Deerfield teacher is Legacy Award winner

A second-grade teacher at Deerfield School has received the 37th annual Legacy Award from the Lawrence Education Assn. and KU Credit Union.

Karen Warner, who has taught in the district since 1984, was presented the honor Tuesday.

In addition to her classroom teaching, Warner has worked to create a language arts program for fourth-graders that will meet state standards. Warner also is involved in Girl Scouts, Lawrence Children’s Choir and LEA.

West Nile virus information available

The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department and K-State Research and Extension of Douglas County will offer an informal presentation on West Nile virus at 7 p.m. today in the second-floor meeting room A/B of the Community Health Facility, 200 Maine.

Ludek Zurek, assistant professor of medical and veterinary entomology at Kansas State University, will cover various issues about West Nile virus, including mosquito biology, symptoms, mosquito control, personal protection and how the state is handling the issue.

Hobby, career fair open to New York students

Students at New York School will learn about hobbies and career choices this afternoon at the “Kids’ Night Out” sponsored by the Lawrence Breakfast Optimists Club.

The event, which runs from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the school, 936 N.Y., will include demonstrations on bee-keeping, model trains, law enforcement, KU ROTC, aerospace engineering, wood carving and other topics.

Baby Jay and the McDonald’s Hamburglar also are scheduled to attend.

Laptop computer thefts under investigation

Lenexa — Police are looking for a man who has calmly walked into about 14 suburban Kansas City businesses and walked out with laptop computers.

Police believe that since December, the man has hit 10 businesses in Lenexa, three in Overland Park and one in Mission, mostly in industrial parks. Police are examining stolen computer reports to see if the man could be connected to more cases.

The thief usually strolls into the businesses early in the morning or late in the afternoon while most employees are gone, casually sits at a desk and takes a laptop, Lenexa Detective Dawn Layman said. The thief is generally dressed casually in a sweat suit, Hawaiian shirt and a Minnesota Vikings jacket.

The man is rarely confronted, police said. When an employee did interrupt him once, he said he was asking about janitorial jobs and left, Layman said.

KU student with meningitis still critical

Kansas City, Kan. — A Kansas University student hospitalized with bacterial meningitis could lose fingertips, but otherwise is showing signs of progress.

A week ago, Andy Marso, a 22-year-old journalism major, was admitted with the bacterial infection at University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan.

“He is relatively upbeat and able to talk,” Malcolm Gibson, a KU journalism professor and family spokesman, said Wednesday afternoon.

Still, Marso remained in critical condition Wednesday night, a nursing supervisor said.

Gibson, the adviser for The University Daily Kansan student newspaper where Marso was a reporter, said Marso, a St. Cloud, Minn., senior, was stable but heavily sedated. The infection has also done damage to the tips of his fingers. Bacterial meningitis releases toxins in the body that destroy skin tissue.