Restaurant reports pants-dropping patron

Lawrence Police say a man who was eating with friends at a Chinese restaurant stood up, dropped his pants, ran a lap around the salad bar and sat back down.

The incident happened about 6:50 p.m. Thursday — St. Patrick’s Day — at Peking Taste, 2210 Iowa.

Employees asked the man to leave and called police, but he had left before officers arrived.

Police suspect the man was under the influence of alcohol. They’re classifying it as a case of indecent exposure.

Safety

Signs remind drivers to yield to pedestrians

Motorists at 23rd and Louisiana streets will notice new signs alerting them to watch out for pedestrians crossing the road.

City crews installed the signs at the intersection Monday afternoon after receiving several complaints from runners who said drivers at the intersection often were making turns at the corner without looking for pedestrians.

“I think some awareness will help the situation,” said Marcia Riley, a Lawrence runner who asked the city for the signs. “I hope it helps because we’ve had a lot of close calls out there.”

The signs read “Turning Traffic MUST Yield to Pedestrians.” City officials plan to install signs at the Clinton Parkway and Kasold Drive intersection in the future, and will evaluate other intersections for similar sign placements.

Survey

County to participate in housing program

Douglas County commissioners agreed Monday to participate in an affordable housing program offered by Aquila, the Kansas City, Mo.-based natural gas and electric company.

The commissioners agreed to apply with the city of Lawrence for the program, called the Community Housing Assessment Team. The program would do a statistical analysis of the community, complete a supply-and-demand analysis of affordable housing in the community and survey perceptions about the housing market.

The study, which would be done over three to four days in May or June, could cost up to $9,000, but Aquila would pay up to $3,000 if the city is accepted for the program.

Law enforcement

Policy change triples noise-complaint action

Lawrence Police say they expect to take action on more noise complaints in the first three months of the year than they did in all of 2004.

In January and February, police took action on 31 noise complaints, either by issuing a citation at the scene or by sending a report to prosecutors. In all of 2004, they took action on 48 complaints.

Early this year, after complaints about loud campus-area parties, police unveiled a new policy for responding to noise disturbances. The changes made it faster for officers to give citations and removed a requirement that a complainant must step forward as a witness.

Students taking alternative breaks

Sixty Kansas University students are forgoing the traditional college spring break this week to volunteer at nine sites across the country.

The Alternative Spring Break program is in its 11th year at KU.

Sites that have drawn participants this year are the Gesundheit! Institute in Hillsboro, W.Va.; Teach for America in Rio Grand Valley, Texas; National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, D.C.; Rocky Mountain Youth Corps in Taos, N.M.; Tree Utah in Salt Lake City; South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind in Spartanburg; the Bonadventure House in Chicago.; the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Salt Lake City; and Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Ariz.

Students pay $200 each to volunteer in the program.

Multicultural center site dedication set

Kansas University officials will gather March 30 to dedicate the site for the new Multicultural Resource Center.

The ceremony will be at 3:30 p.m. at the construction site, which is just north of the Kansas Union along Oread Avenue.

The $2.7 million facility is being funded through a gift from the Sabatini Family Foundation, student fees and university funds. The center will include meeting and office space devoted to promoting diversity on campus.

Groundbreaking on the facility is slated for August or September. The center is scheduled to be completed by fall 2006.

Grant to expand literary project

A $75,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities will expand a project devoted to teaching the writings of Toni Morrison.

The grant goes to Kansas University and the Toni Morrison Society. It expands a teacher in-service project begun at Cardozo Senior High School in Washington, D.C., to new sites in Lawrence on April 2, Osborne Park, Va., on April 18, and Cincinnati on April 25.

Twenty teachers will be selected from the workshops to participate in a one-week seminar July 9 through 14 at Northern Kentucky University.