Masked suspect robs Baldwin restaurant

Baldwin — Police are looking for a masked man who was armed with a baseball bat Saturday night when he robbed a restaurant.

About 11 p.m. the robber entered Walt’s Pizza Cafe, 711 High St., through a back door, police said. The restaurant was closed at the time, but three employees and a friend of an employee were in the building, police said.

One employee was ordered by the robber to lie on the floor. The suspect took a drawer from the cash register and fled through the back door. Police think the suspect left the area on foot.

The amount of money taken was undetermined, police said.

The only description of the man was that he was between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall with a small build. Police were still trying to determine the type of mask he wore.

An investigation is continuing.

American Legion flagpole vandalized

Someone vandalized a flagpole last week at the American Legion’s Dorsey-Liberty Post 14, 3408 W. Sixth St.

A U.S. flag and a prisoner-of-war flag fell to the ground after someone cut the flagpole line, Lawrence Police Sgt. Craig Shanks said. According to a police report, the damage happened sometime between 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and 8:34 a.m. Wednesday.

The post’s first vice commander, Bob Brooks, said he didn’t know the extent of the damage to the flags, but he said the post would have to replace them.

Organization honors Kansas natives

Topeka — Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas will name Jack St. Clair Kilby, recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics, Kansan of the Year and Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Distinguished Kansan of the Year. Honors will be given at the organization’s annual banquet Jan. 24 at Maner Conference Center at Kansas Expocentre in Topeka.

Kilby was raised in Great Bend and in the late 1950s developed the microchip, the foundation for modern microelectronics. He pioneered both military and civilian uses for his invention, including the first computer to use integrated circuits.

Myers graduated from Shawnee Mission North High School and Kansas State University. He serves as the principal military adviser to the president, secretary of defense and joint chiefs of staff.

Banquet tickets are $30 per person or $400 per table. Payments can be mailed to Don Chubb, 1011 S.W. Cambridge Ave., Topeka 66604.

Judge to set sentence for gruesome murders

Nearly three years after his arrest, John E. Robinson Sr. should learn Tuesday whether he will be put to death for murdering two women and stuffing their bodies into barrels on his rural Kansas property.

Johnson County Judge John Anderson III is scheduled to act Tuesday on a jury’s recommendation that Robinson become the seventh man sentenced to die in Kansas by lethal injection.

Robinson, 59, was convicted Oct. 29 for the murders of Suzette Trouten and Izabela Lewicka.

Robinson was also convicted of first-degree murder for the 1985 death of Lisa Stasi, 19. Her body was never found.

Before sentencing Robinson, Anderson must rule on a series of motions filed by defense attorneys, including their request for a mistrial, which they are seeking because a juror brought a Bible to the one day of deliberations.

Anderson ruled at the time the Bible was not consulted during deliberations and that jurors reached their unanimous decision by independent thinking and the preponderance of evidence presented.

Lawmakers pan plan to limit session pay

Drafting a state budget is a tough job, and lawmakers should get paid for doing it, Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, said Monday night.

Sloan, speaking at a Lawrence meeting of the Grange, a family fraternal organization, said he thought it was a bad idea to cut off pay to lawmakers after 90 days in session, as the House’s Republican leadership suggested recently.

Rep. Roger Toelkes, D-Topeka, who also spoke at the meeting, agreed with Sloan.

The two lawmakers said there were several factors that could cause a session to last longer than expected. For example, if tax receipts in April are much different from what was expected, the budget might have to be adjusted, Sloan said.

Lawmakers receive $78.75 per day when in session and $85 per day for expenses. Last year, the Legislature was in session for a record 107 days.