Government

State council settles suit with whistleblower

Topeka — A temporary worker who said he was fired for blowing the whistle on problems at the Kansas Department of Revenue was awarded a $10,000 settlement Tuesday from the state.

Daniel Copp said he was fired in 1999 for revealing to the Journal-World that more than $50,000 in income tax payment checks were rescued from the shredder of the Revenue Department’s warehouse.

Revenue officials had said Copp was dismissed because he revealed confidential tax information from a notebook.

Copp filed a lawsuit against the Revenue Department and then-Revenue Secretary Karla Pierce seeking $100,000. The $10,000 settlement was approved by the State Finance Council without comment.

Douglas County

Signed KU basketballs taken during rural theft

Three autographed basketballs — including one signed by members of Kansas University’s 1988 national championship team — have been reported stolen from a Douglas County home.

Also stolen were a white leather basketball autographed by Wilt Chamberlain and a ball signed by the 1997-98 KU men’s basketball team.

The balls disappeared sometime Oct. 2 from a home in the 1000 section of East 1400 Road south of Lawrence, but the police report wasn’t made public until Tuesday. Lt. Kathy Tate, a sheriff’s spokeswoman, didn’t know the reason for the delay.

Tate said the home had been left unsecured the day of the thefts. The owners estimated the balls’ value at $1,300.

Courts

Drug investigation leads to plea in cocaine deal

A California man has admitted driving to Lawrence last December to deliver a shipment of cocaine.

Anthony Gonzalo DeLeon, 30, Rosmead, Calif., admitted recently that on Dec. 16, he drove to the Burger King at 1100 N. Third St. and met an undercover informant who had been working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Drug enforcement agents arrested DeLeon at the restaurant after he told the informant he had cocaine to deliver but that it was at another location, according to court records.

DeLeon then led agents to a car parked at a residence in Kansas City, Kan., that had cocaine and a .25-caliber handgun in the trunk.

DeLeon was charged with possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine and with having a firearm during a drug-trafficking crime. He pleaded guilty to the gun charge and to drug possession.

He is due for sentencing Jan. 28 in Topeka and faces at least five years of imprisonment.

Scholarship

KU students compete for prestigious honors

Eight Kansas University students have been selected to compete for prestigious graduate scholarships.

The students will be competing this year for Rhodes scholarships, which provide more than $50,000 for two years of study at Oxford University; Marshall scholarships, which provide more than $50,000 for two years of study at any British university; or Churchill scholarships, which provide about $27,000 for one year of study in engineering, mathematics and science at Cambridge University.

The nominees and the scholarships they’re competing for are: Todd Barrett, Hiawatha senior, Rhodes and Marshall; John Daniels, Tonganoxie senior, Marshall and Churchill; Megan MacDonald, Independence, Mo., senior, Churchill; Jameson Jones, Highland Village, Texas, senior, Rhodes and Marshall; Sean Thomas Pauzauskie, Topeka senior, Marshall; Jennifer Sweeton, Kansas City, Mo., senior, Rhodes and Marshall; Branden Warden, Springfield, Mo., senior, Marshall; and Christina Warinner, May graduate from Overland Park, Marshall.