Repossession effort leads to shooting, arrest

Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Pomona man after a shooting Tuesday night along U.S. Highway 56.

Undersheriff Ken McGovern said the incident happened at 11:30 p.m. just west of Baldwin Junction.

A Leavenworth couple working for Heartland Collateral Recovery was in the process of repossessing a vehicle in Franklin County.

McGovern said workers were later confronted by the suspect, who fired several shots at their car as they were driving on U.S. Highway 56.

No one was injured, and the suspect left the area.

The 29-year-old was later located with the help of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and booked into the Douglas County Jail on aggravated assault charges.

Missing 78-year-old found safe, stuck

A 78-year-old Baldwin-area man survived spending a night outside, even when temperatures dropped as low as 33 degrees.

Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies had been searching for the man, who had been missing since about 5 p.m. Tuesday.

A Sheriff’s Office spokesman said the 78-year-old man had been fishing in a pond on a neighbor’s property when he got stuck in the mud.

As the property owner was feeding his cattle he discovered the fisherman between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Wednesday.

The fisherman was taken by ambulance to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in fair condition Wednesday evening.

KU installs spam filter

Kansas University’s thousands of computer users have a new tool to help manage the flood of junk e-mails, or spam, coming into their mail accounts.

A spam filter has been installed on KU’s e-mail accounts, said Jerree Catlin, associate director of KU’s Academic Computing Services.

The filter, installed by KU Information Services, is designed to evaluate incoming e-mails and label suspicious messages with a “SpamScore” in the subject header to help computer users manage their messages.

Catlin said the filter does not automatically delete messages.

“We didn’t want the filter to accidentally delete legitimate e-mails, such as from subscribed e-mail lists. This tagging method flags suspicious e-mails but leaves control to delete in the hands of our users,” Catlin said.

Details about the spam filter and instructions for creating autofiltering rules in different e-mail programs can be found at www.ku.edu/acs/email/spam.

Faculty and staff with questions should contact their department technical support staff or call (785) 864-0200.

Unclassified KU professionals make case

Topeka — Members of the Unclassified Professional Staff Assn. at Kansas University were in the Capitol on Wednesday talking with legislators about the need to support higher education funding.

“We want to put a face on the unclassified staff and express our support for higher education,” said Pam Houston, UPSA president.

KU employs more than 1,600 unclassified staff who work in a variety of areas ncluding administration and research.

Eleven UPSA representatives took a vacation day to meet with lawmakers.

Coffeyville paper gets new managing editor

Coffeyville — The Coffeyville Journal has announced the appointment of a new managing editor and reporter.

Alan Twitchell replaced Bob Eighmy on Sunday. Eighmy is moving to Fayetteville, Ark., to be closer to family there. Twitchell rejoined the Journal four months ago as a reporter after working 3 1/2 years as the Emporia Gazette’s city editor.

Tamara Brinker joined the news staff as a reporter, replacing Todd Smith. Smith is now the news editor at the Skiatook (Okla.) Journal. Brinker is a 2001 graduate of Coffeyville Community College, where she was a theater major.

Professor to lead WSU communication school

Wichita — After a national search, Wichita State University’s Elliott School of Communication will be led by the professor who has been doing the job on an interim basis since June.

Susan Huxman, associate professor of communication, is the school’s new director, the university announced Wednesday.

“Dr. Huxman has spent a valuable year as interim director and knows the Elliott school. She is an excellent teacher, which I think is mandatory for anyone who wants to move into an administrative position,” Les Anderson, the school’s associate director, said in a news release.

Huxman replaces Shirley Staples Carter, who left the school last year to become director of the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Since joining the school in 1990, Huxman has taught courses in strategic communication in organizations, media analysis, public speaking and research methods.

She earned her doctorate of philosophy and Master of Arts degrees in communication from the University of Kansas. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Bethel College.