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WEDNESDAY • MARCH 16 • 2011
Group seeks resignation after ‘despicable comments’ Lawmaker apologizes after governor also criticizes him for comparing immigrants with feral hogs By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
T O P E K A — Under pressure from his party leaders, a Republican state legislator Tuesday apologized for saying that per-
Peck
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haps the state should consider using gunmen in helicopters to control illegal immigration like it does for feral swine. But condemnation for the comments made by Rep. Virgil Peck of Tyro continued to roll in.
The largest and oldest Hispanic civil rights organization called on Peck to resign immediately from office. “Rep. Peck’s comments about shooting immigrants and likening them to hogs are an outra-
geous dehumanization of hardworking Kansas residents,” said Margaret Moran, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens. “His despicable comments set a new low in the hostile and
‘We want them to come in for their annual exams’
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Today’s forecast, page 8A
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xenophobic political attacks against American’s immigrant communities.” Peck issued a two-sentence apology Tuesday. Please see LAWMAKER, page 2A
CITY COMMISSION
Shelter wins permit extension By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Naturally hued foods tasty for the holiday It’s easy to do green right to celebrate the luck of the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day — without resorting to food coloring. Page 8B SPORTS
First round, small world When the Kansas University men’s basketball team meets Boston University on Friday in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the brothers from the City of Brotherly Love, the Morris twins, will see a familiar face — Boston coach Patrick Chambers, also a Philadelphia native, who tried to recruit the two to Villanova. Page 1B
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QUOTABLE
And I think he did make a difference for a lot of people, and that is what he aimed to do. He influenced his students, and he influenced a generation of radio listeners.” — Virginia Seaver on her husband, Jim, a radio host, Kansas University Western Civilization program head and Douglas County Senior Center volunteer who died Monday at age 92. Page 3A
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HEALTH CARE ACCESS RECENTLY ADDED three new staff members and expanded its hours. Now the clinic is able to schedule same-day appointments for qualified patients and no longer has to turn away requests for urgent care appointments. New hires, from left, are Patricia Neis, nurse practitioner, Brenda Waite, registered nurse, and Marie Daniels, office assistant.
Additional resources eliminate wait time, expand clinic services By Karrey Britt
Wellness Party
kbritt@ljworld.com
Uninsured residents no longer have to turn to Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s emergency room for medical care. There is now no wait for an appointment at Health Care Access, a medical clinic that serves lowincome, uninsured Douglas County residents across the street from the ER at 330 Maine. For the past two years, the average wait for an appointment at Health Care Access was three months — unless you were one of the lucky few to get a slot left open for acute care. Those few slots were filled within minutes of turning on the phones. In late January, Health Care Access added a nurse practitioner, nurse and office assistant, thanks to $300,000 in donations and grants. The addition-
al staff allowed the clinic to expand hours. The clinic went from 272 on-site medical appointments in January to 503 in February. “I am just tickled that there was an immediate change to our wait time. That was one of the goals because people were turning to the emergency room if they couldn’t get in, and it exceeded our expectations,” said Nikki King, executive director. Health Care Access continues to expand its wellness and mental health services by adding staff and volunteers. In 2010, there were 113 appointments for mental health, and 155 for wellness. The clinic’s next goals are to reach out to uninsured residents who
Health Care Access is having a Health, Wellness and BBQ Bash, and the community is invited. The event will be from noon to 5 p.m. April 8 at the clinic, 330 Maine. Expect free health screenings, interactive activities, wellness information, food and prizes. might not know about its services and expanded hours, and also to get people to be more proactive about health. “We want them to come in for their annual exams and preventive services instead of waiting until there is a crisis,” King said. — Health reporter Karrey Britt can be reached at 8327190. Britt’s health blog can be found at WellCommons.com, and follow her at Twitter.com.
Japan suspends work at stricken nuclear plant By Eric Talmadge and Shino Yuasa Associated Press Writers
FUKUSHIMA, JAPAN — Japan suspended operations to keep its stricken nuclear plant from melting down today after surging radiation made it too dangerous to stay. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the workers dousing the reactors in a frantic effort to cool them needed to withdraw. “The workers cannot carry out even minimal work at the plant now,” Edano said. “Because of the radiation risk we are on standby.” The nuclear crisis has triggered international alarm and partly overshadowed the human tragedy caused by Friday’s earthquake and tsunami, which
pulverized Japan’s northeastern coastline, killing an estimated 10,000 people and severely damaging the nuclear plant. Since then, authorities have tried frantically to avert an environmental catastrophe at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex in northeastern Japan, 140 miles north of Tokyo. Edano said the government expects to ask the U.S. military for help. He did not elaborate. He said the government is still considering whether and how to take up the various offers of help from other countries. The surge in radiation was apparently the result of a Tuesday fire in the complex’s Unit 4 reactor, according to officials with Japan’s nuclear safety agency. That blast is thought to have damaged
the reactor’s suppression chamber, a water-filled pipe outside the nuclear core that is part of the emergency cooling system. Officials had originally planned use helicopters and fire trucks to spray water in a desperate effort to prevent further radiation leaks and to cool down the reactors. “It’s not so simple that everything will be resolved by pouring in water. We are trying to avoid creating other problems,” Edano said. “We are actually supplying water from the ground, but supplying water from above involves pumping lots of water and that involves risk. We also have to consider the safety of the helicopters above,” he said. A U.S. nuclear expert said he feared the worst. “It’s more of a surrender,” said David Lochbaum, a
nuclear engineer who now heads the nuclear safety program for the Union of Concerned Scientists, an activist group. “It’s not like you wait 10 days and the radiation goes away. In that 10 days things are going to get worse.” “It’s basically a sign that there’s nothing left to do but throw in the towel,” Lochbaum said. The government has ordered some 140,000 people in the vicinity to stay indoors. A little radiation was also detected in Tokyo, triggering panic buying of food and water. Meanwhile, a new aftershock of 6.0 magnitude rattled northeast Japan today. Scores of strong aftershocks have followed the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Friday and caused a devastating tsunami.
Saying they didn’t have many other feasible options, a narrow majority of Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday agreed to allow Lawrence’s homeless shelter to continue operating downtown while it looks for a permanent location. Commissioners at their weekly meeting approved a one-year extension of an operating permit for the Lawrence Community Shelter and approved an increase in its occupancy on a 32 vote. The swing vote on the issue ended up being one that had been two years in the making. “I was skeptical coming into this position about what was being done at the shelter,” said Lawrence City Commissioner Lance Johnson, “It is not an ideal who is in the place, but we final weeks of a don’t have any two-year term. “But I’ve other choices become a right now.” believer in the shelter over — Lawrence City the last two Commissioner Mike years and in Dever, who voted the efforts to extend the being made at Lawrence the shelter.” Johnson was Community joined by Com- Shelter’s permit missioners Aron Cromwell and Mike Dever in voting to extend the shelter’s permit and increase its year round occupancy from 57 people per night to 81. But none of the commissioners said they thought the shelter’s location at 10th and Kentucky streets was a good one. In fact, Cromwell said it would be hard to think of a worse location for the shelter. But the trio also said they couldn’t support the idea of the community going without a homeless shelter. “It is not an ideal place, but we don’t have any other choices right now,” Dever said. Shelter leaders had hoped to deliver a report to commissioners that they were well on their way to moving the shelter to a vacant warehouse near the Douglas County Jail. But a ruling in Douglas County District Court over covenant issues at the site has all but killed those plans. Mayor Mike Amyx and Commissioner Rob Chestnut voted against the extension and occupancy increase. But neither commissioner said they wanted to close the shelter down. Instead, they wanted more information, and Amyx said he wanted to consider an extension that would have been for less than a year. Both also said they were uncertain the shelter could adequately handle the increase in occupancy. The shelter has had an overnight occupancy limit of 82 people during the winter months, but its occupancy maximum dropped to 57 people during the warmer months. Shelter Please see CITY, page 2A