Three Hondas reported stolen on KU campus

Continuing a trend of recent Honda thefts in Lawrence, the Kansas University Public Safety Office received reports this week of three Hondas taken from the Kansas University campus.

A 1996 Honda Accord valued at $11,000 was taken between Sunday and Friday morning from the 1300 block of Louisiana Street near a scholarship hall parking lot. The car has not been recovered.

A 1995 Honda Accord valued at $12,000 was reported stolen between Monday and Friday from Lot 103 in the Daisy Hill area. The car has not been recovered.

A 1995 Honda Civic was taken Wednesday or Thursday from Lot 112 near Oliver Hall. The car, whose value has not been assessed, was recovered Thursday in Kansas City, Kan.

It’s possible these thefts were connected, said Lt. Schuyler Bailey, public information officer for the public safety office.

Ten of 17 cars reported to the Lawrence Police Department as stolen since Jan. 18 have been Hondas.

Hearing set for husband charged with kidnapping

A preliminary hearing has been set for an Ottawa man charged with beating his wife while keeping her as a hostage in their home earlier this month.

The hearing for Darren Marconette, 34, Ottawa, will be March 10 in Franklin County District Court.

Marconette is accused of holding his wife of 15 years, a 33-year-old Ottawa resident, hostage for 15 hours. During that time, Marconette stabbed his wife in her genitals, bludgeoned her with a brick and intentionally vomited on her, according to a woman who helped her escape.

Marconette has been charged with attempted second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery and criminal threats. He has been kept at Franklin County Jail since Feb. 3. His bond has been set at $750,000.

Patriot Act discussion tape available at library

A panel discussion on the USA Patriot Act conducted last fall at Kansas University can now be checked out on videotape at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt.

The forum featured Kansas U.S. Atty. Eric Melgren; Jean K. Gilles Phillips, director of the Paul E. Wilson Defender Project at the KU School of Law; and Rosanne Goble, executive director of the Kansas Library Assn.

The Shawnee Mission chapter of the Kansas American Association of University Women, which sponsored the forum, donated the tape to the library and has made copies available to the public. Additional copies may be obtained by contacting Barbara Duke at 749-0786.

Homeless advocate to speak at KU

A founding board member of National Coalition for the Homeless will speak next week at Kansas University.

Michael Stoops has worked full time since 1972 with the homeless and homeless advocacy groups. He is project director of the coalition’s Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau and coordinates the coalition’s national events. He also serves on the North American Street Newspaper Assn. steering committee, an organization he helped create.

Stoops will speak 8 p.m. Thursday at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union.

KU sets final exam

Kansas University has announced the following final examination:

l Maura Duke, clinical child psychology, “Functional Disability in Patients with Recurrent Abdominal Pain,” 12:30 p.m. March 4, 2007 Dole Human Development Center.

Volunteers to make blankets for children

A blanket-making workshop is set for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vt. The blankets will be donated to children in traumatizing situations through a program called Project Linus.

Volunteers do not need to have any sewing or craft skills and can bring projects of their own or work on a blanket provided at the event.

For more information, see http://linus.grandleaf-financial.com.

Rollover wreck sends driver to K.C. hospital

Alcohol is believed to be a factor in a rollover wreck early Friday on U.S. Highway 59 that ejected the 21-year-old driver, who was flown by air ambulance to a Kansas City-area hospital.

The man is not a Douglas County resident. Sheriff’s officials did not release his name Friday.

The wreck happened about 1:40 a.m. near the highway’s intersection with North 800 Road on Pleasant Grove Hill. As the driver’s Mercury sedan went around a curve, it left the west side of the road and rolled several times. He was not wearing a seat belt, sheriff’s officials said.