Motorcyclist dies of crash injuries

A Eudora man injured Saturday when his motorcycle struck a tree in Lawrence died Sunday at the University of Kansas Hospital, Kansas City, Kan.

Earl Wilson, 44, had left The Pool Room, 925 Iowa, just before the accident occurred, according to Lawrence Police. The motorcycle he was driving struck a curb causing Wilson to lose control and strike a tree. He was not wearing a helmet, police said.

Information sketchy on vodka robbery

A 21-year-old transient alleged another man choked him into unconsciousness and stole his half-gallon bottle of Viaka vodka Friday evening.

The incident happened about 5:20 p.m. Friday in the east alley of the 900 block of Kentucky Street. Police arrested a 42-year-old man, also a transient, but he was released from jail after Dist. Atty. Christine Kenney’s office decided not to file charges yet.

Kenney said the only reason was that she wanted to make sure all the witnesses would be available before the man was charged.

“We needed a little information on the case,” she said.

Marijuana case to go to federal court

Citing tougher federal drug penalties as a reason, local prosecutors on Monday dropped charges against the man suspected in a record Douglas County marijuana bust.

“The U.S. attorney’s office has decided to take the case,” Dist. Atty. Christine Kenney said. “Their charges would carry a much stiffer penalty than ours.”

Police said they arrested the defendant, 35-year-old Edgar Illescas, of San Lorenzo, Calif., on Aug. 2 when he came to a North Lawrence shipping business to pick up a 190-pound load of marijuana disguised as T-shirts.

He would have faced no more than 51 months in prison under state law if convicted of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. By comparison, the maximum sentence in federal court for distributing 190 pounds of marijuana is 20 years, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Friends of the Kaw adds atlas to Web site

Friends of the Kaw has added a new feature to its Web site that provides information about the Kansas River basin.

The site includes topics such as ecological, geographic, land and recreational use and pollution status of the basin under the category of the Kansas River Atlas. It can be found at www.KansasRiver.com.

Development of the online river atlas was a result of grants from foundations and the Environmental Protection Agency.