Photo gallery: The day in photos, Feb. 23, 2012

photo by: Nick Krug

Lawrence resident Marion Vernon leans forward to receive the traditional ashes in the sign of the cross on her forehead from Pastor Matt Zimmermann during Ash Wednesday services at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, 5700 W. Sixth St. During his sermon, Zimmermann spoke of the importance of Ash Wednesday as the beginning of new life and the 40-day Lenten journey.

photo by: Nick Krug

Mary Samuel cleans the interior of a bus stop Tuesday near the intersection of Sixth Street and Lawrence Avenue. The 60-degree temperatures permitted Samuel to ditch her jacket for short sleeves as she worked her way around town cleaning the 40 covered stop locations.

photo by: Richard Gwin

Scott Eteeyan and his brother, Donald, take photos of their car following an accident on the K-10 bypass Wednesday morning. The brothers escaped serious injury. Hoping to grab the attention of drivers on Kansas Highway 10, the state Senate on Wednesday advanced legislation that would double fines on the roadway between Lawrence and Johnson County.

photo by: Richard Gwin

Wes Fine, who was injured in Iraq in 2005, is now pursuing his master’s degree at Kansas University through a Army program called Wounded Warriors in this 2009 file photo. As the United States Army is reviewing whether to continue a program that sends wounded veterans to Kansas University for graduate study, a KU office is looking to support those veterans and their families with a new scholarship.

photo by: Mike Yoder

A ticket scalper offers tickets to fans passing by before 2009 home game. Federal authorities who investigated allegations that two suspended Lawrence police officers had a role in dismissing speeding tickets in exchange for Kansas University basketball tickets declined to pursue criminal charges.

photo by: Ailecia Ruscin

Marissa Stromgren talks with a casting agent for "3," an upcoming CBS dating show Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012 at Teller's, 746 Mass.

photo by: Richard Gwin

Kansas University student Zoe Shelden, of Holcomb, was one of many students camping out Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse to get good seats for Saturday’s men’s basketball game against Missouri. The KU-MU match-up will mark the end of the schools’ regular-season Big 12 rivalry, as Missouri’s departure from the Big 12 Conference draws near.