A 36-year-old registered sex offender was ordered on Thursday to stand trial after a woman testified that he raped her three years ago at a Lawrence mobile home park.
The man, Michael Ken Aller, of Lawrence, entered a plea of not guilty at the conclusion of Thursday's preliminary hearing and is scheduled to stand trial in January 2026. He is currently out of custody on a $60,000 bond.
The woman, in her 40s, ...
A claim by a child plaintiff that the Lawrence school district is vicariously liable for sexual battery by a speech pathologist at a Lawrence elementary school will move forward for now.
The civil lawsuit relates to allegations that the school district bears some responsibility for the actions of its former Prairie Park Elementary employee, speech pathologist Mark Gridley, who is facing multiple criminal ...
Updated at 9:40 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 14
The Douglas County District Attorney's Office and the lawyer for a man accused of numerous sex crimes are attempting to reach a "global resolution" for five separate cases the man is facing.
The process involves working with the U.S. Attorney's Office, which could potentially file federal charges against the man, Kenneth Wayne Soap, for allegedly preying on girls at ...
A teenage boy has been charged with a felony after he allegedly took a nude photo of a younger special needs student last spring and shared it, and the Lawrence Police Department has acknowledged that the case was initially mishandled.
The student, a juvenile whom the Journal-World is not naming, now faces one count of aggravated unlawful transmission of a visual depiction of a child. The charge filed last week ...
A group of young Lawrence vocalists recently got the chance to perform on one of the world's most renowned stages: Carnegie Hall.
Ava Talbott, a senior at Free State High School who has been singing with the Lawrence Children's Choir for nine years, said it was a thrill to perform in such an iconic venue "where all the greats have performed."
Talbott was one of 21 singers from LCC's Tour Choir who traveled ...
Updated at 3:08 p.m. Wednesday, July 30
Westbound traffic on Interstate 70 near the North Lawrence exit was backed up for hours Wednesday after a semitrailer went off the road and began leaking molten sulfur.
Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical was dispatched to westbound Kansas Turnpike mile marker 205 at 9:59 a.m., according to spokesperson McKenzi Ezell.
Prior to units arriving on the scene, callers ...
