Ex-LHS star sentenced to 10 years in drug case

A former Lawrence High School basketball star will spend at least 10 years in prison after being convicted Friday of a drug-dealing conspiracy.

After a day and a half of deliberations in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., jurors on Friday convicted Maurice “Mo” Trotter of seven drug-related counts. His younger brother, Mardell Trotter, faces at least 25 years in prison because he has a past conviction and was convicted of using a gun in connection with the drug crimes.

The Trotters were charged with conspiring to distribute crack cocaine, powder cocaine and marijuana between late 2002 and August 2004 within 1,000 feet of Kennedy, New York and Central Junior High schools.

Maurice Trotter graduated from LHS in 1992 and went on to play basketball at Illinois State University in the mid-1990s. He was age 30 at the time of his arrest last summer, and Mardell Trotter was 29.

They will be sentenced Aug. 1 by Judge Carlos Murguia.

New program series deals with grief issues

A series of programs to help people deal with grief over the death of loved ones is being started in Douglas County.

The programs are under the Midland Healing Institute, a nonprofit organization set up through Midland Hospice in Topeka.

Nadereh Nasseri, a Midland nurse administrator, has been organizing the local institute and the programs.

Midland Institute, 1008 N.H., is starting its first program this week. It will be a book discussion program; participants will purchase a book to read about dealing with grief. The program will focus on, but not be limited to, people who have lost spouses. The losses do not have to be recent, Nasseri said.

For more information and times for the discussions, call the institute at 842-3627.

KU Graduate School students, staff honored

Seven doctoral students and four graduate faculty at Kansas University recently received awards from the Graduate School.

The awards were presented during a ceremony April 27.

Graduate students honored:

¢ Tori Barnes Brus, sociology, and Matthew Waldschlagel, humanities and Western civilization, Carlin Graduate Teaching Assistant Award.

¢ Greg Brister, English; Aaron Dopf, philosophy; Ashley Elston, history of art; Jee-Hae Lim, business; and Daniela Teodorescu, French and Italian; Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award.

Faculty and staff honored:

¢ Jo Anne Kready, former budget officer of the Graduate School and International Programs, Graduate School Dean’s Award.

¢ Mark Richter, professor of molecular biosciences, Byron Alexander Graduate Mentor Award.

¢ Ira Smith Fischer, associate professor of English, John C. Wright Graduate Mentor Award.

County receives grant for courthouse

Douglas County will receive a $90,000 grant that will help in developing a multiyear preservation plan for the courthouse.

The grant will be used to evaluate the condition of the stones on the north, south, east and west elevations to determine movement, deterioration and needed repairs. The attic stairway and clock tower also will be evaluated.

The Kansas State Historical Society awarded Douglas County with a Heritage Trust Fund grant. In total, the state awarded about $1.3 million in grants for preservation work on 21 of the state’s historic buildings. The historical society received 55 applications for funding.

Commencement

Bishop Seabury seniors graduate

Bishop Seabury Academy celebrated the graduation of its largest senior class in its eight-year history Friday as 22 students received diplomas.

Valedictorians Megynn Blanchard and Clare Hove addressed the audience. Graduate Steven King and faculty member Don Schawang also spoke at the ceremony.

Blanchard’s advice to her fellow graduates: Don’t panic.

She ended her speech by telling her class: “May the force be with you.”

Hove described the benefits of the small school where it’s hard for students to get lost in the crowd and students can make a difference.

“Our futures are bright,” she said.

The school’s first graduate finished in 2002.