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Residents fear film will bring undesirable attention to cemetery By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Even for the Stull Cemetery this showdown seems a little surreal. In one corner, there is Slash — the heavy-metal rock icon and former lead guitarist for the band Guns N’ Roses. In the other corner, there is Iona, an 86-yearold rural Douglas County resident intent on keeping riffraff out Slash’s film will of her neighbornot be made in hood’s historic Kansas. cemetery. It sure appears a clash is coming. According to reports in The Hollywood Reporter, a trade publication that covers the movie industry, Slash’s newly formed film company has signed a deal to produce a horror movie with a plot that centers on the Stull Cemetery and the urban legend that the cemetery about 10 miles west of Lawrence is one of the seven gateways to Hell. News of the production has created a fury, not of the demonic type but more of the neighborhood type. “I would like to get a hold of whoever this fellow is,” said Iona Spencer, who has lived near the cemetery for the last 65 years, “so I can tell him to just shut it up.” The movie is scheduled to begin filming next month, but none of the shooting will happen
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Regents and KU strongly opposed By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
TOPEKA — Gun rights advocates on Wednesday pushed for passage of a bill that would allow concealed carry of handguns on college campuses and public buildings, such as libraries, city halls and day care centers in city facilities. Rep. Forrest Knox, R-Altoona, said after a hearing on House Bill 2353 that he thought Knox his measure would be approved by the Legislature this year. It has won approval before in the House but hasn’t gained traction yet in the Senate. “Currently any building, public or private, can be posted prohibiting concealed carry regardless of the level of security provided within the building,” Knox told the House Federal and State Affairs Committee. Patricia Stoneking, president of the Kansas State Rifle Association, said, “We need to understand that criminals will not abide by the law of the signs. These signs are disarming only law-abiding permit licensees.”
Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photos
WILD TURKEYS TAKE FLIGHT after their morning meal, below, in a soybean field Wednesday northeast of Lawrence.
Please see STULL, page 2A
Please see GUNS, page 2A
State’s homeless shelters report increase in clients, especially displaced families
K-State president discusses drive to secure NBAF funding By Andy Hyland ahyland@ljworld.com
The leader of Kansas State University said the university is continuing to push for funding from the federal government in support of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility scheduled to be built in Manhattan. Given the current federal climate, any project requiring new funding could be on the chopping block, said Kansas State President Kirk Schulz during a visit with the Journal-World’s editorial staff. “We’ll have a fight every year in Washington to make sure that it stays a priority,” he said. NBAF was among several topics Schulz touched on Wednesday: NBAF: After years of work, the major federal biosecurity lab in Manhattan still needs federal funding secured. Schulz said $90 million committed to the project and $80 million worth of construction is set to begin next month. But the project will cost
By Shaun Hittle
Homeless shelters across Kansas and the country participated in the annual Pointin-Time Homeless Count this week, trying to come up with an accurate picture of homelessness. Some shelter representatives in Kansas, which conducted the count Wednesday, say one thing will be clear from the federal survey: They’re packed and the numbers keep growing. “This is probably as bad as it’s been,” said Emily Wagner, director of the Manhattan Emergency Shelter, which can house up to 47 people. Wagner said her shelter is now almost always full, and this year was the first time people were turned away on some nights. Locally, overcrowding at the Lawrence Community Shelter has been a constant issue, with the shelter using overflow space on most nights to accommodate
Please see K-STATE, page 5A
Douglas County: 112 to 226
Johnson County: 210 to 315
Sedgwick Co.: 384 to 634
Shawnee Co.: 217 to 337
Wyandotte Co.: 141 to 213
Rest of state: 859 to 1,071 — Numbers provided by the Kansas Point-in-Time Partnership
the 100 or so seeking shelter, said Loring Henderson, shelter director. A move to a larger facility in September will allow the shelter to house up to 125 people, but for the time being, he said, “It’s pretty packed.” The annual counts, mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, have given a clearer picture of homelessness in Kansas during the past few years.
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Homelessness increases from 2009 to 2011
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at least $650 million to $700 million, though some reports have the price tag approaching $1 billion. “Whether it’s $700 million or $1 billion, it’s still a lot of money,” Schulz said. Schulz As long as construction continues, he said, he felt the project’s positive momentum would continue. NBAF has allowed Kansas State to recruit world-class faculty it otherwise probably wouldn’t have been able to approach before, he said. A friendly rivalry: Schulz said he was glad that state’s Board of Regents is recognizing that each of the state’s six state universities should be treated a little differently. He said that Kansas University, a member of the Association of American Universities and the state’s flagship school, had different needs and a
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In 2007, the count identified 2,111 homeless people in the state. That number dipped to 1,811 in 2009, but jumped by more than 40 percent to 2,570 in 2011. Douglas County has seen homeless numbers double between 2009 and 2011, from 112 to 226. The state’s four largest counties — Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee and Wyandotte — also saw large increases during the past few years, according to Point-in-Time statistics. The results of this year’s count may be deceiving, however, as it will focus only on people in shelters and will not include people who are camping, sleeping in cars, or doubled up with friends and family. In 2013, a more comprehensive survey will be done. In addition to a general increase in the homeless population, shelters also report that in the past year there’s been a shift in who’s showing up at their doors. Instead of more single Please see HOMELESS, page 5A
COMING FRIDAY We’ll introduce you to some fourth-graders who are at today’s Slice of Ag event.
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