Teen clerical worker reports lewd behavior

Police are investigating a claim that a 41-year-old Lawrence man made inappropriate sexual comments and gestures toward a 17-year-old girl who had come to his home to do clerical work.

The girl told police the incident happened about noon Aug. 29 when she was doing work sorting receipts for the man. Because of an ongoing investigation, police would not say in detail what the man was alleged to have done. Police are classifying it as a case of “lewd and lascivious” behavior.

The girl also alleged the man told her not to say anything about the incident.

Police, who released a report Wednesday, made contact with the suspect but did not question him because he asked for an attorney.

U.S. Highway 59

Wreck near county line injures 21-year-old

A 21-year-old Princeton, Kan., woman was seriously injured Tuesday night in a one-car accident on U.S. Highway 59 south of Lawrence.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said Danielle S. Martinez was heading south on U.S. 59 when her 2002 Ford Focus left the west side of the road, overturned and struck several trees.

The accident happened at 8:50 p.m., about one-tenth of a mile south of North 100 Road near the Douglas-Franklin county line.

She was flown by air ambulance to University of Kansas Hospital, Kansas City, Kan., but a condition report wasn’t available Wednesday evening.

Officers found alcohol at the scene but are still investigating whether it had anything to do with the wreck, according to a report.

Sesquicentennial

Kansas winter surprises city’s earliest residents

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

The first Lawrence residents got an early taste of what winter would be like in Kansas.

A cold wave struck Nov. 11, 1854, bringing with it 2 inches of snow. The residents, living in tents and crude shacks, had enjoyed a dry and mild fall.

“The nice fall weather probably lulled many residents into putting off construction of adequate shelters for winter,” wrote David Dary in “Lawrence: An Informal History.”

At least one resident would plan ahead for the winter. While many residents didn’t have heat, Erastus D. Ladd, from Wisconsin, heated his 12-by-14-foot log cabin with a stove brought from his native state.