Thousands of students depart from campus housing

The exodus of thousands of Kansas University students from campus housing began Thursday and will continue today and Monday.

The roughly 4,000 students who live in residence and scholarship halls must check out by 11 p.m. today. Residents of Jayhawker Towers about 800 students must move out by 9 p.m. Monday.

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Police: Jail escapee captured, returned to Douglas County

A man who allegedly fled last month from the Douglas County Jail was back in court Thursday to face a misdemeanor charge of escape from custody.

Vernon D. Folks, 29, Eudora, was arrested Friday by police in Checotah, Okla. He had been on the run since fleeing through a remote-controlled door at the Douglas County Jail the morning of April 13, sheriff’s officers said.

He was returned Wednesday afternoon to the same jail he allegedly escaped from, according to the jail log.

If convicted of escape from custody, he could be sentenced to serve up to a year in jail and pay a maximum fine of $2,500. His bond on the new charge was set at $1,000.

Folks was serving a combined total of six months for convictions in Douglas County Court on misdemeanor charges of fleeing and eluding police and battery.

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Schools: District employee injured in fall from lifting device

A Lawrence public schools employee was injured Thursday when he fell about 25 feet while working on a flagpole, a school official said.

Jim Winchester, 57, was taken by Life Flight helicopter to Kansas University Medical Center, Kansas City, Kan. He was in fair condition late Thursday, a hospital spokesman said.

Shortly before noon, Winchester was on a lifting device working on a flagpole outside Schwegler School, 2201 Ousdahl Road, said Tom Bracciano, director of facilities and operations for the school district. Bracciano said he wasn’t sure what had caused the fall. Witnesses said Winchester had fallen into the back of a pickup truck parked by the flagpole when the lifting device collapsed.

The school district activated its Crisis Response Team to provide counseling for Schwegler staff and students. A letter was sent home with students informing parents of the incident.

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Discovering Kansas: KU faculty, staff to begin Wheat State Whirlwind tour

Forty faculty and staff members at Kansas University will begin the university’s annual Wheat State Whirlwind tour today.

The tour aims to teach new faculty and staff about Kansas history and sites.

Stops today include the Capitol and Kansas Museum of History in Topeka and a presentation by the Kansas Innovation Corporation in Lawrence.

The tour continues Monday through Thursday. Stops are scheduled in Emporia, Cottonwood Falls, Wichita, Dodge City, Greensburg, Montezuma, Garden City, Marienthal, Colby, Nicodemus, Palco, Russell, Lucas, Sylvan Grove, Wilson and Salina.

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Gasoline prices: Pump Patrol seeks best deal

The Journal-World has found a gasoline price as low as $1.26 at Citgo, Ninth and Iowa streets, and 920 N. Second St.

If you find a lower price, call us at 832-7154. Be prepared to leave the name and address of the business and the price.

Or go to www.ljworld.com/section/gasoline to join our Pump Patrol message board.