Six teens injured in early morning crash

Six teens suffered injuries early Wednesday after a one-vehicle wreck west of Baldwin, police said. None of them was wearing seatbelts.

The wreck happened about 12:10 a.m. on southbound East 800 Road near U.S. Highway 56, according to a Douglas County Sheriff’s report.

The report said Robert J. Milkey, 16, Baldwin, was driving a 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe when he failed to stop at a stop sign, ran off the road, struck a fence and ended up in a ditch.

He and five passengers Courtney Shawbaker, 16, Amy Breithaupt, 16, Mark Maley, 18, Kaylee Denning, 16, and Maria Rodriguez, 17, all of Lawrence – went to Lawrence Memorial Hospital for treatment, said Lt. Kathy Tate, a sheriff’s spokeswoman. Sheriff’s deputies were not notified of the wreck until the teens reached the hospital, Tate said.

A report indicated alcohol was present inside the vehicle, but the cause of the accident remains under investigation.

Courts

Hearing postponed in sex predator case

A court hearing on whether a sexual predator should remain barred from living in a Leavenworth County group home was postponed Wednesday.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no new court date for Leroy Hendricks’ case had been scheduled.

Leavenworth County commissioners won a temporary restraining order last week that kicked the 70-year-old Hendricks out of a group home on rural Golden Road where he had lived for less than two days. County officials argue that the group home violates zoning laws.

A judge was to hear arguments Wednesday on whether the restraining order should remain in effect, but an attorney for the state’s Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, which has custody of Hendricks, couldn’t attend.

Hendricks has been returned to Osawatomie State Hospital.

Kansas University

Dean named provost at Michigan State

Kim Wilcox has formally been named provost of Michigan State University.

The university’s board of trustees approved his appointment Tuesday. Wilcox will start at MSU, his alma mater, on Aug. 1.

Wilcox served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Kansas University for nearly three years. He served as a faculty member in the speech-language-hearing department at KU from 1984 to 1998, when he became interim director of academic affairs for the Kansas Board of Regents. A year later, the board named him executive director.

Wilcox’s last day at KU is June 30. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Barbara Romzek, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. KU officials plan to launch a national search for a permanent replacement this fall.