WRITER: Kim Callahan

Affidavit: On night of shootings, underage males were rejected by The Hawk, but within an hour they bought phony wristbands from KU student and were admitted

After a group of young men were escorted out of a Lawrence bar for being underage, they met up with a KU student and bought wristbands from him that purported to show they were at least 21 and that enabled their entry. Two hours later, the group would be connected to two shootings at the bar, one of them fatal. That's according to the partially redacted arrest affidavit for Hunter J. Noravong, the KU student ...

Less than two weeks from trial, teen accused of raping Lawrence 5-year-old takes plea deal

A teenager who was set to stand trial in less than two weeks for allegedly raping and sodomizing a Lawrence 5-year-old accepted a plea deal Thursday in Douglas County District Court. The teen, who was 14 when the crime occurred on Nov. 17, 2024, pleaded no contest to an amended count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Even though his victim was 5 years old, she is listed in the amended complaint as ...

23-year-old convicted of attempted murders, aggravated assault in 2022 Baldwin City shootings; he's facing nearly 20 years in prison

Updated at 5:35 p.m. Wednesday, July 22 A 23-year-old man was convicted Wednesday in Douglas County District Court of two attempted murders and aggravated assault for a series of public shootings more than three years ago in downtown Baldwin City. The defendant, Junah Sisney, was convicted after pleading guilty to one count of attempted first-degree murder, one count of attempted second-degree murder and one ...

Family says maintenance man shot raccoons to death in front of kids; police forward affidavit to prosecutor

A maintenance man for an apartment complex in southwest Lawrence reportedly shot and killed a group of raccoons in the complex's dumpster — in front of children — and now could face charges of animal cruelty and unlawful discharge of a firearm. The incident occurred Friday at Village at West End, a complex at 4410 Clinton Parkway operated by Midwest Property Management. Laura McCabe, a spokeswoman for the ...

Ex-Dillons employee accused of stealing $45K from store is getting a diversion, his lawyer says

A man accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the Dillons grocery that employed him has worked out a diversion agreement with the Douglas County District Attorney's Office, his lawyer told a judge Wednesday. "We have reached an agreement; it just needs to be typed up," Hatem Chahine, the lawyer for Ethan Waters, told Senior Judge Nancy Parrish. Chahine said that DA Dakota Loomis was "working on ...

Former award-winning paraprofessional in Lawrence school district charged with 2 more sex crimes

A former award-winning paraprofessional in the Lawrence school district has been charged with two more sex crimes against children, bringing the number of criminal charges to four. The Douglas County District Attorney's Office recently charged Caleb Zachary Rahmeier with attempted sexual exploitation of a child, which allegedly occurred between May 21, 2022, and Sept. 3, 2024, and sexual exploitation of a ...