A Eudora man is facing three misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty after allegedly neglecting three dogs. Russell Carl Smith, 21, is accused of violating a state statute that requires that animals in one's custody be provided with food, potable water, protection from the elements, opportunity for exercise and other care. The charges — naming the dogs Diesel, Dixie and Princess – were filed in February, and ...
A conservative Christian activist known for her fierce opposition to transgender girls and women competing in female sports is scheduled to speak at the University of Kansas on Wednesday. Protesters have already vowed to show up for the event where 24-year-old Riley Gaines will appear. Gaines, a former Division 1 college swimmer, has made a name for herself campaigning against trans females in athletics and in ...
Suzanne Valdez's tumultuous, singular term as Douglas County's district attorney ended three months ago, but on Tuesday she found herself facing the Kansas Supreme Court for a disciplinary matter that arose during her very first months in office, back in 2021. It's a position, she told the court in a sometimes shaky and tearful voice, that she never expected to be in, even in her "craziest of nightmares." While ...
A Lawrence man was convicted Tuesday of one count of attempted rape after pleading no contest in a deal with the Douglas County district attorney, who agreed to drop more serious charges. The defendant, Lance Yoder, walked out of Judge Sally Pokorny's courtroom on his own recognizance Tuesday, though a felon, and is scheduled to return in two months for sentencing by a different judge. Yoder was originally ...
Updated at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 27 A federal court has thrown out a lawsuit by a man who claimed that Lawrence police violated his civil rights when they arrested him two years ago at the scene of an armed stand-off. Judge Daniel Crabtree, in an order filed Wednesday, ruled that four officers acted reasonably in May 2023 when they removed "citizen journalist" Michael Eravi from the scene in the 1900 block of ...
A Douglas County judge on Wednesday ordered a competency evaluation and hearing for a defendant accused of child sex crimes at a Lawrence elementary school. The evaluation — to determine whether Mark E. Gridley, 61, is able to understand the proceedings against him and to participate in his own defense — was requested by Gridley's attorney, Vanessa Riebli, and the state did not object. Gridley, a former ...