaves. And so they attack national identity, they attack religious identity, they attack gender identity, they attack family identity... We will defend God, country and family.”