Lawrence resident killed in three-vehicle wreck

Edwardsville — A Lawrence man riding his motorcycle Monday morning was killed in a traffic accident in Edwardsville that also involved a dump truck and a pickup truck.

The Kansas Highway Patrol identified the victim as David G. Quesenbury, 51. No one else was injured in the accident that occurred shortly before 5:30 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of Kansas Highway 32 near the Interstate 435 interchange.

Quesenbury was riding a 1976 Harley-Davidson motorcycle eastbound when he struck the back of a 1986 Peterbuilt dump truck that was stopped at a stop light. The motorcycle veered into the outside lane where it was struck by an eastbound 2004 Chevrolet pickup truck, according to the Highway Patrol report.

Quesenbury was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the dump truck was listed in the report as Billy L. Beck, 57, of Bonner Springs. The driver of the pickup truck was Leroy E. Spradlin, 63, of Kansas City, Kan.

Report

Police investigate fight sparked by political talk

Political trash-talking led to a fight early Saturday at a party in a Kansas University-area neighborhood, according to a police report released Monday.

An 18-year-old Kansas University student told police a former high-school classmate punched him in the face five times and threw him to the ground after an argument in which the victim said he didn’t like the Bush administration and hated Texas. The suspect has family members in Texas, according to the police report.

The fight happened about 1:45 a.m. in the 2000 block of Ousdahl Road. The victim called police to report the incident about 4:10 a.m. after returning home to McCollum Hall.

He suffered minor injuries. Police have not yet had a chance to speak with the suspect.

Recognition

DeSoto teachers considered for award

Two DeSoto School District teachers are semifinalists for the 2005 Kansas Teacher of the Year award.

Sara Dilday, third-grade teacher at Starside Elementary, and Tim Mispagel, art teacher at DeSoto High School, received their awards Sunday night at the Overland Park Marriott, said district spokesman Alvie Cater.

Each also received $2,000.

Dilday and Mispagel will represent districts in Johnson, Wyandotte and Douglas counties. A selection committee from Region 3 in Kansas chose Dilday and Mispagel as 2005 semifinalists from a pool of 19 nominated teachers. Dilday represents the elementary category, and Mispagel represents the secondary category.

SESQUICENTENNIAL

First church founded one month after city

With the city set to celebrate its 150th birthday Saturday, the Journal-World is taking a look at early-day life in Lawrence:

Plymouth Congregational Church, the oldest church in Lawrence, was formally organized Oct. 15, 1854, just a month after the city’s founding.

“They voted to name it Plymouth Church on account of the close parallel between the Kansas settlers and the pilgrims at Plymouth,” Richard Cordley wrote in “A History of Lawrence, Kansas.”

The creed and constitution of the initial church, which met in the Pioneer Boarding House, was based on those at Mount Vernon Church in Boston.