Lawrence Journal-World 07-28-2016

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USA TODAY

Obama both an asset and a challenge in Clinton’s campaign. 1B

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THURSDAY • JULY 28 • 2016

POD

Audit says state failing to protect children in foster care

AREA CHEFS RAVEN NARAMORE, LEFT, AND SARAH HESS react as Hess is announced as the winner of the annual Chefs Challenge at the Douglas County Fair on Wednesday evening.

PEOPLE Chefs get creative with okra at fair’s cooking contest By Elvyn Jones lll

Twitter: @ElvynJ

By Peter Hancock Twitter: @LJWpqhancock

A

s she prepared a dish Wednesday before about 120 people attending the sixth-annual Douglas County Fair’s Chefs Challenge, Sarah Hess described her cooking style as “all-American anarchy.” To demonstrate her style, Hess, the chef at John Brown’s Underground in downtown Lawrence, employed a gas torch to char okra, which was a required ingredient in this year’s challenge. The torch served a practical purpose — the charring would help keep the okra from becoming slimy — but Hess joked she also wanted to make the appropriate impression on the three local fire chiefs who served as the event’s judges: Mike Baxter of the Wakarusa Township — Laurie Walker, Fire DepartDouglas County ment, Mark Extension master Bradford of food volunteer LawrenceDouglas County Fire Medical and Ken Keiter of the Eudora Fire Department. Hess’ showmanship would make her style more anarchical. “It got a little nerve-wracking when the torch went out and I couldn’t get it restarted,” she said after her presentation. Hess got the torch to work well enough to win the challenge against Raven Naramore of Raven’s Table Catering of Baldwin City. They were the only contestants after Meg Heriford of Ladybird Diner withdrew because of a death in her family.

(OKRA IS) TASTY, and there’s a lot of good things you can make with it.”

John Young/Journal-World Photos

SARAH HESS, A LOCAL CHEF AT JOHN BROWN’S UNDERGROUND, uses a butane torch to roast okra during the annual Chefs Challenge at the Douglas County Fair on Wednesday evening. BELOW: Hess won the contest with a dish she described as “American frenzy,” which included salmon, tomatoes, couscous, arugula and okra.

Please see CHEFS, page 2A

Topeka — An audit released Wednesday accused the Kansas Department for Children and Families of failing in many cases to protect the safety of children in the state’s foster care and adoption programs, prompting two House Democrats to call for the immediate resignation of DCF Secretary Phyllis Gilmore. But Gilmore rejected many of the report’s findings, saying auditors used faulty methods to collect their data, and she insisted the state Inside: Kanis doing a good job of sas plans to protecting children in ask the federal governstate custody. Among the signifi- ment soon cant findings in the to recertify part of the audit: state mental l DCF sometimes fails to ensure that hospital in background checks Osawatoare conducted on li- mie. 5A censed foster care providers or, when children are placed with family members, on those relatives who agree to take in those foster children. l DCF does not always ensure that social workers conduct monthly inhome visits of children in foster care, adoptive homes or children reintegrated with their families. l Children are often placed in foster care or adoptive homes that do not have sufficient living space or financial resources to handle them, and the agency grants about 98 percent of all requests for exceptions to standard living space and financial resource standards. l DCF does not have an adequate process to ensure that licensed foster homes have sufficient financial resources. l DCF has not yet implemented several recommendations for its child protective services functions that were made in another audit three years ago. l And, under the state’s privatized child welfare system, the outside agencies that recruit and sponsor foster homes are also responsible for regulating them, setting up a potential conflict of interest. Please see FOSTER, page 5A

Baker Wetlands named state’s most beautiful place By Chad Lawhorn Twitter: @clawhorn_ljw

T

he most beautiful place in Kansas is in Lawrence. The national magazine House Beautiful

has come up with a list of the most beautiful places in every state, and a Lawrence locale that doesn’t

always get its due has been named tops in Kansas. The Baker Wetlands was named as the top spot in Kansas in a recent article titled “The Most Beautiful Places in all 50 States.” Please see WETLANDS, page 4A Nick Krug/Journal-World File Photo

INSIDE

Some clouds Business Classified Comics Deaths

High: 89

Low: 68

Today’s forecast, page 8B

2A   5C-9C    10C 2A

Events listings Horoscope Opinion   Puzzles

8A, 2C Sports 6A Television 7A USA Today 8A

Join us at Facebook.com/LJWorld and Twitter.com/LJWorld

1C-4C 6A, 8B, 2C  1B-7B

Sex crime charges A Holton man is facing felony charges after allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old girl he met on the dating app Tinder. 3A

Vol.158/No.210 26 pages


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