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Ian Cummings (Public safety reporter)

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Ian began reporting police and courthouse stories at the Lawrence Journal-World in the winter of 2012. First, he tried many other kinds of work. Ian is an obtuse young man and failed to realize he was supposed to be a crime reporter. The Kansas City native studied anthropology at Kansas University in 2006 before disappearing into Central America for a stretch of years. He hitchhiked to El Salvador on a banana truck. He briefly worked as an amateur electrician before returning to Lawrence as a graduate student in journalism. At various times, he pretended to be a schoolteacher, an archeologist, and a bartender. He has small hands and a quick temper. Ian likes to say he shares those traits with great men: Napoleon, Houdini, and former Kansas City Royals manager Hal McRae. Others say McRae had normal-sized hands. Ian’s work has also appeared in The Kansas City Star. He served as editor of the University Daily Kansan student newspaper in the spring and fall of 2012. You can follow him at Twitter.com/iancummings4.

Recent stories

Burgers, bratwurst, gifts and good times: friends tell of homicide victims’ last days
By Ian Cummings
May 19, 2013
The four victims of the homicides discovered last week in Ottawa, and the friend accused of murdering them, were all together for a barbecue not long before the killings. They ate hamburgers, played with their hosts’ children, and left happy, as far as anyone could see. Friends couldn’t see any sign of trouble, though they knew of Kyle Flack’s history of violence. By Ian Cummings
Graduation brings a boom weekend for local businesses before the quieter days of summer
By Ian Cummings
May 18, 2013
As another crop of students throw their caps in their air during graduation weekend, the influx of family members and other visitors creates a boom for local businesses. The flip side of that equation is that thousands of high school and college students will leave town — either for good, or for the summer — taking millions of dollars with them. It’s an economic reality that, local businesses say, affects some more than others. By Ian Cummings
Motorcycle accident briefly closes Kansas Turnpike; one person critically injured
By Ian Cummings
May 18, 2013
A 74-year-old Missouri man was critically injured in a motorcycle accident that briefly closed westbound traffic on the Kansas Turnpike near the North Lawrence Interchange Saturday morning. All lanes of traffic were open again by 8:50 a.m.
KU student arrested after fight sends Lawrence man to trauma center
By Ian Cummings
May 17, 2013
A 21-year-old Kansas University student was arrested on suspicion of aggravated battery about 1 a.m. Friday after a fight at a local bar sent a Lawrence man to a Kansas City-area trauma center. Ian Cummings
City honors Lawrence’s fallen officers during National Police Week
By Ian Cummings
May 17, 2013
Lawrence police gathered Friday morning to recognize National Police Week and to remember three Lawrence police officers killed in line of duty: Allen Moore, who died in 1901 at a train depot in North Lawrence; Wilson Pringle, shot while trying to stop a robbery in 1909; and Melvin Howe, killed during a traffic stop in 1931. By Ian Cummings
Police to aggressively enforce seat-belt laws in 2013 Click It or Ticket campaign
By Ian Cummings
May 17, 2013
From Monday to June 2, police will make a special effort to pull over and cite drivers who are not wearing their seat belts. Lawrence police are joining more than 140 other Kansas law enforcement agencies in the 2013 Click it or Ticket enforcement campaign beginning from Monday to June 2, when officers throughout the state will aggressively enforce seat-belt laws and other traffic violations, according to a news release from the Lawrence Police Department.
Kansas Attorney General taking over prosecution in Ottawa homicide case
By Ian Cummings
May 17, 2013
Prosecutors from the Kansas Attorney General’s office have taken on the lead role in prosecuting an Ottawa man a quadruple homicide discovered in rural Ottawa last week, according to a statement from the office of Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt on Friday.
Burglar strikes same property two days in a row, escapes after battering resident
By Ian Cummings
May 14, 2013
Police are looking for a burglar who struck the same storage unit two days in a row this week and battered a Lawrence resident who caught him in the act.
Courthouse wrap-up: Prison sentence in New Year’s Day shooting; 30 days in jail for Lawrence woman who drove car into house
By Ian Cummings
May 14, 2013
A wrap-up of criminal cases over the past week in Douglas County District Court. Click on the highlighted links for more details.
Lawrence man with disability found safe after going missing from group home
By Ian Cummings
10:57 a.m., May 14, 2013 Updated 07:20 p.m.
Family members were relieved after finding Andrew Ellis, 20, who had gone missing from a Leawood group home early Tuesday morning. Ellis suffers from a brain injury and does not usually travel alone.

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