Police investigating trash-bin fires
Police and fire investigators canvassed central Lawrence Wednesday after someone apparently set fire to four trash bins, a crime similar to one that happened Sunday night.
The first fire Wednesday was reported shortly before 9 p.m. near 12th and Ohio streets. By 9:34 p.m., three other trash bins had burned: one in the 1300 block of Ohio, one in the 300 block of West 11th Street, and one in the 1300 block of Vermont.
A similar group of fires happened Sunday night and early Monday between the 800 and 1800 blocks of Massachusetts Street and at 1425 Ky.
Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical Battalion Chief Rob Kort said the fires from Sunday night were still under investigation. He said the department was working with the state fire marshal's office to identify a cause.
Gunfire heard at apartments
Lawrence Police were going door-to-door at a south Lawrence apartment complex late Wednesday night investigating reports of gunfire and a robbery in the area.
Capt. Stephen Zarnowiec said the incident began when someone reported hearing gunfire in the area of Southpointe Apartments, 2154 W. 26th St. Shortly afterward, a man walked into the nearby Lawrence Athletic Club South, 2108 W. 27th St., saying he'd been robbed.
When an off-duty police officer who was working out at the club approached the man, identified himself and picked up a phone to make a call, the man ran away, Zarnowiec said.
Police arrived at the apartments about 8:30 p.m. and still were there at 10:30 p.m. Zarnowiec said it could take hours for police to determine exactly what happened.
Manhattan resident drowns at Tuttle Creek
Manhattan -- A Manhattan man drowned Wednesday afternoon at Tuttle Creek Reservoir when his canoe overturned, authorities said.
Riley County Police identified the man as Franklin Johnson, 69. Divers recovered his body after the canoe he and another person were riding in flipped in water that was about 10 feet deep.
Neither Johnson nor the other person in the canoe were wearing life jackets.
Officer injured in police chase
McPherson -- A police captain was struck Wednesday as he attempted to use stop sticks to deflate the tires of a fleeing vehicle, the McPherson Sheriff's Department said.
Capt. Charles Allcock was taken to a Wichita hospital where he remained in serious condition Wednesday night.
The chase started around 1:10 p.m. when officers learned a suspicious vehicle parked just south of Elyria was stolen from Nebraska. As the officers approached the vehicle, it took off.
A deputy fired one round into the right rear tire of the vehicle, but it kept going. Allcock was trying to deploy the stop sticks when the vehicle swerved and hit him, the sheriff's department said.
A man and woman, both in their mid-20s, were taken into custody. Neither was injured.
Health departments to get flu vaccine
The state's flu-vaccine supply is about to get a boost.
Local health departments statewide will receive 15,000 doses of flu vaccine between now and mid-January, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced Wednesday. The state health department also will receive 75,360 doses during the same time period.
The doses going to health departments had been ordered by the departments previously but hadn't been shipped by the manufacturer, Aventis Pasteur, which was working with the federal government in recent weeks to redistribute the drugs nationally.
State health officials recommend that only high-risk people, including pregnant women, those older than 65 or younger than 2, and people with weakened immune systems, get the vaccine.
More information about who's considered at risk and the plan to distribute the vaccines can be found at www.kdhe.state.ks.us.
European banker to discuss policy
The director general of research at the European Central Bank will speak Friday at Kansas University.
Vitor Gaspar will deliver the lecture "The Conduct of Monetary Policy Over Time" at 5:30 p.m. at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union. A reception will follow from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Adams Alumni Center.
Gaspar has been with the European Central Bank since 1998. He previously was director of research at the Bank of Portugal, director of economic studies at the Portuguese Ministry of Finance and a faculty member at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Lisbon, Portugal.
The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is part of the Oswald Speaker Series sponsored by the KU department of economics.
Johnson County trial set in string of arsons
Olathe -- A judge on Wednesday denied motions to suppress certain statements as evidence in the case against a former Kansas University student accused in 14 arson fires in Johnson County.
A trial date of Feb. 28 was set for David R. Jay, 24.
Jay is charged with using starter logs and camp fuel in setting the fires. He was arrested in September.
Jay also is suspected of setting three fires in March in Lawrence: at a garden store, a dental office and Kansas University's Watson Library. Douglas County prosecutors, however, have not yet charged Jay.
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