Probation hearing scheduled for rapist

A man charged with violating probation in the controversial case involving the rape of an intoxicated 13-year-old girl made a brief court appearance Thursday.

William N. Haney appeared in Douglas County District Court and scheduled a probation-violation hearing for April 19. He’s charged with failing to attend sexual-offender classes, missing meetings with probation officers and other violations in the past year since being sentenced by Judge Paula Martin.

Haney was one of three men who received probation instead of prison for the June 2003 rape. Under Kansas law, sex with a child under 14 is classified as rape, regardless of whether it’s physically forced.

Courts

Kansas Press Assn., ex-director settle suit

The Kansas Press Assn. has settled a lawsuit it filed against the organization’s former executive director.

Jeff Burkhead resigned from the position in September 2003 when it was discovered he had used KPA credit cards for nonbusiness purposes and had granted himself an unauthorized loan. Burkhead and his attorney have agreed to a settlement of $56,000, with a stipulation that the debt is nondischargeable in bankruptcy. Though the total losses from Burkhead’s activities were estimated at $119,000, the $56,000 figure was reached after considering money paid from an insurance settlement and money Burkhead paid back before he left the organization.

The lawsuit was filed in summer 2004, and the settlement was reached by pretrial mediation in Shawnee County District Court.

Boat ramp scheduled to be finished by summer

A boat ramp under construction on the Kansas River near Lecompton should be completed by June.

The $91,900 ramp is located off Lecompton Road between U.S. Highways 24 and 40.

Dick Koerth, assistant secretary for administration for the agency, said the construction is part of increasing access to the Kansas River “so the public can float it and enjoy it.”

KPR raises nearly $208,000 in drive

Kansas Public Radio received $207,786 in pledges during its recent spring fund drive.

The drive, which ran from April 1 until Friday, exceeded its goal of $205,000. It included $86,000 through a direct-mail campaign and $121,000 in on-air phone pledges.

The tally included 358 new members and 1,643 renewals. In addition, $18,000 was pledged through company challenge grants.

More than 100 people volunteered to help the drive for KPR, which is the National Public Radio affiliate housed at Kansas University. The station is 91.5 FM.

Gore strategist to speak

Donna Brazile, the Democratic strategist who managed Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, will speak at Kansas University later this month.

Brazile will speak on civic involvement and political activism at 7 p.m. April 25 at the Dole Institute of Politics. The lecture is free and open to the public. A book-signing and reception will follow.

Brazile has worked for such figures as Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. She is managing director of Brazile and Associates, a political consulting and grassroots organizing firm, is chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee’s Voting Rights Institute and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.

Hearing waived in sex crimes case

A former Eudora resident charged with a series of sex crimes against children appeared in court briefly Wednesday and waived a preliminary hearing.

He will appear in court April 25 to schedule a trial and will remain in the Douglas County Jail.

Details of the alleged crimes have not yet been released publicly, but would have come out at a preliminary hearing.

The suspect, who was 41 at the time of his arrest last month and now lives in Mission Hills, is charged with five counts of rape, four counts of aggravated sodomy, and four counts of indecent liberties. Many of the events involved children, officials said.

Eudora police began investigating the man in October after receiving a complaint. Prosecutors allege the crimes happened between November 2001 and July 2004.

The Journal-World generally does not identify defendants in sex crime cases unless they are convicted.