In an unusual turn of events, a defendant has pleaded up, not down, in a criminal case, and on Tuesday he was given a year of probation and ordered to have no contact with his victims. It's not clear why the 36-year-old defendant, Brian Hutton, a former high school English teacher, pleaded ...

Updated at 12:19 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9 A Douglas County judge is considering whether a Kansas law that nullifies the rights of terminally ill, incapacitated pregnant women is constitutional. Three women and two doctors filed the civil lawsuit in May challenging the 46-year-old state statute ...

A large police presence in central Lawrence is due to a suspected suicide near West 24th Street and Ridge Court, police said on Monday. Laura McCabe, a spokeswoman for the Lawrence Police Department, said officers were called there shortly after 9 a.m. "and have every reason to believe it’s ...

Although Douglas County District Attorney Dakota Loomis said earlier this year that his wife’s “transition director” position with his office would be temporary, she was still on his payroll a year after his election — a situation that the former deputy DA said has been bad for the ...

A judge on Friday dismissed a felony gun charge against a Lawrence activist after the Douglas County District Attorney's Office failed to produce two witnesses for a probable cause hearing. The case involves Natasha Neal, a local activist who led the Massachusetts Street shutdown in the summer ...

A Lawrence teen was arrested Wednesday morning after police say he led them on a chase in a stolen vehicle, crashed into a pole and then fled on foot through western Lawrence. The Lawrence Police Department said on social media that the vehicle, a GMC Yukon, had been reported stolen on Tuesday ...