Lawrence Journal-World 05-30-2016

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MONDAY • MAY 30 • 2016

Push for new police HQ revived

Ken Wright/Contributed Photos

LEFT PHOTO: WORKERS CONSTRUCT the second Kansas River Bridge at Lawrence in 1916. The original bridge at Lawrence, finished in 1863, can be seen to the left. ABOVE: Arches take form for the old Kansas River Bridge, built in 1916. BELOW: The old Kansas River Bridge during construction in 1916. Concrete had to be poured continuously for 30 hours for each of the bridge’s arches.

By Conrad Swanson

Twitter: @Conrad_Swanson

Lawrence is once again broaching the topic of building a new $30 million police headquarters, but first the city’s staff and commission have a good deal of homework to do. Although a conversation surrounding a new police facility has been going on since the mid-1990s, most recently voters rejected a citywide sales tax in late 2014, which would have funded Markus the project. At the time the work was estimated to cost $28 million. Now, a year and a half after the measure failed, City Manager Tom Markus said it’s time to address the project once more. But before any ground can be broken it’s important to review past work outlining different options for the department, he said. Last week Markus submitted a draft of the city’s five-year capital improvement plan, or CIP, which lists the police headquarters as unfunded through 2021.

A BRIDGE TO

THE PAST Photos depict building of second Kansas River Bridge in 1916

Legislature passed a law in 1913 giving Douglas County the authority to ask voters to increase a tax levy to pay for the bridge. Douglas County voted 2,404 to 1,685 in favor By Nikki Wentling • Twitter: @nikkiwentling of the proposal. The Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Comhe second Kansas River now, which were built in the late pany was awarded a contract for $199,910 and Bridge at Lawrence was built 1970s and finished in 1980. started preliminary work on the bridge in 100 years ago this year and Lawrence resident Ken Wright November 1915. was considered one of the An excerpt from an engineering text at Watkins recently came upon photos of the “most beautiful” and “most service- second bridge’s construction in Museum of History explains in detail how the able” bridges in Kansas, according 1916. They were taken from North bridge was built. It was composed of reinforced to an article in the Lawrence Daily concrete, and each arch was poured with concrete Lawrence, looking south. Journal-World at the time. According to a chronology of the continuously for 30 hours. Materials were taken It replaced the first bridge built construction printed on the front to their spot on the bridge via cables hanging from across the Kansas River in Lawtwo 100-foot towers on either side of the river. page of the Daily Journal-World rence and would later be abanon Jan. 5, 1917 — the day after the Please see BRIDGE, page 7A doned for the pair of bridges used bridge was dedicated — the Kansas

T

Please see POLICE, page 2A

KANSAS UNIVERSITY

Chancellor discusses ‘unkind’ state funding cut

The efforts to fill an empty veteran’s grave

A

n empty grave doesn’t do much to provide closure. That’s a sentiment rural Lawrence resident Dennis Domer has come to understand well over the decades. It first came to him as a child growing up in Centralia. His father would take Dennis and his three brothers to the cemetery every Memorial Day. “And there would be Uncle Carol’s grave,” Domer recalls. It had the big, white cross above it and all the other markings that are due a fallen veteran. Years later, Dennis himself would play taps over the grave as part of the small town’s Memorial Day service. But everyone knew it was still an empty grave. “The grieving period never ended,” Domer says. “If he

Pacific Wrecks/Contributed Photo

THE TAIL SECTION of the B-24 bomber Crosair, in which Sgt. Carol Domer was riding, is shown at the bottom of the Solomon Sea.

Low: 65

named Crosair. But a war creates many unexpected turns, including some as mundane as an impacted wisdom tooth. A wisdom tooth indeed was bothering one crew member of the Crosair. Another crew member simply missed his transport to the airfield. That left the Crosair pilot in need of two new crew members to make a bombing run against a Japanese airfield in Papua New Guinea. The pilot went to the

Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com

would have been found, it could have ended 60 or more years ago.” lll

On Jan. 1, 1943, Sgt. Carol Domer was not even supposed to be on the B-24 bomber

maintenance crew to find volunteers. The two missing crew members were gunners. No piloting experience was necessary, only some knowhow with a gun. Sgt. Domer, a good-old Kansas kid, had such experience. He came aboard the plane, and the crew told him he could have the seat in the tail of the plane. Please see VETERAN, page 5A

INSIDE Classified Comics Deaths Events listings

Today’s forecast, page 10A

Twitter: @saramarieshep

Lawhorn’s Lawrence

Afternoon storm

High: 83

By Sara Shepherd

5C-12C 6A 2A 10A

Horoscope Opinion Puzzles Sports

8A Television 9A USA Today 8A 1C-4C

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4661 W. 6TH LAWRENCE, KS 785.830.9090 2735 SW WANAMAKER TOPEKA, KS 785.271.0194 Mon-Fri 7am-6pm Sat 7am-5pm Sun 9am-4pm (in Lawrence)

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As Kansas University Chancellor Bernadette GrayLittle was proposing a 4 percent tuition increase before the Kansas Board of Regents earlier this month, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback was signing a budget cutting KU’s state Gray-Little funding by millions more than the university expected. The Journal-World sat down with Gray-Little after the governor’s action to talk about what affect those cuts might have on the university going forward. Please see CHANCELLOR, page 7A l Chancellor explains why she

vetoed funding for Multicultural Student Government. Page 3A

Work for lawmakers

Vol.158/No.151 30 pages

The recent school finance ruling and transgender bathroom issue could turn the usually quiet sine die session into a busy one for Kansas legislators this week. Page 3A

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