WRITER: Kim Callahan

Judge denies new trial for man convicted of robbing Lawrence home of thousands in cash

Updated at 4:55 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16 A man who was convicted earlier this year of robbing a woman at gunpoint in a Lawrence home will not get a new trial, a Douglas County judge ruled on Friday. A jury on Jan. 19 found Chester Wendell Brockman, 52, guilty of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and aggravated burglary for an incident in the summer of 2022 in which he and another man forced their way into a ...

Man found guilty in obstruction case related to Kamarjay Shaw's shooting death

An Oskaloosa man who aided a teen who was wanted in the 2023 killing of a Lawrence boy was found guilty Friday in Douglas County District Court of one count of felony obstruction. The charge relates to Camdon Joe Collins' assistance to Derrick Del Reed, then 17, in the aftermath of the March 18, 2023, shooting death of 14-year-old Kamarjay Shaw in the 1300 block of Maple Lane. Reed eventually stood trial for ...

Commissioners to consider ex-deputy DA's nomination to advisory board, but most are silent on controversy ahead of vote

Updated at 5:10 p.m. Monday, Aug. 12 Someone at City Hall wants a former deputy district attorney who’s facing allegations of misconduct to serve on a board that reviews allegations of police misconduct, but no commissioner has so far owned the nomination to the Journal-World, despite repeated requests for transparency. The nominated ex-deputy DA, Joshua Seiden, lost his job over a well-known incident just ...

Small fire breaks out in basement of Lawrence's historic Liberty Hall; investigation underway

Updated at 11:48 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10 A small fire broke out Saturday morning in the basement of one of Lawrence's most historic downtown buildings, and its cause is under investigation. The fire at Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts St., led to a temporary evacuation of the immediately surrounding buildings and a brief closure of the 600 block of Massachusetts Street to traffic around 10 a.m. The fire was ...

'Frankly appalled': In bipartisan congressional hearing, lawmakers express anger at the way Haskell is being run

"There's a toxic culture at Haskell, period." This assessment by Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, D-New Mexico, was repeated in varying words over and over Tuesday in the nation's capital — by witnesses and lawmakers alike — during a bipartisan hearing that was sparked by a recent federal report detailing a university culture plagued by mismanagement and "severely lacking (in) process and procedures," as ...

DA candidate forum, captured in video, goes off the rails as former defense attorney confronts incumbent Suzanne Valdez

Two of the three Democratic candidates running for Douglas County district attorney left the stage of a candidate forum that turned heated Saturday after an audience member made accusations against current DA Suzanne Valdez. Valdez left the forum’s stage and did not return to participate in the question-and-answer session, while the second candidate, Tonda Hill, left but then returned to participate in the ...