Education

School funding rally set for Aug. 23

A march and rally calling for increased state funding of public schools is planned for Aug. 23.

The event will start at 11 a.m. at Watson Park, Seventh and Kentucky streets. The group will then march to Massachusetts Street and down to South Park for a rally.

The event has been organized by a group called Schoolfunders and is being endorsed by the MAINstream Coalition and Kansas Families United for Public Education.

A number of state and local officials are expected to attend, including Kansas House freshmen who proposed a tax increase for education funding during the 2003 legislative session. The proposal failed.

Police

Topekan arrested for public masturbation

An off-duty Lawrence police officer chased and caught a man whom she alleges was masturbating in public, according to a police report.

About 9:15 a.m. Saturday, Officer Laurie Scott was walking with a friend in the 2800 block of West 15th Street when they saw a man standing outside a building masturbating, according to the report.

Scott began walking toward him. He looked surprised and ran into the entrance of an apartment complex. Scott chased and caught him between the building’s second and third floors, according to the report.

Another officer came to the scene and arrested the man, a 36-year-old Topeka resident who was booked into the Douglas County Jail and later released on bond.

Fund-raiser

Double lung transplant called a success

After undergoing a rare and dangerous double lung transplant, Rex Williams, 51, Lawrence, is out of the hospital and doing well, according to his daughter, LaVonda Norcross. The surgery was July 13 at Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City.

Rex Williams and his wife, Judy, stand outside of the Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City, where Rex had undergone a double lung transplant on July 13.

Williams and his wife, Judy, moved to Oklahoma City in March for the procedure to cure emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Norcross said if all went well, they might be able to return to Lawrence as soon as October.

“My 4-year-old, MaKenna, can hardly wait,” Norcross said. “She cried when we left grandpa’s the other day because she is ready for him to be home.”

Williams will have to take more than 20 medications for the rest of his life to avoid rejection and infection complications. Not all of the medications are covered by insurance.

To help with costs, the family will have a benefit auction at 2 p.m. Aug. 16 at Steve’s Place, 1388 N. 1293 Road, southwest of the intersection of 31st and Louisiana streets. Items for sale will include vacation packages, gift sets and other merchandise donated by area vendors.