Big Brothers Big Sisters sets gingerbread auction

The annual Gingerbread Festival and Auction fund-raiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Douglas County will be today at the Eldridge Hotel, 701 Mass.

Gingerbread and graham houses can be viewed from noon to 6 p.m. A $2 donation is requested.

To attend tonight’s festivities, $25 tickets are required. Music, beverages and an appetizer buffet are planned.

Live and silent auctions will begin after 6 p.m. All proceeds from the event will benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Douglas County.

Police

Burglars strike Moore’s office, steal laptops

Someone burglarized three downtown offices during the weekend, including the Lawrence office of U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan.

Police say someone forced open the doors of the offices on the second floor of 647 Mass. between noon Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday. The other offices hit were Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. and the environmental firm Chatman & Associates.

Two of the offices were ransacked. Police said a laptop computer was missing from each of the businesses, but a complete listing of stolen items wasn’t available Monday.

Sesquicentennial

Committee seeks name for 150th birthday plaza

It likely will be a landmark for future Lawrence residents, but it doesn’t yet have a name.

The committee planning a plaza commemorating the 150th birthday of Lawrence is seeking nominations for what to call the 97-acre site near Clinton Lake.

“What we’re looking for mainly is something a little unusual,” said Mary Burchill, who heads the subcommittee planning the plaza.

Suggestions can be sent to Burchill at 1329 Kasold Drive, G1, Lawrence 66049. They also can be e-mailed to burchill@ku.edu.

State

Kansans urged to check on charities before giving

Topeka — Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh urged Kansans to research charitable organizations before giving.

“While most charitable solicitations are valid, all too often only a fraction of the money donated ends up in the hands of the charitable organizations,” Thornburgh said.

Thornburgh said Kansans could check on charities on the Internet at www.kscharitycheck.org or by calling his office at (785) 296-4564.

The Web site can search the 1,021 charitable organizations registered in Kansas to determine the amount of money raised by the organization, the percentage used for fund-raising expenses and the amount of money the organization contributes to the designated charity.

Douglas County

KBI still investigating deputy suspected of theft

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is still looking into allegations that a Douglas County Sheriff’s deputy may have stolen a set of autographed basketballs from a rural home, the KBI agent conducting the investigation said through a spokeswoman.

The basketballs — one signed by Wilt Chamberlain, one by members of Kansas University’s 1988 men’s national championship team and another signed by the 1997-98 KU men’s team — were taken Oct. 2 from a home in the 1000 section of East 1400 Road south of Lawrence.

Sheriff Rick Trapp said he asked the KBI to conduct an independent investigation and said he wouldn’t know more until the investigation was finished.