Courts

Judge schedules trial for Dole protester

A Columbia, Mo., man charged with battering a police officer during last month’s protest at one of the Dole Institute of Politics dedication events appeared Thursday in Douglas County District Court.

Leo C. Jalipa, 22, did not accept a plea agreement offered by prosecutors, according to his attorney Hudson Luce. The state has since withdrawn its offer to bargain.

Judge Paula Martin set an Oct. 14 trial.

Luce has requested a copy of a video taken by the Lawrence Police Department of the July 21 protest outside the Lawrence Holidome.

Education

School funding support focus of march, rally

Supporters of more funding for public education will gather Saturday for a march down Massachusetts Street and rally in South Park.

Rally speakers will include state Reps. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin, Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, and Rob Boyer, R-Olathe. Representatives from Kansas Families United for Public Education and Lawrence teachers will also participate, said Richard Heckler, a Lawrence resident who is spearheading the effort.

The rally is being organized by a group called Schoolfunders, a coalition of concerned citizens who believe that the future of public schools is at stake, Heckler said.

Marchers should gather by 11 a.m. at Buford M. Watson Jr. Park, Sixth and Kentucky streets. Music and food will be available during the rally.

Schools

Southwest ninth-grader faces drug suspension

A student at Southwest Junior High School was suspended Thursday for alleged possession of marijuana, district officials say.

Julie Boyle, the district’s communications director, said the ninth-grader had “a very small amount of marijuana” at Southwest, 2511 Inverness Drive.

District policy requires a suspension as well as an evaluation of the student by an alcohol/drug counselor.

Administrators at Southwest filed a report with the Lawrence Police Department, Boyle said.

In the past school year, Southwest suspended 39 students for disciplinary reasons. The district’s three other junior high schools collectively suspended more than 100 students: Central, 42, West, 42, South, 24.

Horton

Kickapoo Tribe to receive federal grant for water

The federal government has approved a $186,000 emergency grant that will allow the Kickapoo Tribe’s reservation to receive water from nearby Sabetha.

The grant approved by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs will allow water to be hauled from Sabetha to the Kickapoo reservation’s treatment plant and distribution systems. That means there will be enough water for basic needs for three months.

The Delaware River has stopped flowing through the reservation. The remaining lake that is fed by the river is about 2 feet deep and dropping by the day.

The reservation’s 1,800 residents are living under strict conservation measures: no watering lawns or gardens, and no washing cars.