Trial set for suspect in high-speed chase death

The Lee’s Summit man charged with killing a Lawrence woman during a high-speed police chase this summer has a jury trial scheduled for next spring.

During a hearing Friday in Douglas County District Court, Judge Robert Fairchild scheduled an April 7 trial for 20-year-old Nam Ouk Cho. He’s charged with second-degree murder in the Aug. 26 death of 56-year-old Judith Vellucci.

Prosecutors allege Cho killed Vellucci by striking her car at the intersection of 31st Street and Nieder Road as he fled from police.

Dole Institute

Lecture series features Pulitzer-winning authors

There were still some free tickets remaining Friday for each lecture in the Dole Institute of Politics’ Presidential Lecture Series.

The series begins Sunday with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Caro, who has written biographies on Lyndon Johnson.

It is followed Nov. 9 by Roger Wilkins, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist; Nov. 16 by David Gergen, adviser for Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton; and Nov. 23 by Richard Norton Smith, director of the Dole Institute.

Each lecture begins at 8 p.m. at the Lied Center.

Vouchers are available at the Lied Center box office from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Ticket-holders must be in their seats by 7:45 p.m. each night; after that, the auditorium will be opened to those without vouchers.

The Lied Center is not open today, but the ticket office will be open at 7 p.m. Sunday.

Eudora

Higher water fees lawful, Supreme Court rules

Eudora can charge higher fees at apartment buildings for water service, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday.

The owners of Pine Crest I and Pine Crest II, multi-unit buildings, had sued the city of Eudora, saying the higher fees were discriminatory and illegal.

But in their ruling, justices noted that the buildings each were served by a single water meter — same as a single-family home. And Eudora’s rate system was in place when the buildings were constructed.

“A classification which distinguishes among city water customers in setting rates must be upheld if any rational basis exists to justify the difference in the water rates charged by the city,” Justice Robert Davis wrote for the court.