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THURSDAY • JANUARY 1 • 2015
December taxes fall $15M short of expectations
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By John Hanna Corporate Associated Press income taxes are Topeka — Kansas colvolatile and hard lected $15 million less in to predict.”
taxes than anticipated in December, potentially hindering efforts to close state budget shortfalls and generating more debate
— Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan
about aggressive tax cuts engineered by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. But the state Department of Revenue said Wednesday that the month’s disappointing figures resulted from volatile corporate income tax collections, which fell
significantly short of expectations. Brownback concentrated efforts in 2012 and 2013 to boost the state’s economy on cutting personal income taxes. The department said the state collected $553 million in taxes during the month
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when it expected to take in You’ve got the mad $568 million, a difference of 2.7 percent. Corporate scientist still carrying income tax collections for on his experiment, with the month were $56 mil- the same bad results.” lion, nearly $20 million — or 26 percent — less than — Joan Wagnon, Kansas anticipated. Democratic Party chairwoman Please see TAXES, page 2A
Rapist gets life sentence for crimes against child
OUR FAVORITE PHOTOS OF 2014
By Caitlin Doornbos Twitter: @CaitlinDoornbos
Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo
A COOL AUTUMN MORNING produced some fog in the Kaw Valley northeast of Lawrence. Above the field of soybeans in the distance loom Fraser Hall and other Kansas University buildings.
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
ALLAN UMSCHEID FACES the bitter wind and snow as he operates a snowblower last January in Lawrence. A polar vortex resulted in wind-chill temperatures of minus 30 degrees throughout areas of the Midwest.
T
he Journal-World’s photography staff captured thousands of images last year, ranging from light-hearted features and sports coverage to breaking news. In a New Year’s tradition, they have selected some of their favorite images from the previous 12 months.
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
BONNIE SCOTT, 85, runs her hand over her husband Eugene Scott’s after feeding him dinner last spring in their Lawrence home. Eugene, a 93-year-old World War II veteran, was wounded during the D-Day invasion. Shortly before he died, he received several medals for his World War II service, including the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
MORE ONLINE Photos of the year gallery: LJWorld.com/2014photos
Audio slideshows:
l LJWorld.com/2014gwin l LJWorld.com/2014yoder l LJWorld.com/2014krug
Please see RAPIST, page 2A
Judge speeds up gay marriage lawsuit By John Hanna Associated Press
Topeka — A federal judge took steps Wednesday to speed up a ruling on the remaining legal issues in a lawsuit challenging Kansas’ ban on gay marriage. Opposing attorneys must narrow factual disputes and propose a schedule at the end of January for a hearing, U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree said. Both the state’s attorneys and lawyers challenging the ban said they want to expedite the case. During a brief hearing, Crabtree said it’s in the parties’ best interest for him to issue a final ruling quickly so that an appeal can go forward. “I won’t be the last judicial officer to consider the case,” Crab-
U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree said it’s in the parties’ best interest for him to issue a final ruling quickly so that an appeal can go forward. tree said, referring to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could rule by late June in a separate case on whether state bans on gay marriage are constitutional. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit in October for couples denied marriage
Business Classified Comics Deaths
High: 36
Low: 19
Today’s forecast, page 6A
licenses in Douglas and Sedgwick counties. The nation’s high court blocked Kansas from enforcing its ban while the case is heard, clearing the way for same-sex marriages in parts of the state. The ACLU last month expanded the lawsuit to force the state to recognize the resulting gay marriages so that the couples can file joint income tax returns, obtain coverage for a spouse in the health plan for state employees and change a spouse’s last name on a driver’s license. Kansas law has long recognized only marriages between one man and one woman. Voters in 2005 overwhelmingly added a provision in the Kansas Constitution banning gay marriage.
INSIDE
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A 22-year-old Lawrence man was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years after pleading guilty in September to the rape of a 13-year-old girl. Fred E. White Jr. admitted to meeting the child, now 14, online, where he saw her Facebook photos in early August and began speaking with her, Assistant Douglas County District Attorney Mark Simpson said in court Wednesday. On Aug. 5, White began sneaking into the girl’s home and having sex with the child in her bedroom, Simpson said. White sneaked into the girl’s home each day until Aug. 9, taking photos of the child naked and in “various sex acts,” Simpson said, and on White one occasion videotaped intercourse with the girl. White told detectives he had sex with the child “10 or 11 times,” Simpson said. White was originally charged with five charges of rape, but pleaded down to just the one charge. After the crimes, Simpson said White left the girl and blocked her on social media, which Simpson described as a sign that White knew what he did was wrong. “This was not a case of bad judgment,” Simpson said. “(A 25 years to life in prison sentence) is a sentence that will protect this community from Mr. White for a long time.” White had a history of sexual crimes as a
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Style Scout moves to Going Out Starting today, the Journal-World’s Style Scout feature, which profiles fashionable men and women on the street, moves into Going Out each Thursday. Also in Going Out today, check out a roundup of notable events and activities to circle on your calendar as you kick off 2015. Page 4A
Venue change requested Defendant argues publicity in murder case has prejudiced jury pool. Page 3A
Vol.157/No.1 18 pages