Apartment fire caused $210,000 in damages

A fire that broke out Tuesday in a south Lawrence apartment complex caused $210,000 in damage, Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical officials said Wednesday.

The cause of the fire at Park 25 Apartments, 2401 W. 25th St., is still under investigation, Fire Marshal Rich Barr said. The fire originated in the wall of a shed attached to an apartment building and is not considered suspicious.

The fire, pictured above, destroyed the shed and damaged the south end of the apartment building adjacent to the shed. At least two of the eight apartments in the building, located in the south end, were heavily damaged. Four apartments sustained serious damage, and at least four were forced out of their homes.

Health

First probable human case of West Nile found

State health officials said Wednesday that Kansas had seen its first probable human case of West Nile virus this year.

The victim was a 43-year-old Barton County resident who was not hospitalized and has since recovered, the Department of Health and Environment said.

The department requires two laboratory tests to confirm a human West Nile case, and only one was performed in the Barton County case because the victim recovered, said spokeswoman Sharon Watson.

Last year, the department confirmed 90 human West Nile virus cases and seven deaths. Private labs reported an additional 731 cases, with three deaths.

The virus also was confirmed in a bird in Harper County, officials said, bringing to 10 the number of Kansas counties with birds confirmed to have West Nile.

Politics

Smoking-ban opponents shoot for February vote

Opponents of Lawrence’s citywide smoking ban are aiming to have the issue put to a vote in February.

The committee pushing a petition drive to have the question placed on a Lawrence ballot chose the later election with the idea of keeping the issue on a ballot dominated by local concerns. The November ballot, said Jerry Neverve, a member of the Appeal to Reason and Tolerance steering committee, would be dominated by national political choices.

Also, the committee would be required to submit its signatures to the city clerk this week to have the question placed on the November ballot.

To date, ban opponents say they’ve collected 3,200 signatures. They need at least 3,764 valid signatures to send the issue to the ballot. But they say their goal is to far surpass that number and continue collecting as many signatures as possible before submitting the petitions in December.

Traffic

Police to conduct DUI saturation patrol

Lawrence Police will be out looking for drunken drivers tonight.

The department will assign extra officers from its traffic unit to conduct a “D.U.I. saturation patrol” between 11 p.m. today and 1 a.m. Friday in an undisclosed part of the city.