Thursday news digest

Not a lot of major news today, and I'm worn out after yesterday's diatribe on Kevin Weiberg and the joke that is the Big 12 conference office in Dallas. So with no further ado...

Congrats to new basketball coach Frank Martin on the birth of a new baby girl. Exciting time for coach Martin, between the new baby son and his first chance at a head coaching job.

Martin also has other things on his mind, some involving work. To absolutely nobody's surprise, Jason Bennett has asked for a release from his scholarship so he can transfer. This story says there's been no word on whether he'll be released. What?! Why the hell wouldn't we release him? He was a less-than-average freshman post player, whose coach left, who's homesick, and who apparently has pretty good family reasons to go home (sick family members). I see absolutely no reason why Tim Weiser and Martin won't release him, so his scholarship can be put to better use.

Finally, one of the men involved in last fall's unfortunate CatTracker bus incident in Lawrence has made a miraculous recovery and is looking to get back into his old career...sportswriting. It's amazing enough that Chris Orr lived through this accident, let alone that he's probably going to be able to resume a fairly normal life. Best of luck, Chris.

It's unfortunate things like this happen, but it would be more unfortunate if we didn't learn from it. Be safe on the roadways, folks.