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Stephen Schneider's lawyer is trying to stop a subpoena from federal prosecutors to obtain confidential settlements in medical malpractice cases against the indicted Haysville doctor.

Lawrence Williamson of Kansas City filed a motion Friday to quash the subpoena and find out what similar information the government is trying to obtain about Schneider's civil lawsuits and other "administrative actions."

Williamson's brief includes a copy of a subpoena sent by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Treadway to lawyers involved in at least five medical malpractice lawsuits against Schneider. All were settled out of court, and the terms of the agreements were confidential.

Treadway, however, has ordered lawyers for Schneider, his clinic and the former patients suing him to turn over the settlement documents by Monday.

Malpractice defense lawyers have objected to the subpoena, and Williamson argues that prosecutors are illegally intruding on Schneider's right to privacy.

Culture and education are withering in Belarus as a dictatorial leader steers the eastern European nation away from Western influences and toward an existence reminiscent of life before the Soviet Union collapsed.

That, two political dignitaries from Belarus said Friday, adds significance and urgency to the role of the Center for Belarusian Studies, which opens today at Southwestern College in Winfield.

"Our mission is to promote the revival of the Belarus nation through higher education," said David Swartz, former U.S. ambassador to Belarus and a Southwestern alum.

Among those attending the opening will be Stanislau Shushkevich. As chairman of the Belarusian Parliament, he joined Presidents Boris Yeltsin of Russia and Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine in declaring the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, creating a commonwealth of independent states.

"I would like to see Belarus become more like Kansas," Shushkevich said through an interpreter at the Hyatt Regency Wichita.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius created a grant program Friday aimed at bolstering housing in rural communities -- particularly those hit by natural disasters recently.

The governor signed Senate Bill 417, which provides $4 million annually for housing grants. Initially, the program will be open to cities and counties that suffered recent disasters such as the flooding in southeast Kansas last summer. After 2010, the program will be open to all rural cities and counties.

The Kansas Housing Resources Corp. of the Kansas Development Finance Authority will oversee the grants. The bill becomes law when it is published in the Kansas Register, which could happen next week.

-- Jeannine Koranda

Sting at adult store nets five arrests

After Keith Berntsen went flying over the front of his four-wheeler 11 months ago, the doctors were blunt:

The most Keith would ever do is wake up, they told his parents, Wayne and Tami Berntsen. Their youngest son would be in a hospital bed the rest of his life.

"You know, you're probably right," Wayne Berntsen remembers telling them. "But I've never given up on anything, and I'm not going to start now."

Accident, aftermath

Keith was 16 that May day, out riding his new four-wheeler south of Clearwater.

A man was shot in the face and neck at Club Rodeo early Friday, the latest in a series of clashes at the east Wichita nightclub.

Because of those persistent problems on Thursday nights, police were monitoring the parking lot at 10001 E. Kellogg, near Webb Road, when they heard a single gunshot at 1:48 a.m. as the club prepared to close, authorities said.

Hundreds of people were milling around in the parking lot at the time, Capt. Brent Allred said, and a witness gave a description of the vehicle used by a suspect.

Police pulled over the car a short time later in the 200 block of South Hillside and took four people to City Hall for questioning. Two were subsequently released, Allred said, while a third was arrested on an outstanding warrant and a 22-year-old man was arrested in connection with the shooting.

The 25-year-old victim was taken to Wesley Medical Center, where he was treated and released for what turned out to be minor injuries, police spokesman Gordon Bassham said.

That jolt some Wichita area residents felt early Friday may have been the result of the 5.2 magnitude earthquake centered in southeast Illinois.

And while less likely, geophysicists said, a late-morning aftershock could have been felt by residents in south-central Kansas.

"It wouldn't surprise me a whole lot that people in Wichita might feel" the earthquake, which registered at 4:36 a.m., said Don Steeples, a geophysics professor at the University of Kansas who has studied earthquakes for more than 30 years. "You might have noticed it for maybe two, three to four seconds."

Sedgwick and Butler county 911 dispatch supervisors had no local reports at the time of the earthquake that may have been related to it.

But it was long and strong enoughthat someone could have noticed a lamp shaking or felt a "wiggling motion," Steeples said.

Gas prices increased late Friday to a Wichita record of $3.39 a gallon.

Look for prices to keep moving up, experts say.

Demand for fuel always spikes in the spring and summer, when families hit the road on vacation.

The Energy Information Administration said this week that while prices have risen to more than $3 a gallon because of the price of crude oil, "increasing gasoline demand will likely take retail gasoline prices to $3.50 per gallon and above.... The simple fact that more and more gasoline will be used over the next few months will probably be enough to cause retail gasoline prices to increase."

That's even if crude oil prices fall, as the Energy Information Administration projects.

The Old Town Warren is losing enough money to threaten its future, leading owner Bill Warren on Friday to ask city officials for financial help. Earlier Friday, Warren told The Eagle that without the city's help he would close the theater within two weeks. He said it is burdened financially by a struggling sports bar and sagging weekday attendance.

"Downtown is a tougher place to run a theater than in the suburbs," Warren said Friday morning. "It's a simple fact."

Warren backed off that statement later in the day after talking with Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer.

Brewer said that when he asked Warren about the potential closing Friday afternoon, Warren indicated he wasn't serious about the two-week deadline.

"He started laughing and said it was 2 or 3 in the morning when he figured that out," Brewer said, laughing himself.

Rob Musgrave gave up only four hits while pitching a complete game to lead Wichita State to a 10-0 victory over Southern Illinois Friday night.

Musgrave (5-1) struck out seven and issued no walks in his dominating performance.

Wichita State (29-6, 8-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference) had only eight singles but combined them with nine steals -- three by Ryan Jones -- for the win.

Cody Adams (2-3) took the loss for Southern Illinois (19-16, 3-7).

Stephen Schneider's lawyer is trying to stop a subpoena from federal prosecutors to obtain confidential settlements in medical malpractice cases against the indicted Haysville doctor.

Lawrence Williamson of Kansas City filed a motion this morning to quash the subpoena and find out what other kind of similar information the government is trying to obtain about Schneider's civil lawsuits and other "administrative actions."

Williamson's brief includes a copy of a subpoena sent by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Treadway to lawyers involved in at least five medical malpractice lawsuits against the doctor. All were settled out of court, and the terms of the agreements were confidential.

Treadway, however, has ordered lawyers for the doctor, his clinic and the former patients suing him to turn over the settlements by Monday.

Malpractice defense lawyers have objected to the subpoena, and Williamson argues that prosecutors are illegally intruding on Schneider's right of privacy.

A 5.2 magnitude Midwest earthquake that appeared to rival the strongest recorded in the region rocked people early this morning, including those in downtown Kansas City.

Dozens of aftershocks followed, one with a magnitude of 4.5. One was believed to have been felt in Wichita, which is almost 580 miles west of the epicenter.

Kansas City police dispatchers reported receiving a few calls from people who felt the quake. However, there was no report of damage.

A dispatcher said some dispatchers inside their building in the 1100 block of Locust Street in downtown Kansas City felt their building shake, too.

The quake just before 4:37 a.m. was centered six miles from West Salem, Ill., and 45 miles from Evansville, Ind. It was felt in such distant cities as Milwaukee, Des Moines, Iowa, and Atlanta, nearly 400 miles to the southeast.

The 2008 Kansas Mission of Mercy, offering free dental care on a first-come, first-served basis, began this morning in Garden City. It continues Saturday, starting at 5:30 a.m.

The Mission of Mercy is at the 3-I Building on the Finney County Fairgrounds in Garden City. Volunteer dentists, hygienists and dental assistants are providing free fillings, cleanings and extractions. There are no eligibility or income requirements.

There's a chance of drizzle in the Wichita metropolitan area this morning, but skies will clear this afternoon and the weekend will be marked by a dramatic warm-up.

Highs should reach the upper 50s to low 60s today, forecasters say, with blustery north winds gusting to nearly 30 miles an hour. Saturday should be sunny with highs in the mid-70s, and Sunday may top 80 degrees.

The fire danger will be high over a section of south-central Kansas today, officials warned. The greatest risk will be generally south and west of a line from Hutchinson to Newton to Wellington.

Check Kansas.com for updates.