Public hearing scheduled for 2003 city budget

A public hearing on the city’s 2003 budget will be conducted Tuesday evening during the City Commission’s regularly scheduled meeting.

State statutes mandate the budget be adopted by Aug. 25.

This last opportunity for public comment comes after months of input by the community, city commissioners and city staff.

Total expenditures for the 14 funds that make up the city’s 2003 operating budget proposal are budgeted at $107,824,455. Revenue to fund the budget is generated through user fees and the collection of property tax and sales tax and other miscellaneous revenue.

The city manager’s recommended budget is available online at www.lawrenceks.org/budgetrecommended and at the reference desk of the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt.

The commission meets at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.

Seniors should take hot-weather precautions

Douglas County Senior Services wants to remind all seniors that even a few hours spent in the heat each day can be harmful. As temperatures increase, so does the risk of heat-related illness among the elderly.

DCSS operates six meal sites in Douglas County as a way to beat the heat. The Lawrence Senior Center, 745 Vt., is also open to seniors from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The center has fans available for seniors in need.

Lawrence resident arrested after leading police on chase

Police on Friday arrested a 29-year-old Lawrence man who led officers on a 30-minute chase through portions of Douglas and Leavenworth counties.

About 7:13 p.m., an officer attempted to stop a pickup truck in the 1500 block of Connecticut that didn’t have working turn signals or brake lights, Lawrence Police Sgt. Paul Fellers said. The truck obeying the speed limit and stopping at stop signs led police east out of town on 15th Street, into the edge of Eudora and north into Leavenworth County, where it then turned west on U.S. Highway 24-40 and headed back to Lawrence, Fellers said.

During the approximately 20-mile pursuit, which involved five police patrol cars, an officer saw the man throw a baggy out the window, Fellers said.

Officers waiting at the Douglas-Leavenworth county line placed spikes in the roadway. The man pulled into the Paradise Saloon and was arrested without incident, Fellers said.

He was being held Saturday night in the Douglas County Jail on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, fleeing and eluding a law enforcement officer, no proof of insurance and driving with a suspended license.