Lawrence residents attended a little afternoon party Saturday at Liberty Hall to celebrate the life of Shakti, the therapy dog who's often seen around town sporting a tutu and eliciting smiles. Her orange, pink and red tutu was especially festive Saturday, and the smiles came as usual — but on this day with a special poignancy. As the Journal-World reported earlier this month, the nearly 14-year-old ...
No plea deal is in sight for the Lawrence man accused of drunkenly crashing his car into a Lawrence restaurant more than two years ago and injuring multiple diners. The defendant, Brandon Lee Vess, 31, appeared Friday in Douglas County District Court for a conference ahead of his scheduled Feb. 3 trial. Judge Sally Pokorny in October had warned Vess, who is out on bond and has a history of missing court dates, ...
A Lawrence man has been ordered to stand trial on charges of rape and aggravated criminal sodomy after an 18-year-old woman testified that the man assaulted her on a couch at his apartment after an evening out. Douglas County Judge Sally Pokorny on Friday found probable cause to believe that Miquel L. Brown committed the crimes and set a trial date for May 12. Brown, represented by attorney Gary West, entered a ...
The area manager of a local restaurant was sentenced to probation Thursday in Douglas County District Court for his role in the fentanyl death of his best friend, a 32-year-old Lawrence father of two. At the hearing, Robert Leeroy Hall, 35, the area manager for Jefferson’s Restaurant, apologized to the family of Michael Aron Howell, who died on Oct. 8, 2021, after taking a fentanyl pill provided by Hall, who ...
The past week has been a winter wonderland for Lawrence residents given to building with snow. One especially ambitious family spent the weekend erecting a 21-foot tall snowman in North Lawrence. It took two days and some help from a backhoe, but by Sunday afternoon, the six-segment creature — dubbed Frosty 2.0 — was standing tall in the 200 block of Lyon Street with a carrot nose and two eyes made out of ...
A former University of Kansas professor who was prosecuted for wire fraud and making false statements has filed a federal lawsuit against KU to get his job back, along with back wages and compensation for damage to his reputation. Feng (Franklin) Tao, a Chinese-born researcher, was hired in 2014 as a tenured associate professor in chemical engineering. Five years later he was arrested under the Department of ...