SUNFLOWER LETDOWN
KU’s title hopes suffer blow in loss to K-State, page 1C
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TUESDAY • FEBRUARY 24 • 2015
Kinder, gentler construction season
County to consider a public building commission By Elliot Hughes Twitter: @elliothughes12
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
CONSTRUCTION WORK IS UNDERWAY ON A MENARDS HOME IMPROVEMENT CENTER on 31st Street, east of Iowa Street and Home Depot, visible at left in the background. Menards officials have previously said they expect construction of the 40,000 square-foot store to take about 10 months, which may put the opening sometime this fall. The city will spend about $280,000 to rebuild the base and pavement this summer on the section of road that will run in front of Menards.
City lists summer road projects Town Talk C
ity commissioners at their meeting today are set to approve the city’s game plan for 2015 road construction. It won’t be nearly as aggressive as the last two seasons, when much of Iowa Street was only accessible by hovercraft. Here’s a look at some of the larger projects: l 31st Street just east of Ousdahl Road. The city will spend about $280,000 to rebuild the base and pavement. It’s the section of road that will run in front of the
new Menards home improvement center. Currently, the street is closed due to the South Lawrence Trafficway project. Kansas Department of Transportation officials hope to have 31st Street west of Louisiana open by midsummer. I’m sure city officials will seek to have their portion of the project done before then. l Bob Billings Parkway from Wakarusa Drive to Foxfire. The $1.2 million project will install new pavement, improve the medians, add bicycle lanes, add conduit to ac-
Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
commodate future fiber optic cables and repair deteriorating sidewalks on the north and south sides of the street. The median of the four-lane
street will be reduced in width to accommodate the bike lanes. Look for construction to run from about May through August. l Bob Billings Parkway and George Williams Way. City officials will install a traffic signal and turn lanes at the far west Lawrence intersection, which is bound to get much busier in the near future. Work is underway to complete the new Bob Billings interchange on the South Lawrence Please see ROAD, page 7A
The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday will consider establishing a public building commission, a process that allows local governments to raise funds for building projects by issuing bonds without voter approval. The mechanism is being considered with at least two future projects in mind: renovating the Douglas County Fairgrounds and a two-part undertaking involving the expansion of the county jail and constructing a separate mental health care facility for inmates. Commissioners Jim Flory and Nancy Thellman on MonCOUNTY day were noncommittal that a COMMISSION building commission, if established, would actually be used to fund those projects. They and County Administrator Craig Weinaug said the purpose of Wednesday’s vote is to keep the option open as a fundraising strategy. Commissioner Mike Gaughan was unavailable for comment. The county has already taken steps to keep another option handy: holding a sales tax referendum. Counties in Kansas cannot hold such elections without the Legislature’s approval. The commission voted in January to pursue the introduction of a bill that would allow it to hold a referendum. No matter what, Weinaug has said the jail expansion will affect the mill levy. Please see COUNTY, page 2A
Doll testifies against repeal of Common Core By Peter Hancock Twitter: @LJWpqhancock
Lawrence Superintendent Rick Doll told a legislative committee Monday that a bill to repeal many of the state’s education standards, including the Common Core standards for reading and math, would have far-reaching, unintended consequences. “You don’t kill a mouse with a shotgun,” Doll told the House Education Committee. “This shotgun approach that is advocated in this bill would literally gut many of our educational programs, placing school districts in
the impossible position of making local decisions for students that are in direct conflict with the law.” Doll testified in opposition to House Bill 2292, which would repeal not only the ComDoll mon Core standards in reading and math, but also the recently adopted standards for science, history and social studies, health, sex education and character development. If adopted, the bill would put back
in place all of the standards the state used before the Common Core standards were adopted in 2010. It would further prohibit the Kansas State Board of Education from adopting standards developed by any national organization or multistate consortium. “Some of our students enter our schools that have behavior problems,” Doll said. “Instead of complaining about those kids, we very much want to teach them how to behave correctly. This bill would prohibit us from using character education and other
Fitness options keep area seniors moving There’s no reason to live a life of inactivity with the many fitness options geared toward older residents. Page 1B
Please see DOLL, page 2A
Idea to grow City Commission size discussed at candidate forum By Chad Lawhorn Twitter: @clawhorn_ljw
The idea of expanding the number of Lawrence city commissioners in future years seems to be gaining momentum, based on comments made by candidates at a Monday evening campaign forum. Two more City Commission
candidates said they believe the community ought to consider breaking the city into precincts and allowing voters to directly elect a mayor who would serve a four-year term as the leader of the commission. “There are a lot of people today who feel like they don’t have a voice, and this may help that,” said Leslie Soden, one of 13 can-
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Today’s forecast, page 8A
term. City Commissioner Terry Riordan has been campaigning on the idea of possibly changing the commission format to have a four-year mayor elected at large, two city commissioners elected at large and four commissioners who are elected from precincts within the city. Other candidates didn’t provide their thoughts on changing
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didates participating in a forum sponsored by the Voter Education Coalition and 6News. City Commissioner Bob Schumm also said he wanted to explore a change that would alter the commission’s current format, which has five commissioners who all are elected at-large. The five commissioners choose a mayor, who serves a one-year
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the City Commission structure. The question wasn’t asked specifically as part of the candidate forum, but both Schumm and Soden made it a point to bring up the idea when they were asked a general question about ideas they hope to pursue as a commissioner.
Liquor bill advances A Kansas House committee has approved a bill to allow grocery stores to sell wine, liquor and fullstrength beer. Page 3A
Please see FORUM, page 8A
Vol.157/No.55 26 pages