• Email
• iPod-friendly
• Print

Contestants prepare for Miss Kansas contest

Jeanne Anne Schroeder, Miss Kansas 2002, practiced on Thursday for the 2003 Miss Kansas Pageant in Pratt. The competition will be Saturday at Pratt Community College, where about two dozen young women will compete for the right to represent their state at the Miss America Pageant.

Crime

Judge closes hearing of suspects in beating

The four boys accused of severely beating 15-year-old Josh Graves last month are out of the juvenile detention center.

After attorneys for the boys met Thursday behind closed doors with Douglas County District Court Judge Pro Tem Peggy Kittel, the four were released.

The boys are now believed to be under house arrest.

Kittel closed the hearing to the public, including Graves and his mother, Teri Snell. It was a decision that left Snell frustrated.

"I feel like we're victims all over again," Snell said. "We should get to find out what's going on firsthand."

The boys are expected back in court later this month.

Kansas University

Federal grants given for disability programs

Kansas University researchers studying children with disabilities have been awarded $399,998 in federal grants.

A $200,000 grant will allow Cheryl Utley, associate scientist with the Bureau of Child Research, to oversee a leadership program focused on training minority personnel to improve services for children with disabilities. The project is designed to train research leaders in behavior support strategies, English as a Second Language teaching, and methods used by special educators of culturally and linguistically diverse students with mild disabilities.

The other grant, to be overseen by Thomas Skrtic, professor of special education, will help improve services for children with disabilities. The grant will prepare educators to enact integrated special education to comply with the Disabilities Education Act and the No Child Left Behind Act. It totals $199,998.

Courts

Public input sought on child support rules

Public comment on proposed changes to the Kansas Child Support Enforcement Guidelines is due by Aug. 5.

The Kansas Supreme Court will take the comments under advisement and issue a decision this fall.

Comments may be mailed to Mark Gleeson, Office of Judicial Administration, 301 S.W. 10th St., Topeka 66612.

The report and draft guidelines are posted on the court's Web site: www.kscourts.org. Copies also are being sent to the offices of clerk of the district court in each county, as well as the county libraries.