KU architecture program wins $25,000 prize

Studio 804, the graduate-level architecture class at Kansas University that annually constructs a house for low-income residents in Lawrence, has won a $25,000 architecture prize.

The class won the 2003 Prize for Creative Integration of Practice and Education from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.

Dan Rockhill, who teaches the class with Kent Spreckelmeyer, said the money would be used to hire a staff member to work year-round on exploring additional building opportunities, find a permanent storage area for Studio 804’s tools and lease a space for year-round construction work.

The council’s prize recognized the studio’s long-term contributions to the community, its innovative restoration efforts and its emphasis on sustainability and accessibility issues.

The class’ most recent house, completed this spring, was at 1718 Atherton Court, above.

Crime

Eighth home intrusion reported to police

A Lawrence woman reported to police this week that she awoke to find a man she didn’t know in her bedroom. She confronted him, and he left.

It is at least the eighth such case reported this summer in Lawrence’s student neighborhoods, but it’s been more than a month since the previous round of home intrusions.

In all cases, the man has entered through an unlocked door. The description of the suspect in this case matches the previous descriptions.

The most recent intrusion happened about 4:55 a.m. Monday at a 20-year-old woman’s apartment in the 1200 block of Oread Avenue.

Update

Teen still hospitalized after watercraft accident

A Lawrence teen injured in a personal watercraft accident on the Lake of the Ozarks is still hospitalized in Springfield, Mo. He is in “excruciating pain,” his mother said, but he’s showing signs of healing.

Zach Taylor, 18, a recent Free State High School graduate, suffered a serious laceration to his right knee Friday when a Yamaha WaveRunner operated by a friend struck the rear of a WaveRunner Taylor was operating.

Doctors were concerned he might lose part of his leg because the injury damaged an artery and cut off blood flow to his foot, his mother, Debi Taylor, said. She said doctors removed a vein and grafted it into the artery, and the foot now has a strong pulse.

Zach Taylor likely will need a skin graft to repair his knee, she said.

Zach Taylor is in St. John’s Regional Health Center but might be moved to a Kansas City trauma center, she said.