JAYHAWKS WIN UGLY
Sloppy play almost costs KU victory against TCU, 64-61. SPORTS, 1B
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THURSDAY • JANUARY 29 • 2015
Quick budget action urged as cash crisis looms By Peter Hancock Twitter: @LJWpqhancock
Topeka — Faced with a looming cash-flow crisis, Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration is urging lawmakers to move quickly on a bill to revise this year’s budget before the state runs out of cash to fund schools and health care programs. The House and Senate budget committees were shown a new bill Wednesday that the administration says is needed quickly to keep state government operating.
It includes some, but not all, of the budget adjustments Brownback requested at the start of the session, and it sweeps even more money out of the state highway fund than previously requested. “Cash flow gets tight by the middle of February,” budget director Shawn Sullivan told reporters after a briefing in the House Appropriations Committee. He said that’s when the state is due to send out roughly $95 million to health care providers for Medicaid reimbursements, plus about $45 million in payments to
public school districts. The budget crisis first came to light in November when new revenue estimates were released showing the state would Brownback run $279 million short of what it needs to fund the current year’s budget, followed by another $436 million shortfall for the new fiscal year that begins July 1. In response, Brownback pro-
Please see BUDGET, page 2A
INSIDE l Secretary of State Kris Kobach pushes for bills on straight-party voting and ballot withdrawal. Page 3A l Marijuana penalties reconsidered. Page 4A l Opposition to regulating gun sales. Page 4A
In murder case, mental health evidence allowed
Grab your spoon
By Caitlin Doornbos Twitter: @CaitlinDoornbos
More than 500 handmade ceramic bowls produced by area artists, community members and Lawrence Arts Center students will be up for sale at this weekend’s Souper Bowl Saturday. The event will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire St. Each bowl purchased comes with one complimentary serving of soup from Dillons and bread from Great Harvest Bread Co. Bowls start at $10, and all proceeds will benefit visual art education at the Arts Center. For more information, call 843-2787. At right, Jim Rome, of Lawrence, works on a clay bowl Wednesday at the Arts Center.
A Douglas County district judge ruled Wednesday that statements a 20-year-old woman made to her psychologist could be admitted during the woman’s trial on charges of first-degree murder. Sarah B. Gonzales McLinn is accused of killing Harold M. Sasko, 52, who was McLinn’s roommate and the owner of CiCi’s Pizza restaurants in Lawrence and Topeka. At issue were McLinn’s statements about abuse
McLinn
Sasko
she said she had suffered as a child and information about Sasko’s conduct. The psychologist to whom McLinn gave the statements was hired by the defense to assess her mental state Please see MCLINN, page 8A
Sacred sweat lodges vandalized at Haskell By Chad Lawhorn @clawhorn_ljw
Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo
Two sacred sweat lodges at Haskell Indian Nations University have been vandalized, leaving leaders of the school disappointed and looking for a culprit. “When I first saw it, I thought it was a hate crime,” said Haskell President Venida Chenault. “But we don’t know the motive. I’m hopeful that it was just foolishness rather than
INSIDE
Getting colder Business Classified Comics Deaths
High: 49
posed an “allotment” plan that directly cut about $60 million in spending while calling for other kinds of fund transfers and adjusting other kinds of nongeneral fund spending. The biggest of those was a proposal to sweep $95.7 million from the state highway fund into the general fund. It also called for reducing the state’s contribution into the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System by $40.7 million.
Low: 18
Today’s forecast, page 8A
2A 8B-11B 6A 2A
Events listings Going Out Horoscope Opinion
5A, 2B 5A 12B 7A
Puzzles Sports Style Scout Television
12B 1B-7B 5A 8A, 2B, 12B
The next Common Book at Kansas University will be “A Farewell to Arms.” Page 3A
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Please see LODGES, page 2A
KU picks Hemingway
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someone who realized what they were really doing.” American Indians of certain faiths use Chenault sweat lodges as place to pray and to seek healing, Chenault said. She said two sweat lodges, which are
200
$
(Originally $400)
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Vol.157/No.29 20 pages