WRITER: Kim Callahan

Douglas County Sheriff's Office donating bulletproof vests to aid Ukraine against Russian invasion

Like many organizations, agencies and individuals across the globe, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office is contributing to Ukraine's effort to defend itself against Russia's deadly invasion. The office has donated bulletproof body armor — specifically 20 ballistic vests — to help Ukraine in its fight against President Vladimir Putin's military, which invaded the country on Feb. 24. “In law enforcement ...

'Drunken Fiddles' class a delightfully sobering experience for adults who thought they couldn't learn violin

Like a lot of violinists, Laurel Parks started playing the violin at a very young age. She was just 4 when her dad, who was taking a music class at a community center, brought home a fiddle. Something about the shiny wooden thing “spoke to my little tiny heart,” she says. After she grew up and became an accomplished musician, she realized that the instrument also spoke to bigger, older hearts. Problem was, ...

Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None' kicks off Theatre Lawrence's British mystery doubleheader

Few entertainments are more riveting than a British murder mystery — a fact happily embraced by Theatre Lawrence, which is producing two such dramas, back to back, this season. First up is the classic “And Then There Were None,” which opens Friday. The play is based on Agatha Christie’s 83-year-old novel — by many accounts, the bestselling mystery of all time. Christie also wrote the stage version of ...

Former Haskell student journalist settles federal lawsuit against university leaders; free-speech advocates hail agreement as a win

Former Haskell Indian Nations University student journalist Jared Nally has settled his lawsuit against leaders of the university — which will result in policy reform at Haskell that free-speech advocates are hailing as a victory. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonprofit that focuses on protecting free speech on college campuses, backed Nally in his lawsuit and called the settlement a ...

Theatre Lawrence takes a serious turn with two-woman show about friendship and betrayal

The director of Theatre Lawrence's current production considered giving the 26-year-old play a more contemporary look, but one thing stood in his way: a landline telephone. The ringing phone — with not even an answering machine to quiet it — plays a small but significant role in Donald Margulies’ “Collected Stories,” and director Doug Weaver just didn’t think a cellphone could be substituted and ...

Lawrence man quietly dog sitting finds himself in middle of dramatic water rescue

Greg Martin is not a pet owner and was a tad apprehensive about dog sitting for 10 days, but he wanted to help out his little sister, who otherwise might have had to cancel an eagerly anticipated trip to Iceland. Cindy Martin and her wife, Wendi Norton, hadn’t had any luck getting reliable sitters, so when Greg agreed to come keep an eye on their 3-year-old German shepherd, Blue, it was something of a ...