Downtown street closing for advertising shoot

Eighth Street between Massachusetts and New Hampshire streets will be closed today while a production company does work for a Chubb Insurance advertising campaign.

The street will be closed from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., city officials said, and the Lawrence Transit System routes 8 and 6 will be diverted to Seventh Street and run counterclockwise. Route 6 will also use Vermont Street between Seventh and Eighth streets.

The photo shoot is being done by Nick Vedros, a still photographer who has a studio in Kansas City, Mo.

Politics

Polling place opens for advance voting

Advance voting opens at 8 a.m. today at the county courthouse in this year’s primary elections for federal, state and local offices.

A single polling place will be open beginning at 8 a.m. today outside the main-floor office of the county clerk, 1100 Mass.

Advance voting will continue from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays at the courthouse through noon Aug. 2, the day before the primary. The clerk’s office also will be open from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, July 31, for advance voting.

The primaries will whittle the fields of Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress, state Legislature, county offices, township offices and posts as precinct committee members. The general election is Nov. 2.

First-time voters must bring a valid driver’s license, ID card, utility bill or bank statement to verify identification and address.

The clerk’s office will be open until 9 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Monday to accept voter registrations. Voters must be registered by 9 p.m. Monday to be eligible to vote in the primary.

Accident

Morning wreck snarls turnpike traffic

An out-of-control tractor-trailer crashed Tuesday morning into the concrete median barriers on the Kansas Turnpike at Lawrence, tying up traffic for hours.

The driver of the westbound 1996 Freightliner, Nicolas Glavin, 27, Salina, was not injured and no other vehicles were involved, according to the Kansas Turnpike Authority.

The accident occurred at 6:25 a.m. about a quarter of a mile west of the East Lawrence turnpike terminal. Glavin told Kansas Highway Patrol troopers he became distracted by something inside his cab.

Eastbound traffic was shut down for about a half hour and the westbound lanes were partially shut down while repairs were made to the median. All lanes were open shortly before noon.

Six barrier sections were destroyed and had to be replaced, and 30 sections were damaged, turnpike dispatchers said.

Police

KU student reports groping at party

A female Kansas University student put a man in a headlock after he approached her in the street and touched her inappropriately, according to a police report.

But despite the woman’s fight, the man was able to get away before he could be identified, police said.

The incident happened about 3:30 a.m. Sunday in the 1000 block of Illinois Street, according to a police report. The 20-year-old woman told police she was attending a party and playing Frisbee in the street with friends when the stranger came up behind her, put one arm around her shoulders and groped her with the other hand.

The man was described as being in his 30s with a large build.