Bogus traveler’s checks being passed in city

Police are urging Lawrence hotels and businesses to be on the lookout for counterfeit traveler’s checks.

Authorities said a suspect passed fake $500 checks at four Lawrence hotels early Sunday. The checks, bearing the MasterCard logo on both sides, looked authentic, said Ray Harter, an employee at one of the hotels where the checks were passed.

“He said he wanted the room for two or three nights,” Harter said of the man who used the checks. “Then he’d get the change back and would not even go to the room. He probably went out the side door to leave and go to the next hotel.”

Police in Kansas City, Mo., are investigating a similar scam there.

Anyone with information is asked to call the anonymous Crime Stoppers tips hotline at 843-TIPS.

Nature

Rattler found in Kansas is longest ever captured

A prairie rattlesnake found by a man in western Kansas has been confirmed as the longest ever recorded in the nation.

Dick Grusing

The 57 1/8-inch-long snake was found by Dick Grusing in April near the Colorado border in Hamilton County. Its length was confirmed by Travis Taggart, associate curator of herpetology at Sternberg Museum of Natural History at Fort Hays State University.

The snake has been preserved and cataloged in the Sternberg Museum scientific collections.

The snake’s length surpassed the previous Kansas record of 48 3/8 inches found in 1926. It also surpassed the national record of 57 inches as reported in the third edition (1998) of the “Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America.”

Area schools

Addition completed at Mill Valley High School

Students at Mill Valley High School in Shawnee will have to learn their way around a new addition this year.

A construction project to expand the high school, which is in the De Soto district, was completed this month. It expands the school’s capacity to 1,000 students, said Mill Valley interim principal Steve Ludwig, up from 750 students before the project.

Gasoline Prices

Pump Patrol seeks deals

The Journal-World has found gasoline prices as low as $1.70 a gallon at Citgo, BP shop and Zarco Phillips 66, all near Ninth and Iowa streets, and Phillips 66, 602 W. Ninth St. If you find a lower price, call Pump Patrol at 832-7154.