Election: School board candidates schedule online chats

A series of online chats featuring candidates in the Feb. 25 Lawrence school board primary began Tuesday evening.

Scott Morgan, who is running for a second four-year term, was the first guest in the series. He is among 13 candidates in the school board primary and one of several who has agreed to participate in online chats at www.ljworld.com. The others scheduled so far will be online at the following dates and times:

• Gordon Longabach, 5:30 p.m. today.
• Michael Pomes, 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
• Eddie Lehman, 6:30 p.m. Monday.
• Mary Loveland, 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20.

For highlights of Tuesday’s chat with Morgan, see page 4B. For 6News video and a full transcript of the chat, log on to www.ljworld.com.

Courts: Hearing delay approved in turnpike stabbing case

Leavenworth — A second mental competency hearing for a Missouri man charged with stabbing his 11-year-old son to death has been scheduled for next month in Leavenworth County District Court.

Raymond Boothe had been scheduled to appear today for a preliminary hearing before Leavenworth County District Judge Frederick Stewart. Boothe’s court-appointed attorney, Gary Fuller, asked the judge to delay the preliminary hearing and schedule a competency hearing. The competency hearing was set for 1 p.m. March 5.

Boothe, Cameron, Mo., is charged with first-degree murder in the August slaying of his mentally and physically disabled son, Levi. Law enforcement officers and prosecutors said Raymond Boothe stabbed the boy and left him to die along the Kansas Turnpike just east of the Leavenworth-Douglas county line.

After a mental evaluation, doctors at Larned State Hospital found Boothe competent to stand trial. But Fuller requested a second, independent evaluation. That evaluation has been completed, but a report hasn’t been filed with the court.

Police: Fire victim identified

Eudora — The body of a woman who died last week in a house fire has been identified, Eudora public safety officials said.

Firefighters found the body of Naomi Kidd, 77, on Thursday after extinguishing the fire at 901 Ash St.

An autopsy revealed that Kidd died of smoke inhalation before her body was severely burned.

Crime: Church’s peace signs defaced by vandals

Vandals have been defacing peace-protest paraphernalia at Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave., the center’s director said.

A sign outside the center that reads, “No War in Iraq, Not in Our Names” and bears signatures of approximately 245 people, has been the subject of vandalism every few days since it went up in mid-January, director Thad Holcombe said.

On Tuesday, Holcombe discovered that someone had sprayed black paint on a nearby “peace pole,” a 6-foot-high post with the words “May Peace Prevail on the Earth” printed on it in nine languages.

“It’s frustrating,” said Holcombe, who filed a police report Tuesday. “I’d like to think Lawrence is a community where there can be differences of opinion and perspective on issues as emotional as the Iraq war. This kind of action raises questions about it being possible.”

Also Tuesday, several ripped “Peace is Patriotic” signs were found on the ground in front of homes in Old West Lawrence.

Keith McMahon, a Kansas University professor who lives in the 700 block of Ohio Street, said he found his sign torn Tuesday morning. He said two of his immediate neighbors also were missing their signs.