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THURSDAY • FEBRUARY 3 • 2011
Still bitter cold
Low: 7
High: 19
Today’s forecast, page 10A
INSIDE
Tuesday was biggest single-day snow in three decades
City to change utility bill language ——
Starting next week, ‘late fee’ will replace term ‘adjustment’ By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
27 players sign to play football at KU Kansas University football coach Turner Gill watched his first full recruiting class at KU sign national letters of intent to become Jayhawks at the Anderson Family Strength and Conditioning Center on Wednesday. Gill said speed was the “No. 1 thing” he looked for when filling positions on the team. Page 1B
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Kansas Dems bash state budget director The Kansas Democratic Party has released a “missing” poster for the state budget director, Steve Anderson. “If found please tell him to report to the House and Senate Budget Committees to explain LEGISLATURE Brownback’s proposed cuts to Kansas schools, state employees, Kansas Arts Commission and Mental Health service providers,” the poster reads. Page 5A
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QUOTABLE
I couldn’t understand what they were saying and I don’t know if they could understand what I was saying, but there was an emotional connection.” — Lawrence resident 24-year-old Emilie Durgan, on the people in Haiti that she and two other women helped during a mission trip. Page 3A
COMING FRIDAY We’ll be at the local zoning board meeting for a discussion of plans for the new Dillons store on Massachusetts Street.
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City officials are making a change to Lawrence utility bills after concerns have been raised that the city is not doing enough to call attention to late fees it charges its customers. An article in Sunday’s JournalWorld detailed how one customer had unknowingly paid three years’ worth of late fees because the city lists the charges on the bill as an “adjustIf it is a cost ment,” rather that people than a late are paying, I fee. That prac- think it is only tice soon will fair that we change. The city director know what who over- we’re paying sees the util- for.” ity billing division said bills going — City Commissioner out next Mike Dever week will have the term “late fee” on them rather than the less specific “adjustment” category. Originally, the city had thought making such a change would not be feasible, given that the city does not own the billing software system that it uses. But Ed Mullins, the city’s finance director, said the city investigated the matter further after concerns were raised. “We were able to make the change in-house,” Mullins said. Some city commissioners said they thought the terminology needed to be changed. “Frankly, it could be clearer,” City Commissioner Mike Dever said. “If it is a cost that people are paying, I think it is only fair that we know what we’re paying for.” The Journal-World article also found that the percentage of city bills that have a late fee is significantly higher than several other area utilities. The city estimated about 30 percent of all bills have a late fee. That was much higher than the 10 percent found in Manhattan, the 17 percent with the Board of Public Utilities in Kansas City, Kan., and the 7 percent with Rural Water District No. 4 in Douglas County. City Commissioner Aron Cromwell said he wanted to find out why that percentage had
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
BANI SINGH SURVEYS HER BURIED CAR while standing on a three-foot snow pile left by snowplows on 10th Street near Kentucky Street. The National Weather Service in Topeka reports that Lawrence received 8 inches of snow on Tuesday. The last time the city received that much snow in a single day was Feb. 8, 1980. More storm photos at LJWorld.com.
More people staying home made clearing city’s streets easier By Brenna Hawley bhawley@ljworld.com
On Tuesday, Lawrence received the most snow in a single day since 1980. But city officials say that streets this week haven’t been as hard to clear as they were after the Christmas 2009 storm. “What was really helpful was all those citizens who did stay home and off the roads,” said Chuck Soules, public works director. Lawrence recorded 8 inches of snow Tuesday, the most in one day since Feb. 8, 1980. In February 1993, it snowed that much over two days, according to the National Weather Service in Topeka. Soules said the city had
workers on call and prepared to go out to deal with this storm, and that the amount of overtime logged by workers probably wouldn’t be as extensive as the Christmas 2009 storm. That storm dumped 6. 2 inches on Lawrence. Because fewer people left their homes during this storm, city crews spent less time dealing with stranded motorists. Soules said the city hopes to finish plowing all residential streets by this morning. Snow from the middle of Massachusetts Street and the center of cul-de-sacs will be moved out today. Where to put it is something of a problem.
Shoveling walks Lawrence’s sidewalk snow ordinance will go into effect at 5 p.m. Friday for this storm, but inspectors won’t start looking at complaint locations until 8 a.m. Monday. Normally the ordinance goes into effect 48 hours after a snowstorm ends, but because of the wind and freezing temperatures, the city pushed back the start of the ordinance. City spokeswoman Megan Gilliland said the city ordinance doesn’t have a provision that specifically allows for an extension of the 48-hour time period, but she said the city believes it has the discretion to extend the time period if weather conditions and other factors warrant it. Property owners are required to clear sidewalks adjacent to their property. Complaints about sidewalks not cleared by the 5 p.m. deadline can be called in to 832-7700 or submitted online at lawrenceks.org/pds/code_vi olation.
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
SHERYL SANDERS BEGINS digging out from Tuesday’s snowfall on Wednesday morning in her east Lawrence neighborhood. Sanders said she shoveled several times on Tuesday to help keep up with the heavy accumulation. “We’re all scrambling to look for areas,” Soules said. The city owns land around town to deposit snow, including the street maintenance yard at 11th and Haskell and an area behind Johnny’s Tavern, 401 N. Second St. Even if the city needs to do more plowing and road treatment, salt and sand should be in plentiful supply.
Public transit administrator Bob Nugent said he expects buses to be running normally today, starting at the usual time, 6 a.m. Despite the sunshine on Wednesday, Soules said it was highly like that streets could get icy overnight. “People still need to be careful,” he said. — Reporter Brenna Hawley can be reached at 832-7217.
Protect against water pipes freezing By Brenna Hawley bhawley@ljworld.com
Frozen pipes aren’t as big a problem as they used to be, said Dennis O’Bryon, owner of O’Bryon Plumbing, 816 Prescott Drive. “It’s a combination of people taking care of stuff the right way and things being fixed over previous years,” he said. But O’Bryon said if temperatures stayed low, frozen pipes could become a problem. O’Bryon said pipes freeze because of frigid temperatures usually accompanied by high winds. But, he said, with
this week’s storm, the snow probably insulated a lot of pipes. To prevent frozen pipes, allow faucets to trickle, and open sink cabinet doors to allow heat to reach the pipes. O’Bryon said an early-warning sign of frozen pipes is low or no water pressure. He said some people wait to address the problem, which usually leads to a burst pipe and a lot of unwanted water. “When people turn their heat up a little bit and run their water a little bit, they won’t have a problem,” he said. — Reporter Brenna Hawley can be reached at 832-7217.
Injuries treated Lawrence Memorial Hospital treated seven people for weather-related injuries Wednesday, bringing the total for this storm to 41 people. Belinda Rehmer, LMH communications coordinator, said most of the injuries were the result of falls. LMH reported 30 weather-related injuries on Monday, four on Tuesday and seven on Wednesday.
Kevin Anderson/Journal-World Photo
JAY CAMPBELL, SPRINGFIELD, MO., gets a face full of snow on his landing while sledding on the hills just west of Memorial Stadium on the KU campus.
Please see CITY, page 2A
Mubarak supporters turn on protesters CAIRO (MCT) — Barely 12 hours after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he would step down at the end of his term, a clubwielding mob chanting his name overwhelmed pro-democracy protesters in Tahrir Square on Wednesday, hurling stones and gasoline bombs at the people who have demanded that Mubarak resign immediately after nearly 30 years in power. The apparently choreographed onslaught — the pro-Mubarak forces had massed outside the square for hours and came equipped with slogans and knives — opened a violent new chapter in Egypt’s nine-day-old uprising and defied President Barack Obama’s call for a transition to a new government. See the full story, page 7A.