FOLK HISTORY Long-running concert series ending after 22 years. A&E, 1D
As college tuition rises, so does crippling loan debt. 1B
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District doesn’t monitor offender registry ——
Staff wasn’t aware LHS student had sex crime conviction By Rochelle Valverde Twitter: @RochelleVerde
Lawrence school district officials have a way to find out whether registered sex offenders are enrolled at schools, but the district isn’t sure whether it wants to know that information. Though most crimes committed by juveniles are not public record, juveniles convicted of sexually violent crimes are required to be publicly listed on the Kansas Bureau of Investigation offender registry. For those 18 and older, all serious sex, violent and drug offenses are posted. But because the district does not monitor the online database, a registered sex offender attended Lawrence High School for nearly 18 months. Had the district been aware of his past crimes, state law would have required that all teachers and staff involved with the student be notified. Following the student’s recent arrest for alleged sex crimes against a minor, district leaders aren’t sure how a similar situation would be dealt with in future. For the district to begin monitoring the offender registry would require a policy decision by the school board, said David Cunningham, director of human resources and legal services for the district. Cunningham said the possibility of regularly monitoring the offender registry is a broad issue that he thinks would require a lot of conversation. Please see OFFENDERS, page 6A
THE INTERSECTION OF
HOPE AND HEARTBREAK
On the corner of 19th and Haskell, things could be changing — again
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Today’s forecast, page 6C
DURING A TRIP TO PICK UP THEIR MAIL AND OTHER ITEMS, Lynda Wilson and her husband, Jerry, who manage Haskell Avenue Cafe, rummage through belongings at the restaurant on April 19. The Wilsons had to shutter the cafe indefinitely after a broken water pipe and other mechanical failures forced them to close. Pictured at left, the Center for Change, which is located on the south wing of Haskell Square, is a for-profit substance abuse clinic that dispenses methadone. The clinic has been in operation for about three years. Nick Krug/Journal-World Photos
of Road to Recovery, two for-profit substance abuse clinics that along with the convenience store count themselves among the eight surviving tenants. “You’ve got the thrift store down on the end, some kind of multicultural braid thing. There’s a bar called Playerz where a guy got shot a while ago. Then there’s the massage parlor that we all just wink-winknod-nod about, a liquor store and us. “You might call this a den of iniquity,” a label that if publicized, he suggests with enthusiasm, could be good for Center for Change, which is prohibited by
law from advertising its methadone services. To be fair, Campbell isn’t the first to offer such a negative analysis. A 2008 Journal-World story about an art gallery opening here — it’s since gone out of business — had this to say: “To East Lawrence townies, Haskell Square is affectionately referred to as ‘The Vice Mall,’ a onestop shop for all of your porn, liquor, parole, Payday Loan and comfortfood needs.” Eight years later, those ventures have folded, replaced by new waves of mostly honest people with mostly honest dreams. Now, there’s reason to
ask whether this Stephen King of a shopping center can author a brighter chapter. A roadway extension could bring an influx of traffic. A national chain might put more customers on its doorstep. But a bad reputation, just like bad luck, can be hard to shake. Even Campbell, who minces no words in describing himself as an ex-addict who “got clean years ago,” admits of the 50-year-old strip mall on the southeast corner of 19th Street and Haskell Avenue: “Most of it’s perception rather than fact.” Please see HOPE, page 9A
INSIDE
Stormy
ON THE
street By Sylas May
What do you appreciate most about your mother? Asked on Massachusetts Street
Maryan Nguyen, student, Lawrence “I appreciate that she gave up her old life in Vietnam to come to America so she can provide me with a lot of opportunities to succeed.”
By Jason Kendall t this eastside strip mall on the fringe of a food desert, there are more places to find methadone than to find an apple. The convenience store that proclaims itself a food mart devotes as much shelf space to pantry staples as it does to dog treats, T-shirts, coin wrappers and rubber bands. A pair of storefronts outfitted with kitchen space have exhausted a lazy Susan of restaurants, most with expiration dates measured in months rather than years. Today, both are shuttered, the ghosts and the grease of their forefathers all that stuck. If their stories are to be believed, this is just about the unluckiest place in Lawrence to start a small business. The price of entry is set by the failed names over the doors — in some cases, when you open for business, they’re still hanging there. A comedy store. A boxing club that doubled as a screen-printing business. Oriental Pearl. Midwest Fish Frye. Miracle Video. “We’re all here together in this little shopping center that has gone through a lot,” explains Curtis Campbell, program director at Center for Change and co-owner
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SUNDAY • MAY 8 • 2016
Horoscope Opinion Puzzles Sports
Clint White, water production control operator, Lawrence “She is always focused on helping her sons improve their lives.”
Justin Henry, golf course superintendent, Topeka “She’s got a really big heart. She’s a very special lady.”
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