Storms prompt flood warning

Heavy thunderstorms and reports of water accumulating on roads in southern Douglas County prompted the National Weather Service on Friday night to declare a flash flood warning for Douglas County.

County Road 1055 near Baldwin was closed for part of the evening because of water over the road, said Greg Painter, meteorological technician with the weather service in Topeka.

Lawrence had received 0.45 inches of rain by 11 p.m. Friday, and showers were expected to continue late. Three-quarter-inch hail was reported at 8:23 p.m. three miles south of Lawrence, Painter said.

The weather service also received reports around 8:30 p.m. of zero visibility because of heavy rain and pea-sized hail on U.S. Highway 59 between Lawrence and Baldwin. Eudora reported some street flooding, Painter said.

The weather service predicts a 30 percent chance of showers this morning, with skies clearing to partly cloudy later in the day and highs near 70 degrees.

Patrol plans checkpoint

The Kansas Highway Patrol will conduct a sobriety checkpoint tonight in Douglas County.

The checkpoint will be conducted at various “high-accident” locations in the county, the Patrol said. No specific locations or times were released.

Suspect arrested on charge of indecent liberties

A Lawrence man faces sex crime charges for allegedly assaulting a 13-year-old girl in an abandoned house.

The 21-year-old man was arrested by Lawrence Police on Wednesday after they investigated an incident that allegedly occurred about 2 a.m. May 11.

Police say the man and the girl knew each other. The house was in the eastern part of Lawrence, but a police spokesman declined to be more specific.

The girl did not report the incident until Wednesday.

The suspect is being held in the Douglas County Jail on charges of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and aggravated solicitation of a child. His bond was set at $50,000, and his next court appearance is 2 p.m. Tuesday.

The Missouri Department of Corrections also is attempting to extradite the suspect for parole violation.

‘Promise’ lines up partnership agencies

Lawrence-Douglas County Promise continues to secure partnerships in its goal to connect area youths to resources necessary for growth and development.

Four collaborative partners, agencies and organizations serving large numbers of youths at multiple locations, have joined the community effort: Lawrence Business Education Partnership, Partnership for Children and Youth, Success By 6 and United Way of Douglas County.

In addition, dozens of organizations and agencies have joined the initial list of Promise Partners, pledging to deliver one or more of the five promises to area children and youth.

An initiative of Partnership for Children and Youth, Lawrence-Douglas County Promise works to provide youths with five promises: caring adults, safe places, healthy start and future, effective education leading to marketable skills and an opportunity for youths to give back through service.

Prison inmate found dead

Leavenworth An inmate has been found dead in his cell at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth.

Charles Alan Ginn, 39, was pronounced dead early Thursday. He apparently committed suicide, prison officials said. An autopsy will be conducted.

Ginn was convicted in Alabama and sentenced to 17 years for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

He was scheduled to be released in July 2009.

Aide charged with sex crimes at rehabilitation center

Wichita A former nurse’s aide at Via Christi Rehabilitation Center has been charged with sexually assaulting two patients.

Authorities have charged Oscar B. Kubwa, 26, with one count of rape and one count of aggravated sexual battery, said police Lt. Tom Bridges.

The patients a 32-year-old woman and a 52-year-old woman were assaulted early May 3 at the center’s Our Lady of Lourdes Campus. There was no indication of other victims, Bridges said.

After receiving complaints from the patients, the rehabilitation center fired Kubwa later on the day of the alleged crimes, said Laurie Labarca, the center’s chief operating officer.

The center found nothing that indicated a problem when it checked his references and a state registry of certified nurse’s aides, Labarca said.

Kubwa, who worked the third shift, had been at the center about a month.

McConnell B-1 wing to fly last Memorial Day flyover

McConnell Air Force Base In its last Memorial Day mission, the “Flying Jayhawks” of the 184th Bomb Wing will fly a B-1B bomber over 44 locations in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.

The five-hour mission will be among the last for the National Guard bomb wing, which is in the midst of converting to a tanker wing with its own planes and command.

Its last major official flyover will be on July 4, Maj. Hans Neidhardt said.

The unit now has seven B-1 bombers left, and only five or six of them remain at McConnell Air Force Base on a regular basis.

The last of the unit’s B-1 planes are scheduled to fly out of McConnell on Aug. 3, Niedhardt said.

The wing has already received the first of its tanker planes, he said.

The 184th Bomb Wing will become the 184th Refueling Wing, equipped with 10 KC-135s.

Businessman from Kansas convicted of bank fraud

Dayton, Ohio A former Ohio businessman has been convicted of bank fraud in a scheme to obtain $2.6 million in commercial loans from what is now National City Bank, prosecutors said on Friday.

A federal jury found William J. Davis, 67, of Wichita, Kan., guilty late Thursday, according to Gregory Lockhart, U.S. attorney for the southern district of Ohio.

Lockhart said Davis had obtained loans from First National Bank of Dayton, now National City, for his former businesses in nearby Tipp City, D&A Co. and Fries Correctional Equipment Inc., which made jail equipment.

Lockhart said that according to evidence presented during the weeklong trial, Davis gave the bank fraudulent financial statements and transferred assets to prevent the bank from collecting collateral Davis put up to guarantee the loans.

Davis faces 60 years in prison and a $2 million fine. No sentencing date has been set.