Derby pilot killed in small-plane crash

Wellington — A Derby man was killed in the crash of a small plane, authorities said.

The Kansas Highway Patrol identified the victim as William W. Bliss, 48.

Bliss was the pilot of a Cessna 172 that crashed Friday night near Interstate 35 south of Wellington in Sumner County. The Boeing Employees Flying Club owned the plane, the patrol said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, the patrol said.

Arts: Haskell theater troupe picks up national award

Haskell Indian Nations University’s theater troupe will travel to Beverly Hills, Calif., this week to receive national recognition.

The Thunderbird Theatre will be presented with the Will Sampson Memorial Award at the First Americans in the Arts Awards Ceremony.

The annual event pays tribute to American Indian entertainers in filmmaking, directing and television categories. The Will Sampson Memorial Award is presented to an organization that demonstrates outstanding representation of the American Indian legacy.

First Americans in the Arts trustees also award student scholarship awards, and Myra Alexander-Starr, dean of the college of liberal arts and sciences, is among the honorary scholarship presenters.

Market: Higher gasoline prices not suspected as gouging

Despite the recent upward spiral of gasoline prices, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said there had been no allegations of price gouging in Kansas.

Whitney Watson said the state consumer protection law would be triggered if the price of gasoline at a station grossly exceeded the price at other stations.

“That’s when the Attorney General’s Office would jump in,” he said, noting the time that former Atty. Gen. Carla Stovall charged several stations with price gouging after prices shot up on Sept. 11.

Watson said the recent increasing prices were being controlled by market forces.

Event: LMH plans open house of children’s unit

A robot fantasyland painted on the walls of Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s newly renovated pediatrics unit will be dedicated Monday.

An open house is planned from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., during which people can view both the pediatrics unit and the artwork, paid for by a $35,000 grant the Lawrence Arts Commission awarded the hospital through the Percent for Art Project.

The artwork by Caldecott Award winner and Lawrence resident Stephen T. Johnson includes an interactive robot sculpture display and a varied collection of 12 original illustrations from Johnson’s story “My Little Blue Robot.”

The artwork will be dedicated to Sally Hersh, a benefactor and member of the Arts Commission Selection Committee who died in 2001.

Gasoline: Pump patrol tracks down lowest prices in Lawrence

The Journal-World has found a Lawrence-area gasoline price as low as $1.56 a gallon at Citgo at West Ninth and Iowa streets.

If you find a lower price, please call us at 832-7154. Be prepared to leave the name of the business, the address and the price. Or go to www.ljworld.com/section/gasoline to join our Pump Patrol message board.