Parks and Recreation veteran plans to retire in March
A 34-year veteran of Lawrence Parks and Recreation is calling it quits.
Kathy Fode, recreation superintendent, will retire March 23. A public retirement reception will be conducted from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. March 29 at South Park Recreation Center, 1141 Mass.
She joined the department in 1968 as supervisor of South Park Recreation Center. She has advanced as department services have expanded, being promoted to recreation program supervisor in 1977 and to recreation program manager in 1986. She took her current position in 1989.
Fode started the popular aerobic fitness classes for the community in the late 1960s, created the Fall Arts and Crafts Festival, moved class enrollment from handwritten registration to a computerized system, produced more than 50 seasonal activity brochures and most recently served as project manager for the renovation of the East Lawrence Recreation Center.
Lawrence driver injured in one-vehicle accident
A Lawrence woman was injured about 9:45 p.m. Thursday when the car she was driving struck a utility pole on East 23rd Street just west of Rhode Island Street, police said.
Melissa Tovar, 23, was taken by Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical to Lawrence Memorial Hospital where she was in good condition Friday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Tovar was driving a 1991 Toyota Celica westbound on 23rd Street when the car ran off the street and struck the pole on the north side of the street, police said.
Tovar suffered injuries to her mouth and chin, the police report said. Police are continuing to investigate the crash and the possibility that alcohol was a factor, Sgt. Mike Pattrick said.
House fire in Eudora displaces six residents
Two men and a family of four are staying with friends and relatives after a Friday afternoon fire destroyed most of their two-story house in Eudora.
Eudora Fire Chief Spencer McCabe said the blaze was sparked when the husband and wife who live in the upstairs apartment disposed of cigarettes on their second-story porch. An ember ignited the overhang to the first-floor apartment entryway, McCabe said.
The man and woman and their two children escaped without injury after a passerby knocked on the door to tell them their house was on fire, McCabe said. The two men who live downstairs weren't home.
About 30 firefighters from the Eudora, Eudora Township and Wakarusa Township fire departments battled the fire, which broke out just before 4 p.m., McCabe said.
The home, in the 600 block of Elm Street, likely will be a total loss, McCabe said, but a damage estimate was not available Friday night.
Former nurse pleads guilty to nursing home charges
Oskaloosa A Topeka woman recently pleaded guilty to charges filed over incidents that took place in an Oskaloosa nursing home.
On Jan. 17, Kinta Marie Hayes, 43, a former licensed practical nurse, entered pleas to one felony count of possession of the drug oxycodone, two misdemeanor counts of adulterating a drug and one misdemeanor count of mistreatment of a dependent adult.
The Kansas Attorney General's Office said the incidents occurred June 8 and July 4, 2001, at Hickory Pointe Care and Rehabilitation Center. Hayes was charged in September and surrendered her nursing license.
Atty. Gen. Carla Stovall said Hayes stole a nursing home resident's pain medication pills and replaced the pills with another drug. Stovall also said Hayes mixed water with a liquid pain medication and gave the mixture to another resident.
Hayes will be sentenced March 7 in Jefferson County District Court.
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