County firefighters battle Saturday grass fires

Dry conditions Saturday turned several controlled burns into out-of-control grass fires in Douglas County.

Lecompton firefighters battled two blazes in the northwest part of the county. A fire the department had extinguished Friday in the same area rekindled about 2 p.m. Saturday, burning about 20 acres, Lecompton Fire Chief LeRoy Boucher said. It took firefighters several hours to bring the fire under control because it was in a timber area and had to be managed with rakes and shovels, he said.

About the time firefighters wrapped up the first fire, about 4:30 p.m., they were called to a second blaze in the 2100 section of East 150 Road, Boucher said. Kanwaka Township firefighters assisted Lecompton with the second grass fire.

A grass fire southwest of Eudora kept firefighters from Eudora, Wakarusa and Palmyra townships busy Saturday afternoon. It started about 3:15 p.m. in the 1900 section of North 1000 Road and consumed about 30 acres, Eudora Township Fire Chief Carl Friedrich said.

Art historian to discuss early Japanese textiles

“Piecing Together Paradise: The Tenjukoku Embroidered Curtains and Funeral Practices in Seventh-Century Japan” will be presented by Chari Pradel at 7 p.m. Thursday in room 211 at Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art at Kansas University.

Pradel is a specialist in early Japanese art history, with emphasis on the connections between Japan and Korea. She has a bachelor’s degree in art history from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Lima, Peru, and master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of California-Los Angeles.

She will talk on Tenjukoku Mandala, a textile constructed in the seventh century that is one of the oldest pictorial representations in Japanese art history.

The free lecture is open to the public.

KU Hall Center announces lineup for lecture series

Kansas University’s Hall Center for the Humanities has announced the lineup for its second “Whatever Happened to …?” series.

The series, organized with the Kansas City Public Library, is held at Unity Temple at 707 W. 47th St. in Kansas City, Mo.

Speakers for this year’s series will be:

 orval Morris, Chicago, “Whatever Happened to Prison Reform?” at 7:30 p.m. April 3. Morris, professor at the University of Chicago School of Law, has written extensively on the criminal justice system.

 David Rothman, New York, “Whatever Happened to Human Experimentation?” at 7:30 p.m. April 10. Rothman, an author and social historian from Columbia University, will focus on medical decision-making and the ethics of human experimentation.

 Walter Bgoya, “Whatever Happened to the Cold War?” at 7:30 p.m. April 17. Bgoya is the peace negotiator for the Tanzanian government.

 Bill Staples, Lawrence, “Whatever Happened to Privacy?” at 7:30 p.m. April 24. Staples is chairman of the sociology department at KU and has written books about surveillance.

Way of the Cross to raise awareness of world suffering

Kansas City, Mo. Â About 100 people are expected to assemble at 2 p.m. Friday at Washington Square Park, Grand Boulevard and Pershing Road, to reflect on the suffering in society and the real-world opportunities to follow in the footsteps of Christ.

While carrying a 7-foot cross along the 3-mile route, the group will pause to read Scripture and to reflect on the plight of the poor, victims of violence and those condemned to death.

The event, called The Way of the Cross, is sponsored by the Peace and Justice office of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Western Missouri Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and other social justice organizations.