Sendoff time changes for Army Reservists

A farewell ceremony honoring the 317th Quartermaster Army Reserve battalion will be at 6 p.m. today in the Lawrence Holidome, 200 McDonald Drive.

The ceremony start time is a change from what was previously scheduled.

The unit will soon be leaving for Fort Riley to train for deployment to Iraq.

Lawrence call center to receive $4,000

The Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas (SHICK) call center in Lawrence will receive a $4,000 check today from Kansas Secretary of Aging Pamela Johnson-Bettis.

The check presentation ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. at Douglas County Senior Services, 745 Vt.

SHICK volunteers provide free confidential and unbiased counseling to Kansans on Medicare about health insurance options and drug discount cards. Because of the increased volume of calls resulting from the Medicare Modernization Act, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has allotted supplemental funding to help programs like SHICK handle the increase.

The Lawrence call center is one of two in Kansas. The other is in Wichita.

Sheriff’s DUI patrol catches no drunks

A weekend DUI patrol by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office didn’t net any drunken-driving arrests.

The patrol was on Kansas Highway 10, U.S. Highways 40 and 24, and County Roads 442, 438, and 1021. The deputies assigned to the patrol stopped 23 people, issued one field-sobriety test and two blood-alcohol breath tests.

They issued seven tickets, arrested one person for driving on a suspended license and arrested one person on a warrant.

Hearing rescheduled in marijuana bust

The man charged in connection with a record drug bust for Douglas County made a brief appearance Monday in Douglas County District Court.

Edgar Illescas, 35, who police say is a Mexican citizen listing an address in San Lorenzo, Cal., stood before a judge as his attorneys asked for a delay in his preliminary hearing, which originally was set for Monday. They said they needed more time to prepare because they didn’t receive police reports until Monday.

Judge Jack Murphy rescheduled the hearing for Aug. 23.

Illescas, who police say tried to pick up a 190-pound shipment of marijuana disguised as T-shirts at a local shipping business, remained in the Douglas County Jail on Monday with bond set at $100,000.

Kansas City, Kan.

Mayor won’t seek third term in office

After spending 15 years immersed in local politics, Mayor Carol Marinovich said Monday that she will not seek a third term.

Marinovich, the mayor of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., said she believed it was time for a change.

“I’m ready to step aside; I will not seek re-election,” said Marinovich, 53.

In 1989, Marinovich was elected to the Kansas City, Kan., City Council. She beat Joe Steineger six years later to become the city’s first female mayor.

Voters approved the consolidation of the city and Wyandotte County governments in 1997, and Marinovich was elected mayor and chief executive officer of the Unified Government by a wide margin. She was re-elected in 2001.