Authorities search for missing rafter

Salina — A teenager disappeared and his friend was stranded on a logjam for about three hours after their rubber raft overturned Saturday morning in the rain-swollen Smoky Hill River.

Authorities rescued 18-year-old Raymond Jones and transported him to Salina Regional Health Center, where he was listed in satisfactory condition Saturday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

About a dozen law enforcement officers were walking the banks of the river Saturday afternoon looking for Jones’ friend, whose name has not been released. A Kansas Highway Patrol helicopter searched about 20 miles of the river from the air.

“We are cautiously optimistic,” said Salina Fire Department Division Chief Ken Giersch.

He said the teens put the raft in the river before daybreak at a bridge near the south end of town. The teens floated between 1 1/2 and 2 miles before they reached a series of three falls with drop-offs ranging from a few feet to more than 10 feet.

The teenagers apparently fell out of the raft as it went over the first drop-off. Before reaching the second drop-off, Jones grabbed onto the logjam and climbed on top, Giersch said.

KU history speech focuses on Russia

A professor of history from Brown University will speak this week at Kansas University.

Patricia Herlihy will present “Where Have All the Russians Gone? Political Implications of a Demographic Disaster” at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Kansas Room of the Kansas Union.

The free lecture is sponsored by the Oswald P. Backus Memorial Fund, the KU history department and the Center for Russian and East European Studies. It is open to the public.