Transient found unconscious on sidewalk late Wednesday

A man found unconscious Wednesday night on a Lawrence sidewalk was in fair condition Thursday afternoon at Kansas University Medical Center, Kansas City, Kan.

Lawrence Police investigating the circumstances of the incident were waiting Thursday until the 29-year-old victim was able to be interviewed. Police said the victim is a transient.

A man and a woman driving by the 900 block of Tennessee Street discovered the man about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday and called police. Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical ambulance took him to Lawrence Memorial Hospital. He was then transferred to the Med Center.

A medical examination revealed injuries that were not consistent with a fall, police said. No other information was released.

Police probe embezzlement from convenience store

More than $24,200 and 300 Kansas Lottery tickets were allegedly taken during a period of several months from a Lawrence convenience store.

Lawrence Police are investigating an embezzlement at Kwik Shop Inc., 1420 Kasold Drive. Police were notified Wednesday after a store audit revealed discrepancies, Sgt. Mike Pattrick said.

A man who once worked at the store has been interviewed, but no arrests have been made, Pattrick said.

An investigation is continuing. Police did not say what type of lottery tickets were taken.

A spokesman for Kwik Trip’s corporate office in Hutchinson declined to comment on the case.

Lawrence commuters narrowly avoid accident

A van full of Lawrence commuters narrowly avoided injury Thursday morning in an accident on Kansas Highway 10.

Six Lawrence area residents who work at Quintiles in Kansas City, Mo., and ride to work together in a vanpool each morning were eastbound on K-10 about 7:40 a.m. Thursday, when a sport utility vehicle in the passing lane brushed up against the side of their van, said Thomas Tandy, van driver.

The van was unaffected, but the SUV overcorrected, rolled through the center median and ended up blocking a lane of westbound traffic.

Tandy said he pulled over and ran to assist the man and woman in the SUV, who both got out of their vehicle without apparent injuries.

Tandy and another motorist who stopped to assist used a fire extinguisher to put out a small blaze in the SUV’s engine compartment.

KU moot court regionals focus on cyberterrorism

Cyberterrorism will be the topic for a moot court competition this weekend at Kansas University.

The School of Law is hosting the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Midwest Regional Competition. Students from about 10 law schools will compete.

Preliminary rounds begin at 6:30 p.m. today and will continue at 8:30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday in Joseph R. Pearson Hall. Semifinals are at 5 p.m. Saturday in Joseph R. Pearson Hall, and finals will be at 10 a.m. Sunday in Green Hall.

Topics will include freedom of expression on the Internet, computer hacking and the legality of luring an alleged cyberterrorist from one state into another to prosecute him.

The event is open to the public.

Fire destroys house in Franklin County

Ottawa  Two township fire departments Thursday morning battled a fire that destroyed a house eight miles east of Ottawa.

No one was injured in the blaze. The occupants of the house, Alan and Vicky Leroy, were not home, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office said.

No cause for the fire has been determined, and the Kansas Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating.

A passing motorist saw and reported the fire shortly before 7 a.m. at 4327 Kansas Highway 68, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Lunger. Cutler and Franklin townships sent firefighters to the scene. They fought the blaze for more than three hours, Lunger said.

Damage to the one-story wood-frame house, its contents and a car and motorcycle parked in a basement garage totaled $215,000.