OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Hotel rooms will be hard to come by in Overland Park starting Sunday as thousands of students, coaches and educators arrive for the National Speech and Debate Tournament.

About 7,000 people altogether, including more than 4,000 middle- and high school students, are expected to be in the northeast Kansas community for the weeklong event.

The Overland Park Convention and Visitors Bureau says that 17,800 hotel rooms have been booked for the tournament, about 85 percent of the city’s entire hotel inventory. That’s more than double the 8,800 rooms booked in 2013 for the U.S. Youth Soccer national championship.

Students will compete in a range of categories, including policy debate, dramatic interpretation and congressional debate. Events will be held at the Overland Park Convention Center and at several public schools.

The Unites States Attorney’s office

KANSAS CITY-An Indiana man was convicted Wednesday on federal charges of using the Internet to attempt to sexually exploit a teenage girl in Lawrence, Kan., U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

A federal jury in Kansas City, Kan., returned a verdict convicting Brett J. Williamson, 37, Ft. Wayne, Ind., on three counts of attempting to produce child pornography and three counts of attempting to entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity.

During trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Williamson posed as a 15-year-old boy on a teen dating site called Tagged.Com. He befriended the Lawrence girl and coaxed her to perform sexual acts in Skype video chats.

Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date. He faces a penalty of not less than 15 years and not more than 30 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each count of attempting to produce child pornography, and not less than 10 years and not more than life and a fine up to $250,000 on each count of enticement.

          

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has ordered a lower court to resentence a Fort Riley soldier who received five life sentences as a habitual sexual offender.

In a unanimous decision announced Friday, the high court upheld the Riley County convictions of Tony Tremayne Lewis on several charges, including rape and aggravated criminal sodomy in three attacks in 2009.

He was sentenced as a habitual sexual offender based on earlier conviction in Geary County for rape and other charges.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the Supreme Court upheld his convictions, but also ruled that the district court erred when it imposed the sentence based on a misinterpretation of state law regarding enhanced sentences for aggravated habitual sexual offenders.

The Supreme Court sent the case sent back to Riley County for resentencing.

EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — Family members and friends of educators killed in the line of duty say a new memorial in Kansas will keep their memories alive in a world where their killers are usually better known.

The Emporia Gazette  reports Crystal McGee was among several who spoke Thursday at a dedication ceremony for the Memorial to Fallen Educators, near the National Teacher’s Hall of Fame on the Emporia State University campus.

McGee’s husband, James McGee, was principal at Goddard Junior High School when a 14-year-old student fatally shot him in 1985. She says the memorial lets families know their loved ones aren’t forgotten.

Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher Liesl Fressola read the names of her six colleagues gunned down in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012. Among them was her best friend.

HOLTON, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka woman has died after the car she was in hit a horse in northeast Kansas.

The Topeka Capital Journal reports that 58-year-old Vicki Barbara Self was killed in the accident in Jackson County on Thursday night.

Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse says the accident occurred when car she was in struck a horse along U.S. 75 north of Holton. Self was taken to a Topeka hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Morse said the horse, which was killed in the collision, was in the roadway when it was struck. Investigators believe the horse was knocked over the top of the vehicle and went partially through the windshield.

He says a second southbound vehicle also hit the horse, but no one in the second vehicle was injured.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas City, Kansas, police say an 80-year-old man who hadn’t been seen since Thursday has been found safe and in good condition.

Police say Leroy Bryant went missing after going for a walk about 11 a.m. Thursday. Police say he has Alzheimer’s disease.

After the department issued a Silver Alert for Bryant, he was found Friday morning in good condition at a restaurant. It did not provide any other information.

Bryant arrived in Kansas two days ago from Denver but is originally from the Kansas City area.

 

—————-

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas City, Kansas, police have issued a Silver Alert for an 80-year-old man who hasn’t been seen since Thursday morning.

Police say Leroy Bryant has been missing since going for a walk about 11 a.m. Thursday. Police say he has Alzheimer’s disease.

Bryant arrived in Kansas two days ago from Denver but is originally from the Kansas City area.

He is described as a black man, 5-feet, 8-inches tall, 160 pounds. He is bald with brown eyes. Bryant was last seen wearing a tan shirt, a black-and-white windbreaker, a baseball cap and red pants that were rolled up on the bottom.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka city officials are considering a plan to acquire the financially struggling Heartland Park.

The city said in a news release Thursday that the city council would discuss the proposal at its meeting on Tuesday.

The news release says the council would consider an agreement that would require the city to issue about $4.7 million in new sales tax revenue bonds to acquire Heartland Park and all associated property from the current owner, Jayhawk Racing.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the motorsports facility has an estimated economic impact of $160 million on the city.

Heartland Park has a quarter-mile drag strip with 23 suites, a 2.5-mile championship road course and a 3/8-mile dirt oval track.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man convicted in the 2006 killing of an advocate for the homeless has been jailed on suspicion of violating his parole.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports 43-year-old John Ray Cornell was arrested Wednesday. Police said he violated a city ordinance by walking in the street when there was a sidewalk available.

Cornell’s bond was set at $200 on the misdemeanor count. But a spokesman for the state Corrections Department says the agency then had Cornell held without bond on a possible parole violation as officials investigate his arrest.

Cornell pleaded guilty to kidnapping and involuntary manslaughter for the death of 38-year-old David Owen near a homeless camp along the Kansas River. Cornell was paroled last October.

Three other people were convicted of first-degree murder in the death.