Police plan sobriety check

The Lawrence Police Department will conduct a sobriety checkpoint tonight.

Police are not announcing the time or location of the checkpoint.

Drivers who are found to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs will be arrested. Police also will check for other violations.

Bounty hunter pleads no contest to burglary

One of two bounty hunters charged with kidnapping and burglary pleaded no contest Thursday during a hearing in Douglas County District Court.

Michael L. Johnson, 34, Kansas City, Mo., was scheduled to be tried Monday on two counts of kidnapping, two counts of aggravated burglary and one count of false impersonation of a police officer.

Appearing Thursday before Judge Michael Malone, Johnson instead pleaded no contest to one count each of attempted aggravated burglary and making a criminal threat. Maximum sentence for each conviction is 34 months in prison. He could receive probation.

Sentencing is set for 4:30 p.m. Sept. 19.

A second suspect, Timothy J. James, 40, Lawrence, is scheduled to be tried Sept. 16 on kidnapping and burglary charges.

Johnson and James were accused of using deception and posing as police officers during a Jan. 15, 2001, incident at an eastern Lawrence residence.

Victim fights off robbers

A Lawrence man was beaten Tuesday morning when three men tried to rob him, Lawrence Police said.

The victim was walking about 4 a.m. in the 1200 block of Tennessee Street when the suspects attacked him and tried to take his wallet, according to a police report.

The victim fought off the would-be robbers and kept his wallet, the report said. He went to a nearby residence and called a friend. He was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital and treated for a dislocated jaw and cuts, the report said. Police were then called to the hospital.

No arrests have been made.

Garage sale to benefit KU’s Habitat chapter

Kansas University’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity will raise money for house-building at a garage sale Saturday and Sunday.

The sale, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, is at the Lawrence Habitat for Humanity Office at 412 E. Ninth St.

Donations also will be accepted at the garage sale.

KU professor to discuss Mideast politics, trip

A Kansas University professor will speak Tuesday about her recent trip to the Middle East.

Deborah Gerner, professor of political science, will speak at 7:30 p.m. at Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vt.

She spent four weeks this summer in Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza. Two of those weeks were spent with the International Quaker Working Party on the Israel-Palestine Conflict, a group studying breakdowns in the region’s peace process.

The free event is open to the public.

American Indian sovereignty conference in Topeka

Topeka  The Kansas Office of Native American Affairs will play host to a national conference on issues involving tribal sovereignty, self-sufficiency, cultural preservation and economic development.

The conference will be Saturday through Wednesday at the Capitol Plaza Hotel, 1717 S.W. Topeka Blvd., Topeka.