Suspect pleads guilty to distributing cocaine

Topeka  A Lawrence man on Thursday pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of distributing cocaine.

Willie D. West, 34, admitted that in June and August 2000 he sold crack cocaine to undercover officers in Lawrence, Eric Melgren, U.S. attorney for Kansas, said.

The plea was accepted by U.S. District Court Judge Sam A. Crow.

West could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in federal prison without parole, Melgren said. West will be sentenced at 10 a.m. Jan. 23, 2003.

Douglas County proclaims National 4-H Week

More than 750 Douglas County youths next week will celebrate the 100th birthday of 4-H.

The organization, with more than 6.8 million youths in all 3,067 counties of the United States and five U.S. territories, is observing its centennial of working under the familiar symbols of Head, Heart, Hands and Health.

County commissioners have proclaimed next week to be National 4-H Week.

The are 13 4-H clubs and five after-school programs for children aged 7 to 18 in the county, said Mark Flory, a member of the Lone Star 4-H Club.

And 4-H is about more than agriculture, Flory told commissioners. Leadership programs, field trips and other programs help the organization mold complete 4-Hers.

“There’s something for everybody,” he said.

Artists to exhibit works at park sculpture fair

The Kansas Sculpture Assn., Bayer Stone Co., and the city of Lawrence are sponsoring the Kansas Stone Sculpture Symposium through Sunday at Burcham Park.

Stone artists from around the area will display their work.

At 10 a.m. Saturday, Elden Tefft will dedicate his statue, “Keepers of Our Universe” to the city of Lawrence. Tefft has been working on the statue since 1988 in what he calls a community carve. People with no requisite art experience from Lawrence and the surrounding area have come to the park to help him carve the statue. The statue has what Tefft calls an ecological theme, with satellite pieces inspired by the Kansas state song, “Home on the Range.”

Members to clean downtown

Members of Downtown Lawrence Inc. will sponsor a cleanup for the area from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Saturday. DLI officials will distribute trash bags and cleaning items in front of the U.S. Bank at Ninth and Massachusetts streets. They’ll also hand out coffee to volunteers.

For more information, call the organization at 842-3883.

Health Department to begin administering flu shots

Flu shots will be available beginning the week of Oct. 14 at the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department.

The first round of vaccines are for people at high risk of severe illness, including the elderly, adults and children with chronic illness, women more than three months pregnant during flu season and healthy children 6 months to 24 months old; people who can give the flu to others at high risk, including household contacts and caregivers and health-care workers; and children receiving their first flu shot.

Children 6 months to 9 years old getting their first flu shot need a booster shot one month after the first dose.

Younger, healthy people are asked to wait until November to get their shots. October and November are optimal months for receiving the shot.

For more information about the flu immunization schedule, contact the health department at 843-0721.

Anti-abortion gathering planned in Kansas City

Kansans for Life and Missouri Right to Life will play host to Life Chains from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday. A Kansas City chain will be along 95th Street from Quivira Road to State Line on both of sides of the street, a length of 14 miles.

Approximately 5,000 people from 100 churches of different denominations are planning to attend. Participants will hold up signs, answer questions, and hand out bumper stickers, information, and sign up cards.

Life Chains will also be in Paola, Leavenworth and 70 other Kansas communities.

For more information, call Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansas for Life, at (913) 268-8400 during office hours or on her cell phone at (913) 515-6371.

NEH grants awarded for KU faculty projects

Kansas University faculty have received three grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

KU received a $119,365 grant to conduct a six-week seminar  from June 16 to July 25, 2003  for 15 college and university teachers on poems by 20th-century Spanish and Latin American authors. Andrew Debicki, professor of Spanish and Portuguese, and Jill Kuhnheim, assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese, will direct the program.

A $24,900 grant will allow Elaine Gerbert, director of KU’s Center for East Asian Studies, and Nancy Hope, outreach coordinator for the center, to develop curriculum with the Olathe school district. Paul D’Anieri, associate dean of international programs, also will work with Olathe officials to help graduates plan for international learning in college.

KU also received a $25,000 grant for Maryemma Graham, professor of English, to direct a series of workshops on writer Toni Morrison for 15 high school teachers in Washington, D.C. The program began this fall and will continue through the end of the academic year.