A RODOESO
IN PHOT A&E, 1D
Gay marriage victory one year later. 1B
L A W R E NC E
Journal-World ®
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SUNDAY • JUNE 26 • 2016
LJWorld.com
Preschool programs can’t keep up with demand Low-income families in Lawrence face limited early education options the number of openings in the city’s public preschool programs is not As the number of low- keeping pace. income families in Law“We’ve stayed at five, rence continues to climb, six classrooms for the last By Rochelle Valverde
Twitter: @RochelleVerde
15 years, and that’s not to say that there isn’t more children, because there are a lot more kids,” said Cris Anderson, principal at Kennedy Elementary,
which houses the Lawrence school district’s early-childhood education programming. “We have waiting lists every year.”
to see a drop in its Kids Count national education ranking. The Kids Count Data Report, released Tuesday, indicated that 56 percent of young children in
The situation in Lawrence reflects a statewide trend. The availability of public preschool programs was one of the factors that caused Kansas
PUBLIC APPEARANCE
Please see PRESCHOOL, page 2A
$15M effort underway to update scholarship halls at KU ——
Five-year project modernizing university’s unique, older housing By Sara Shepherd Twitter: @saramarieshep
John Young/Journal-World Photos
Hip-hop group Public Enemy “brought the noise” to Lawrence Saturday night in an outdoor concert in front of the Lawrence Arts Center, closing out this year’s Free State Festival. Sarah Bishop, chief communications officer with the Lawrence Arts Center, estimated about 7,500 people were in attendance before the show. Shortly after taking the stage, Chuck D, of Public Enemy, dedicated the show to the late Muhammad Ali. Public Enemy took the stage around 10:30 p.m., to the crowd’s relief, but kids of all ages stayed out past their bedtimes to watch the free show. At left, Flavor Flav points at the crowd during the show.
Kansas University Student Housing is in the middle of a multimillion-dollar project that officials say will lift its eight oldest scholarship halls — a student housing offering that is unique to KU — into the next half century. “This is an aggressive effort to breathe new life into that infrastructure and keep these halls viable for another 30 to 40 years,” housing director Diana Robertson said. The scholarship halls being renovated were built between the 1920s and the 1950s, Robertson said. Complete heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical infrastructure overhauls — “basically gutting out all the mechanicals” — is the most critical part of the renovations, she said. Work also includes remodeling of the halls’ community kitchens and cosmetic updates such as new paint and furniture. Renovations to Stephenson, Pearson, Sellards and Douthart were completed in 2014 and 2015, at a cost of about $1.8 million apiece, Robertson said.
See more photos from the show at LJWorld.com/publicenemy
Please see HALLS, page 5A
South Lawrence Trafficway on track for fall opening
T
he east leg of the South Lawrence Trafficway is still on track to be completed and opened this fall, a Kansas Department of Transportation spokeswoman said Friday. Work on the project — six miles of highway connecting the east leg of Kansas Highway 10 from U.S. 59 — started in November 2013 after nearly two decades of litigation and protests. Kim Qualls, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Transportation northeast district, has previously told the JournalWorld the project would open in November. She said Friday that estimate was still accurate. After environmentalists and Native American groups vigorously opposed construction of the road through the
Baker Wetlands, an agreement was decided on to mitigate effects to the area. As part of that agreement, KDOT recently installed walls to minimize freeway noise. The walls were put up between the South Lawrence Trafficway and the wetlands near the intersection of 31st and Louisiana streets. One was installed along the same stretch between the freeway and 31st Street. On Thursday, KDOT finished some work ahead of schedule on a new traffic bridge over K-10 that will connect East 1750 Road and Noria Road on the east edge of Lawrence. The bridge is a component of the SLT project.
INSIDE
Rain in the area Arts&Entertainment 1D-6D Classified 1E-6E Deaths 2A Events listings 2C, 3D
High: 89
Low: 69
Today’s forecast, page 6C
— Staff Reports
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
The South Lawrence Trafficway, left, which runs parallel with 31st Street, remains under construction and is expected to open this fall.
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4D Television 11A USA Today 4D, 5D 1C-6C
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2C, 6C, 4D 1B-8B
School funding fight far from over The Kansas Supreme Court will next consider the larger issue of whether the state spends enough overall on its schools. Page 2A
Vol.158/No.178 40 pages