Autopsy pending on man found in alley

Police are awaiting autopsy results on a 30-year-old Lawrence man found dead Tuesday morning near Second and Arkansas streets in northern Lawrence.

A passer-by called police about 7:46 a.m. after spotting the man on the ground against a fence on the east side of the road. Lawrence Police spokesman Sgt. Dan Ward said it didn’t appear the man was the victim of foul play, but he said investigators would not release an official cause of death until an autopsy was finished.

Ward declined to identify the man.

Coroner Erik Mitchell, whose office would perform the autopsy, could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

Wildlife

KU butterfly expert reports mountain lion

A Kansas University biologist most noted for his study of monarch butterflies was tracking much bigger, but more elusive, game recently just west of Lawrence: a mountain lion.

“It just crossed the road in front of me,” said Chip Taylor, a KU professor who runs the Monarch Watch program.

Taylor said he was driving the morning of Dec. 2 along East 100 Road about 2.5 miles west of Clinton Lake when he saw the beast.

Taylor went out the next day with Deke Hobbick, a state wildlife biologist, to look for tracks. But they couldn’t find any physical evidence.

“It was a real short view,” Taylor said. “But it was bigger than my 85-pound golden retriever and smaller than a deer. … I never had any doubts about what it was.”

Crime

Thieves go after mail

Lawrence Police are advising the public to use mail drops to send their holiday mail after a series of thefts from home mailboxes Monday afternoon in west Lawrence.

Thieves stole mail from at least six people in and around Brandon Woods Retirement Community at 15th Street and Inverness Drive, then dumped unwanted mail in the 800 block of Kasold Drive.

Lawrence Police spokesman Sgt. Dan Ward said it appeared the thieves were looking for envelopes they thought would contain checks.

The suspects tried to cash at least one check stolen from the mailboxes, Ward said, but most of the items taken were Christmas cards.

Legislature

County prosecutor tapped for Statehouse

A prosecutor on outgoing Dist. Atty. Christine Kenney’s staff will leave the office to become an assistant Kansas attorney general.

Brad Burke, 29, has been appointed by Atty. Gen. Phill Kline as general counsel for the state’s Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

Burke has been a prosecutor in Kenney’s office since May 2001.

After winning two terms as the county’s chief criminal prosecutor, Republican Kenney lost a re-election bid in November to Democrat Charles Branson. Branson gave Kenney’s staff members a chance to apply to keep their jobs, but he said Tuesday through his assistant that he wasn’t yet ready to announce any final hiring decisions.

School boundary line panel refines proposal

The Lawrence school district’s boundary committee refined their elementary school boundary line proposal for next school year Tuesday.

Possible changes may have children residing in the Free State, Monterey I and Monterey II neighborhoods attend Quail Run School instead of Deerfield, which district officials have said was overcrowded.

Other boundary changes the committee is reviewing include having children in the Meadowbrook neighborhood attend Sunset Hill School instead of Hillcrest School next year as well as moving the Daisy Hill neighborhood out of the Hillcrest boundary area and into either Schwegler or Cordley schools.

Another boundary committee meeting will be at 4 p.m. Jan. 4. At that time, the committee members will look at student enrollment projections in the 2005-2006 school year.

Democratic Party elects new county officers

The Douglas County Democratic Party has elected new officers.

Former party secretary Kathy Greenlee replaced Marilyn Greathouse as party chairwoman, and Louisa Kamatuka took Greenlee’s spot as secretary. John Pepperdine took over for Jamie Shew as vice chairman. Julia Gilmore Gaughn replaced Jack Davidson as treasurer.

The party also elected delegates for the 2nd and 3rd districts. The 2nd district delegates are Greathouse, Suzanne Collins, Jeremy Anderson and Garth Burns.

The 3rd district delegates are Verdeania Zeller, Mary Davidson, Carol Henderson, Jack Davidson, John Naughtin and Lupe Ramirez.