Shoppers clean out Al Bohl’s garage sale

Al Bohl’s garage sale didn’t last long Wednesday morning.

“We opened the garage doors at about 7:30 to start moving the tables out and as soon as people saw the doors open, they stormed in — we didn’t even know they were out there,” said Bohl, former Kansas University athletic director.

“The majority of the KU stuff was gone in about 20 minutes,” he said, referring to his accumulation of KU gear and memorabilia. The sale was supposed to start at 8 a.m.

Bohl, who was fired three months ago by KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway, said he spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon being interviewed by reporters.

“I just got through talking with a reporter from the Kansas City Star,” Bohl said shortly before 3 p.m. “I told him I was sorry there wasn’t much of a story. By the time he got here everything was gone.”

Bohl and wife Sherry are moving to St. Augustine, Fla.

“I feel really good about today,” Al Bohl said. “All morning long, people came up to us and wished us well and said they appreciated everything I’d done for the university. That’s why we love Kansas — it’s the people.”

Courts

Arrest warrant issued for asphalt salesman

A suspected scam artist — caught after a 7-year-old Lawrence girl took his truck for a joyride and crashed it into a ravine — apparently has skipped town.

Judge Robert Fairchild on Tuesday issued a warrant for the arrest of Joshua James Lee Werner, 22, Whiteboro, Texas, after Werner failed to appear in court on charges that he tried to sell driveway asphalt door to door without a transient merchant license. He was free on $250 bond.

Police arrested Werner May 14 after hearing complaints about a possible asphalt scam in Douglas County. They wouldn’t have known how to contact him if 7-year-old Cynthia Falley hadn’t driven his truck and crashed it, which caused Werner to file an accident report with his cell phone number on it.

At the time of the wreck, Werner was outside Cynthia’s home making a sales pitch to her father, Rick.

Benefit

Concert raises $1,500 for historical museum

A fund-raiser concert Saturday featuring early 1900s songs brought in about $1,500 to the Watkins Community Museum of History, director Rebecca Phipps said.

The concert drew an audience of more than 100 people. It was staged in the basement of the museum, 1047 Mass. Concert-goers were treated to a reception after the concert.

Performing were Mark Bureman, director of the Leavenworth County Historical Society, who played the piano, and his daughter, Jennifer Lyles-Maqsood, who sang.

The museum will have another fund-raiser Oct. 4 at the National Guard Armory, 200 Iowa. It will be a 1950s sock hop. Tickets will be $15 and will go on sale Aug. 15.