Commission meeting canceled

Lawrence city commissioners have canceled their meeting for Tuesday evening.

Commissioners usually meet four times per month. There are five Tuesdays in May, which led to the decision to cancel this week’s meeting. Commissioners will next meet at 6:35 p.m. May 31 at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.

KU student dies after long illness

A Kansas University sophomore has died after a long battle with a rare hereditary disease.

Lyndon “Lindy” Wells, 20, died Friday morning at the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan. He listed hometowns of Lawrence and St. Louis, Mo.

Wells had the vascular type of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which makes blood vessels and organs prone to tearing.

He was a student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and was a member of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity.

There will be a memorial service at 2 p.m. Monday at KU’s Danforth Chapel.

The family suggests memorials to the Make-A-Wish Foundation or any charity, in care of Broadway Colonial Funeral Home, 120 E. Broadway, Newton, 67114.

Courts

Man gets 32 months in child abuse case

A Lawrence man on Friday was sentenced to 32 months in prison for child abuse.

John W. Koenig, 29, pleaded guilty to two counts of child abuse in April.

He was accused of abusing two children, who were both about 2 months old at the time, between November and December of 2004.

Koenig was arrested by police in December after one of the children was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital with what hospital officials considered a “suspicious head injury.”

Forum to discuss mental health issues

A public forum Monday will give area residents a chance to talk about the issue of inpatient mental health care in Douglas County.

The Community Health Improvement Project Task Force on Mental Health will host a forum at 7 p.m. Monday in the auditorium of the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt.

The task force was formed to specifically study whether the community needs an inpatient mental health unit to care for individuals in crisis. Lawrence Memorial Hospital closed the last vestiges of its mental health unit in May 2004.

The task force is asking individuals to limit their comments to three minutes each. Individuals also are encouraged to put their thoughts in writing and submit them to the task force at the event or via e-mail at chip@ldchd.lawrence.ks.us.