Details still scarce on Lecompton slaying

The investigation into the unsolved slaying of a man from rural Lecompton continued Wednesday.

Douglas County investigators have not disclosed how 77-year-old David Boose died, nor who is suspected of killing him. An acquaintance found him inside his home Friday night, and a coroner later ruled his death a homicide.

Sheriff Ken McGovern has said detectives are pursuing leads in Douglas County and Topeka. But he said he’s not releasing details about the case for strategic reasons.

Boose’s great-nephew, Doug Elliott, said family members are respecting investigators’ request that they not publicize details of the case.

“They’ve just said to keep quiet, so that’s what we’re doing,” he said.

Boose had retired as owner of David’s Jewelers in downtown Topeka, which he founded in 1968. Neighbors described him as a friendly man who liked to remodel stringed instruments and work with antique cars.

Crime

Flower store reopens after vandalism spree

Vandals ransacked a Lawrence floral shop less than a week before one of store’s busiest days of the year.

Employees at Flowerama, 1700 W. 23rd St., discovered the damage when they arrived for work Tuesday morning.

Glass on the back door of the business had been shattered. Inside, vandals had caused nearly $7,000 in damage.

“It was a mess. There was glass everywhere,” Flowerama employee Anna Onofrio said. “Doors were smashed in, plants were everywhere. The actual cooler doors were smashed, and they had taken the dozen roses and threw them all over the store.”

The vandalism forced Flowerama to shut its doors Tuesday so employees could clean up the mess.

The store has reopened, and employees said they are ready for Mother’s Day on Sunday.

Meanwhile, anyone with information on the vandalism is urged to call the anonymous Crime Stoppers Hot Line at 843-TIPS.

Kansas University

Community journalism grant awarded to KU

The Kansas University journalism school has received a $200,000 grant to help teach journalists to cover their communities better.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced Monday it would give the grant to KU and another $200,000 to the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation in Bethesda, Md., for a joint two-year project to improve community journalism.

The KU portion of the project will be led by Peggy Kuhr, a KU journalism professor.

The initiative will lead to a set of Web-based resources, including a community coverage handbook, information for journalism educators and newsroom trainers, and case studies of good community journalism.

KU’s William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications also will hold three symposia to discuss the relationship between journalists and communities and the conditions for credible coverage.

Local teachers complete Toni Morrison workshop

Eight Lawrence teachers recently completed a Kansas University workshop designed to improve teaching of Toni Morrison novels.

The workshop was April 1 and was part of “Language Matters II: Reading and Teaching Toni Morrison, the Cardozo Project Model,” a project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Several of the participants also will attend a summer institute on the subject at the University of Northern Kentucky in Highland Heights.

Lawrence participants were Art Sloan and Susan Tate, Lawrence High School; Vicki Tucker, West Junior High; Kathleen Scollon, South Junior High; Susan Brummett, Juvenile Detention Center; Linda Wedge, Free State High School; Pat Hays, Lawrence substitute teacher; and Lori Stussie, Alternative High School.

Commission changes road designation

Douglas County commissioners lifted a minimum maintenance road designation on a short stretch along East 1800 Road from North 800 to North 900 roads.

On Wednesday, commissioners approved rescinding the designation on a 2-1 vote with Commission Chairman Charles Jones dissenting.

Jones opposed the change because it would allow a developer to obtain building permits for a residential development. He viewed the residential development as an abuse of the county’s five-acre exemption rule. The five-acre exemption allows landowners who have at least five acres of rural property to build a home without going through the rezoning and platting process.

While agreeing with Jones, Commissioner Bob Johnson said the development wouldn’t be against the county’s current rules.

“I think we should move forward as fast as we can and deal with the five-acre rule,” Johnson said. The acreage rule has been under scrutiny in plans developed by the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Department and Commission.